By Ludy Astraquillo Ongkeko, PhD

It all seemed eerie.  When March 2020 arrived, so many changes happened around us.

In many households, rooms were transformed into office spaces. Regular school terms were set aside and children were educated electronically.  Everyone was talking about ‘vaccination’ – when to get it, where, how long to wait, and whether to get it at all. Getting a vaccine was a public health issue that has become a political debate.  Travel came to a halt.

So many facets of life were put on hold.

Through these trying times, members of the older generation were not seeing their families, especially their grandchildren, on a regular basis. There were no weekend visits “from the kids,” no kisses and most certainly no hugs. Lolos and Lolas received their irreplaceable comfort just knowing the youngsters are OK conveyed through phone calls, texts or Facebook messages. They continued to be in touch with queries about how they were getting along; how their wishes were to be positively answered; when they would be certain of their travel plans to visit their elders who reside on separate coasts.

Liberty came in installment when word arrived that vaccinated people started to seek the streets and parks as numbers moved on with their unmasked faces that spoke of joy and relief. Youngsters rushed into their grandparents’ warm embraces. Restaurants were described as “booming.” Most welcome sights included how baseball and basketball stadiums worked to replace cardboard cutouts with real fans. Most everyone who noticed the “return-to-normal” spoke of how they had looked forward to going back to their offices.

As a mother of three, grandmother of six and great grandmother of eight, my feelings about the slow return to normalcy is indescribable.  The littlest ones who were cautioned not to rush into their elders’ arms now realize how they knew they had to follow rules given by their parents. Letting them know the value of wearing masks had to be part of the day’s reminders. When they were allowed to greet their elders like they used to, instant joy became theirs.  They no longer had to be restrained as they went on accompanied by their spontaneous actions.

No words can ever describe aptly how it means to see there is no longer any hesitation from the younger generations to greet their elders like they used to. They now rush to return the long-sought hugs accompanied by their smiles and gleeful faces. As the older grandkids take their places after living up to their professional commitments, it is so heartwarming to see them no longer via video nor speak to them via phone lines. They arrive on schedule and are not hesitant in letting their elders know how long they had sought the time to make it to their folks’ home despite the brevity of their visits.

Ours has been a long wait.  But the latter has been rewarded with those vaccines that have signified their utmost value. 

Real-world data reports indicate thus far how the vaccines are 99.9 percent effective in preventing lengthy hospital stays and deaths.  Word has been spread how lifesaving vaccines desperately needed have been sought around the world. What should not be shunted aside at least for now is how senior citizens won’t stop being grateful to science for the heroic sacrifices of those who pulled their efforts together for the common good: to save lives.

We, who had seen war in our midst decades ago realize the heroic sacrifices made for enormous numbers of the population-at-large. But nothing can affix a price on elders like us who do not cease to be remembered by their grandkids who seek travel just to greet us personally.  Gratitude indeed knows no bounds.

There is one signal reminder that the past 12 months plus has given mankind: The world went to war.  Covid has not been beaten yet.  But mankind is winning.  The victory is not that distant from today when elders and other seniors are still grateful to see how their presence is needed in what was recently a world of gloom. 

This writer is one that will always be thankful in remembering how members of her younger generation rallied to her boundless loneliness separated by miles and miles of distance made shorter by listening to the concerns and longing of the grandchildren who provided assurances that when travel would be declared safe, the miles would no longer appear that distant. Thanks to the achievements made by medicine and science.

Multimedia artist, writer, and performer Kilusan Bautista has opened a GoFundMe campaign as he shares the story of his daughter Phoenix who has developed CHARGE Syndrome, a genetic condition that affects multiple organ systems, according to the National Organization for Rare Disorders. In the last four years, Kilusan has stopped creating, writing, and performing as he and his wife immersed themselves in their child’s medical care amid a crippling global pandemic. He is now back with a storytelling project titled “PXSO: PhoeniX rising in ScorpiO” for his Master of Fine Arts thesis at the City University of New York, Brooklyn College centered around his life as a father of a child with a disability.  

