Chopin’s music—confided and played from the heart by Maestro Dexter Grey — was like listening to mingled prayers of broken hearts, the revolt of fettered souls, the pain of slavery, the loss of freedom’s ache, the cursing of tyrants, the extended songs of victory. You could hear Paderewski sighing. The castle is beautiful, peerless in…
Why immigrant employees should fight for their rights IN December, just a few days before International Migrants Day, a federal jury ruled that a Los Angeles-based recruitment agency, Universal Placement International (“UPI”), and its owner, Lourdes Navarro, must pay $4.5 million to 350 Filipino teachers who were forced into exploitative employment contracts with UPI. The jurors found…
AS A former Immigration Officer and as a practicing attorney for 14 years, I have been around long enough to know that when a great opportunity presents itself my clients should act immediately. Most of my fellow practitioners will tell you that the last 15 years or so have not been kind to immigrants. Things…
YOU have just received an invitation to the offices of the Internal Revenue Service. They want to examine your return. Don’t panic. All these years, you have stashed funds for a rainy day. This is a rainy day. Compose yourself. Then go to battle. Don’t be over confident though. I am just boosting your morale….
THE verdict is out. On January 28, performance artist and cultural activist Charles P. “Carlos” Celdran was convicted for “offending religious feelings” by Judge Juan Bermejo of the Manila Metropolitan Trial Court’s Branch 4. Celdran was sentenced to a prison term — ranging from 2 months and 21 days, up to 13 months and 11…
GETTING a home mortgage now is a challenge; the gray area qualifying method of lenders and broker back in the mid 2000s’ to help qualify homebuyers has diminished. Therefore the lending have gotten to a point of easily approving or disapproving a borrower based on debt to income ratios, credit, fund reserves, employment history etc. …
CARLOS Celdran was found guilty beyond reasonable doubt for the crime of “offending religious feelings,” under Article 133 of the Revised Penal Code. This stemmed from a complaint filed against him by the Catholic Church when he staged a protest inside the Manila Cathedral while an ecumenical service (not a mass, as reported by some)…
“WHEN you quit when you experience frustration, and you do not try again, you cannot succeed. But when you try again, and you somehow succeed, you no longer need to quit, you simply continue. When you are clear about your goals, God knows it. [Goals] are for your own good, as well as others, therein…
FOR Father Rey Bersabal, growing as a priest is of vital importance. Bersabal is the pastor of St. John the Baptist in Folsom. Last year, he participated in a new program that provides priest with leadership training called “Good Leaders, Good Shepherds.” The program is designed to help priests be better leaders after the example…
FOR Father Benjamin Escosura Alforque, the Parochial Vicar at St. Catherine of Alexandria in Riverside, California, activism is an important part of his life. Aside from serving God, Alforque is a spokesperson for People’s Rights International Solidarity Movement (PRISM) and president of The National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON-US). He’s also a priest of the…
LAST June 2011, Fr. Eurel Manzano, 26, became the youngest priest in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston following his ordination. But Fr. Eurel did not get the “call” early. He originally planned to become a doctor and went to the University of Washington where he studied pre-med. Then, came God’s call to the priesthood and Manzano…
“WE ALL have different gifts. It would be sad, if we [live in a] cookie cutter world. I like to bring the joyfulness that my faith brings – like the joyful presence of my pastor in the Philippines who changed me – to persons that I meet,” Fr. Freddie Chua, 2011. It was an…
“I FIND fulfillment as a priest when I serve and minister to the people, the faithful, whose marriages and status in life before the Church need help. I believe in this ministry of justice, truth, healing and reconciliation, for even though truth might be difficult, it is what it is, that some folks are not…
WHEN Father Jo-Andre Beltran tells you he comes from a religious family, he really does come from a religious family. Beltran, the associate pastor at Notre Dame de Chicago, is the fifth priest among his Beltran relatives not including that several cousins who are also priests but not with the Beltran surname. “Our house was…
REV. Jose Glenn Diaz was born and raised in the Philippines. He took up his high school and college at the Sacred Heart Seminary in Palo, Leyte. Then, the entered the UST Central Seminary in Manila where he graduated in 1986. The following year, 1987, he was ordained as a priest in the Archdiocese of…