Kilusan has performed coast to coast sharing with his audiences stories about his growth as an interdisciplinary artist and his contributions to cross-cultural solidarity. He was a recipient of the Outstanding Artist Award from the Filipino American National Historical Society of Metro New York. He was awarded the Congressional Community Service Award’s Kabataan Komemorative in 2006 by California Senator Tom Lantos, and has won a writing contest sponsored by the California Council for the Humanities and New America Media. “PXSO: PhoeniX rising in ScorpiO” is his anthem to his daughter.

Dear Beloved Community,

I hope this message finds you safe and in good health. Thank you for considering to be a donor/partner for my new artistic project “PXSO : PhoeniX rising in ScorpiO.” I am grounded and accountable to the creation of stories that represent the hopes, dreams, struggles and imagination of my family, culture and community. PXSO is a developing artistic project associated with my Masters in Fine Arts thesis at the City University of New York, Brooklyn College – Performance and Interactive Media Arts program.

PXSO is a two-part artistic project that includes an immersive multimedia theater experience in the late Fall of 2021. For the past year I have been creatively workshopping stories about my daughter Phoenix and her life experiences with Charge Syndrome and Deafblindness. Despite theatrical stages and college performance studios being shut down for the past year, I have been developing new tools of storytelling that I am excited to present in PXSO such as video and visual projections, audio engineering, interactive technology (Max MSP), and augmented reality. I began writing PXSO in May of 2020, in the middle of the New York City quarantine and as I entered my MFA program in the Fall of 2020, I immersed myself in the virtual world with the ambition of developing PXSO. Honestly, working on PXSO is helping me get through the current global pandemic and offer an authentic piece of my soul to the world. My daughter Phoenix inspires me every day. She is my hero and I am honored to share her story through PXSO.

The second part of PXSO is the formation of a Fathers With Disabled Children support group that will begin meeting virtually and eventually in-person. The aim of this support group is to provide a safe and artistic space where fathers with disabled children can share stories, perspectives, resources and engage in a creative process to raise awareness about Disability Rights. In the Spring of 2022, I plan to honor these fathers, their stories and artistic expressions in an outdoor celebration in the New York City area. In addition to the support from PIMA, my MFA program at Brooklyn College, I am blessed to be a new Fellow with Social Practice, CUNY’s exciting new Mellon Foundation-funded initiative. Both spaces will support the development and public presentations of PXSO for the 2021/2022 school year.

I am respectfully asking for your financial support and to join me as a partner in PXSO. Here is what your contributions will support:

-Interdisciplinary Artistic Director

-Performer/Storyteller

-Technology Specialist

-Video/Visual Art Technician

-Audio Engineer/DJ

-Venue Fees (rehearsals & public presentations)

-Equipment & Set Design

-Publicity, Promotions & Social Media Campaign

-Research & Documentation

All donors/partners will be offered the opportunity to experience PXSO either in-person or through virtual live streaming. Thank you so much for supporting PXSO and the stories of disability, resiliency and our collective humanity. For more information please visit www.kilusan1898.com/pxso. This fundraising campaign will conclude on September 10th, 2021.
Here’s the link to make a donation:  https://bit.ly/2VRPLVm

My name is Teresita Price. I’m Josh’s mom.

Josh doesn’t like asking for money. So today, I told him I would ask you instead — and explain to you why he’s so deserving of your donation.

You always want your children to have more advantages than you had growing up. That was very true with me and Josh.

I grew up in the Philippines under the Marcos regime. At one point, President Marcos declared martial law, and our basic freedoms were threatened, including our right to free and fair elections.

I left to pursue an opportunity to work as a nurse in rural America. I was assigned to the hospital in Murfreesboro, Arkansas, and after meeting Josh’s father through a patient I was caring for, we got married and started a family.

I am so proud of the man Josh has become.

With such a bright future ahead of him, Josh has already proved himself to be an exemplary public servant.

No doubt, Josh’s years being around his father’s home-town gas station and grocery store laid the foundation for his work with the U.S. Small Business Administration.

As Secretary of State, he’ll be an advocate for all our businesses — no matter how small of a community they serve.

I saw firsthand how fragile democracy can be, and I’d like to think my story motivated Josh to serve as an Election Commissioner.

Democracy takes work. And Josh poured so much of himself into the work of keeping Arkansas’s elections free and fair.

After January 6th and all the lying about the election, I feared the worst. It was like history was repeating itself.

But when Josh launched his campaign to be Arkansas’s top election official, I’ll never forget what he said to me:

“Mom, I promise I will fight to make sure what happened in the Philippines doesn’t happen here, not just for you, but for all the people of Arkansas.”

I hope I’ve helped you understand why Josh’s character and experience would make him an exceptional Secretary of State. Can you donate to my son’s campaign today?

Joshua Ang Price is running for Secretary of State in Arkansas.  Learn more about his campaign here:  www.joshforarkansas.com.

© The FilAm 2021

By Loida Nicolas Lewis

When I texted Maria Banatao that I would like to talk to her in the morning at 11 a.m. New York time – which is 8 a.m. Los Angeles time — she told me that she would prefer to do it three hours later. Why? Because she would be going to Holy Mass at 8 a.m. It was August 26^th, and it was the 49th wedding anniversary of Maria and Dado Banatao.

Diosdado “Dado” Banatao is the Filipino tech entrepreneur who innovated several chip designs that revolutionized the PC industry in the late 1980s-‘90s. He co-founded three start-up companies, S3 Graphics, Chips & Technologies, and Mostron, with some of his products sold to Intel and IBM.  Negosentro.com called him the first Filipino Tech billionaire.  From 2002-2006, he made the Forbes Midas List of venture capitalists making big bets in leading tech companies.  

How did they meet?

In 1968, after working for a year teaching after her graduation with a BA in Psychology from St. Paul College in Manila, Maria was on her way to South Carolina with her aunt, Tita Femy,  whose son was an enlisted U.S. Coast Guard.

Maria’s father, Roman Cariaga, had a degree in Business from Syracuse University and later completed his Master’s in Sociology at the University of Hawaii. Having lived in the USA for more than 20 years as an American citizen, he joined the Army when World War II broke out. He subsequently returned to the Philippines with Gen. Douglas McArthur and lived back home.

At the age of 18 and after a year of teaching at the high school department of St. Paul, she left for the USA. Traveling for the first time and with tickets to go to South Carolina, their port of entry was Seattle, Washington. With a few hours to spare, she and her aunt visited with family friends, the Perena family, in Seattle who convinced her to live with them. She would enroll at the University of Washington where she completed her Master’s in Educational Psychology, Counseling.

It was at a Halloween party where Dado and Maria met in October of 1968. Dado was then working at Boeing as a design engineer for the 747-design team. A graduate from the Mapua Institute of Technology with a BS in Electrical Engineering, he worked a year and a half as a pilot trainee with Philippine Airlines before joining Boeing.

After three years at Boeing, he decided to take a full-time master’s program in 1971 at Stanford University. His interest in Computer Science led him to design his own masteral program in both Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Dado’s Horatio Alger story began in a small barrio in Iguig, Cagayan, the son of a rice farmer, Salvador Banatao and a housewife, Rosita Banatao. His parents enrolled him at Ateneo de Tuguegarao where he excelled despite coming from a small barrio public school. His Jesuit adviser encouraged him to enroll in Engineering at Mapua where he graduated with honors. He also was one of the top finishers in the Board exam.

First date

Their first date was in Dado’s car at the parking lot of Seattle University where he was a boarder. She was a bit taken aback that he just bought orange juice and Twinkies from the dorm vending machine as their meal. Through their long conversation, she got to know him as a down-to-earth guy. She was impressed that although Dado came from humble beginnings, he had big dreams for himself. She knew in her heart that he is passionate enough to do everything to achieve his dreams. After three years of dating — with a year of being away from each other as Dado was taking his master’s program at Stanford in California and Maria was working in Oregon as a counselor — they were married in August 26, 1972 in a simple ceremony in Los Angeles.  

They have three children: sons Rey, Desi, and daughter Tala. The family has now expanded to include two daughters-in- law, Gabby and Jinah, and son-in-law Thomas, and nine grand-children (six boys and three girls).

Dado was always busy with his career and with his multiple ventures so there were times that Maria had to take on both roles of mom and dad. But, as an ally and partner, she was always supportive and conscious of her role in the partnership.

What is Maria’s secret to a successful marriage? 

First: Establish the importance of communications. Each one should be able to tell the other, at the opportune time, whatever is happening in his/her life. 