FR. RAMON Bolatete was born and raised in the Philippines. He studied at the University of San Carlos in Cebu City, Philippines, before entering the Divine Word Seminary in Tagaytay City, where he earned his Master’s Degree in Philosophy. He also has a Master’s Degree in Missiology, from Ottawa, Canada. Fr. Bolatete belongs to the…
FATHER Evelio “Toto” Buenaflor Jr., a native of M’Lang, Cotabato, Philippines is a pastor at St. Andrew Church in Amelia, Louisiana. Last year, Buenaflor celebrated his 25th anniversary of priesthood. Ordained in 1985, Buenaflor arrived to the United States in 2005 and first served as an associate pastor at St. Joseph Co-Cathedral in Thibodaux. After…
ON May 19, 2007, when Bishop William E. Lori ordained Filipino priest, Fr. Cyrus Bartolome, for the Diocese of Bridgeport in Connecticut, along with three other priests, (from Poland, Colombia, and Puerto Rico), he mentioned that it just shows the increasing diversity of the family of faith in the Diocese. Held at the Saint Augustine…
FATHER Arturo Balagat is the pastor of St Anthony’s Catholic Church in San Jacinto, CA. Balagat is a popular priest known for his work as an activist in the Filipino community. Aside from serving as pastor, Balagat has served as president of the US Filipino Catholic Ministry, president of The National Asian and Pacific Catholic…
“WHY not a regular Tagalog Mass here at the Transfiguration of Our Lord Church?…To feed the deep spiritual thirst and hunger in the hearts of Filipino-Americans and Filipino expatriates residing in Chicago and its suburbs and their pastoral needs waiting to be addressed. A regular celebration of the Holy Eucharist in Tagalog could be a…
“I FIND fulfillment as a priest when I serve and minister to the people, the faithful, whose marriages and status in life before the Church need help. I believe in this ministry of justice, truth, healing and reconciliation, for even though truth might be difficult, it is what it is, that some folks are not…
“LAND for them (referring to the Manobos and Higaonons) is not only life, but also it is a repository of culture, their ancestors are there. Land is the repository of their faith, their beliefs, if they are dispossessed of their land, they are dispossessed of their culture. They must have their land to preserve their…
“BECAUSE of the mining, the roads are so rough on the way from Carrascal to Cantilan [Surigao del Norte], there are no trees, there are no people, and there are no cell sites. Ang tulisan ay nakapila, malapit sa dagat, naghihintay sila. Yet, somehow I escape the queue of the robbers [be able] to spread…
“THE [50-year] celebration will be good for me, but it is more important to build the school [St. Catherine of Siena in Reseda] to make good Christians, good Catholics to replace us…my dream is for you to accompany me and to support the school.” – Fr. Raul Cortes, 2012. “The church was dead,” said Olga…
LOCAL residents to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of world-renowned Healing Priest Fr. Fernando Suarez,MMMP on May 12, 2012 at the Quiet Cannon Country Club, 901 Via San Clemente Montebello, California 90640 with a Dinner reception. The celebration will feature a Mass that will start at 6:00 P.M. to be celebrated by local priests and con-celebrated…
ON January 3, 2013, USCIS officially published the final rule on “Provisional Unlawful Presence Waivers of Inadmissibility for Certain Immediate Relatives”. Qualified applicants can begin filing provisional wiver applications (Form I-601A) on March 4, 2013. Immigrants who enter the country illegally or overstay their visas cannot apply for permanent residence in the United States. Instead…
LAOAG City International Circle Inc. (LCIC) will be holding its first general meeting and membership driver under the leadership of their 2012-2014 newly-elected officers this Sunday, March 18, from 12nn-5pm. As is the practice, members will host a potluck luncheon at the Eagle Rock area residence of Marites Chu-Lo, 4747 Collis Avenue, Los Angeles, California…
THE Filipino-American Basketball Association of Metropolitan DC, Inc., better known as “FABA of Metro DC” was established on September 2001 by a group of Filipino-American volunteers from all over the Washington Metropolitan DC area. FABA of MetroDC is a non-profit organization with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. FABA was organized to set basketball sport programs and activities…
THE Fil-American Association of Central Texas is an association of individuals and families of Filipino and American heritage organized to project the “Filipino image” by participating in cultural and civic affairs; foster harmonious relationship among its members through social activities; organize social functions for all ages; promote social welfare in support of its members; and…
THE Filipino-American Organization of Metropolitan Omaha is more than just a Fil-Am organization, we are a community. We have several events throughout the year including the Christmas Party for the kids and for the entire organization. We have an Easter Picnic and Easter Egg Hunt for the children. A yearly Friendship Picnic, where everyone is…