Second: Husband and wife are a team with mutual goals and aspirations for the family. Be supportive of each other and there should be no blame game. 

In another year on August 26, 2022, Maria and Dado would be celebrating their Golden Wedding Anniversary. Maria is thankful to God for all the blessings she and her husband have received during these last 49 years and look forward to their growing old together and enjoying their family.

© The FilAm 2021

By Rowena Cruz

I love this picture of my mother. This was taken in February 1977 as she boarded a Korean Air Lines flight from Manila to San Francisco. She left behind her husband and three young children in the Philippines to build a life for us in this country. She worked hard, saved, and purchased a four-bedroom townhouse in Fremont. We joined her two years later as immigrants.

We lost my mom a week ago.

When I left the Bay Area 20 years ago, I embarked on a journey of self-discovery. I remembered what I had told my mother one day as an 8-year-old. I came home from school, holding a map of the United States, after correctly naming each state capital of all 50 states. I was giddy. “Mama, Mama,” I told her. “I’m going to visit all 50 states one day!” She put her hand on my head and smiled.

As a 16-year-old, I had visited the East Coast for the first time with my mother and we stayed with relatives in New York City. When we walked the streets of Manhattan, the bright neon lights and the blaring horns of taxi cabs captured my imagination. This city vibrated with an energy unlike I had ever experienced. At home, I took on the role of “the responsible one” who cooked and cleaned for the entire family while taking care of my younger autistic sister. Mama and I had a great time while on vacation. When we returned home to the Bay Area, I told her that I wanted to live in New York one day.

I’m not sure what she ever thought of my bold declarations as a young girl and a teenager. She never discouraged them. I was 30 years old by the time I figured out what I wanted to do for work. I wanted to travel the country and meet other Americans from every corner of the United States. My career as a customer training instructor in high tech became the engine to the vehicle that drove that dream.

In the summer of 2005, my mom treated me to a 10-day cruise to Alaska before I moved to New York for graduate school. It was the very last state that I had not yet visited. Done. And done.

When I graduated from Columbia University with a Master of Fine Arts in Nonfiction Writing in June 2010, I was not yet ready to be a writer. My personal essays and memoir pieces inspired by my family and my Filipino American upbringing in the Bay Area, remained in a folder in the hard drive of my Mac and later stored in the Cloud. I went back to work to do what I did best. I traveled. Every now and then, I worked on revisions, but at the end of the day, I found it too emotionally difficult to dig deeper into my own material and develop characters, whose relationships still played out in real life.

During the last three weeks of my mother’s life, she became bedridden and received hospice care at home. Every night, my partner, Kalpana, and I watched her favorite game shows and Filipino soap operas while she penned what she called “The Story of My Life” on notebook paper. She had finished a dozen handwritten pages summarizing the various events in her life with some details that I had not previously heard.

This past summer, she was diagnosed with severe aortic stenosis, a condition of the heart, where the valve had become too narrow. As a result, her heart worked too hard to pump blood to the other organs. She also suffered from Stage 4 chronic kidney disease. Mama struggled with fatigue and fainting spells when she exerted too much energy. At her age, she did not want to risk surgery to replace the valve, so we knew that her time was limited. We just did not know when.

I am so grateful for having spent the last seven weeks of her life with her. We also spent good quality time together for three months this summer when I worked remotely from her home. At times, it felt like I was still “the responsible one” cooking and cleaning for everyone while taking care of a family member, except this time, it was not my younger sister with special needs, it was my elderly mother nearing the final stretch of her journey. I knew that there was nothing else I would rather do. Work would always be there. My mother might not.

I had finished typing her written pages and given her a printed copy. She returned it to me with her corrections. We repeated this exchange three times in her last days. Her health took a turn for the worse when she gasped for breath in the middle of the night two days before she passed. After she read that final copy, she felt nauseous, struggled to breathe, and shot a glazed look that led to her final demise.

Her scribbled writings on lined paper were her parting gift to me, her daughter, a writer. I can now give myself permission to write her story, our story.

My life today would not even be possible had she never boarded that plane bound for San Francisco 45 years ago.

Rowena Cruz was born in the Philippines, raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, and lives in New York City. She is a graduate of UC Santa Cruz with a BA in American Studies, and Columbia University with an MFA in Nonfiction Writing. Her career as a customer training instructor in the high-tech industry has allowed her to travel all over the United States and Canada. She is working on a collection of personal essays about her immigrant family and her Filipina American identity.

Jessie Subijano Cruz, CPA, passed away on January 11, 2022 in Hayward, Calif. She was 78 years old.

© The FilAm 2022

By Cristina DC Pastor

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has a Filipino American family in Queens fearing the worst and hoping for the war’s quick end. “Putin is a jerk” can be heard reverberating around their brownstone apartment but that is usually accompanied by a careful explanation of Cold War history and the Russian leader’s seething hatred for America.

Kimberly Mende from Pampanga and her husband Alex Shaun Itskov find themselves keeping up with news on the invasion and having to answer their daughter what the war is about, who is Vladimir Putin, and where is Ukraine.

“What I’ve attempted to do was to give a historical background of the Soviet Union, communism, NATO, Putin, nuclear weapons, the Cold War, etc. and allow my daughter to cast her own judgments,” said Alex, a hedge fund executive.

Stressed Alex, “I want my daughter to understand it’s too easy to get sucked into prevailing media narratives. I want her to be able to think for herself.”

Alex, who works as Global Head of Operations for Two Sigma Securities, and Kim, an events organizer, met in 2007 and tied the knot a year later. They have a daughter Caroline who is now 12. 

Alex was born in the U.S. to Russian immigrants who came to New York in the late 1970s.

“Both my father’s and mother’s families escaped the Soviet Union to seek a better life,” he said when reached by The FilAm. “My mom’s side of the family were from a small town in the southern Caucasus region of Russia known as Nalchik. It was an idyllic little place nestled between the Black and Caspian Seas, near the border of current-day Georgia. Back then, there was a fairly heavy population of what’s called ‘Juhuru’ or ‘Mountain Jews.’”

His parents divorced shortly after Alex was born so he knew very little about his father who comes from a town called Unecha between Kyiv and Moscow. Unecha, which lies at the border of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, was heavily populated by Jews in the 1930s-40s. From his maternal grandfather’s stories, Alex learned how his Jewish family had to flee because of the “heavy antisemitism” they faced in the former USSR.

His grandfather, who had a PhD from a prestigious university in Moscow, bravely fled with his family and landed in New York. “It was a difficult journey for him, but he always handled it with a calm happiness, understanding that he made what he thought was the best decision for his immediate family and future generations,” he said.

Alex’s mother, a teen at that time, was so unhappy being taken away from the motherland. “When she arrived here, she felt super lost and didn’t quite know what to do with herself,” he shared. At 17, she got pregnant. Shortly after Alex was born, his parents divorced.

Alex was raised by his maternal grandparents. To this day, he has never visited Russia and holds a dim opinion of the country.

“I was the first generation in my family to be born in America, in 1981,” he said. “My first language was Russian, and my second language was actually a dialect of Farsi that was spoken by the Mountain Jews. I only learned English in school a few years later. There was very little connection to being Russian in my household; we were Jews first and foremost, and I was raised with Mountain Jew values.”

Today, the Mende-Itskov home in Queens is trying to keep in check some angry feelings about an unnecessary war that has left almost 1,300 Ukrainian soldiers and 40 civilians dead (as of this writing). In Russia, the toll is said to be anywhere from 2,000 to 12,000 fatalities, according to news reports. Propaganda from both sides is making it difficult to arrive at a near-accurate count.

“I’m against what Putin is doing now,” said Kim echoing Alex. “I’m generally against any kind of war under any pretext.”

Alex does not hold back. He said “My general view is that Putin is a Soviet KGB agent at heart. He has an oligarchical mindset, ready to grease people for their loyalty. It’s corruption at the highest level. Human life has little value to him, except as a means to achieving an end. He has an antiquated Cold War disdain for America and the West, with a paranoid delusion about NATO expansion being an existential threat.”

© The FilAm 2022

A transgender Filipina American from Georgia was shot dead in her home by her father who later turned the gun on himself, according to law enforcement.

Kathryn Newhouse has been described in the Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents website as “a 19-year-old Asian-American autistic trans woman living with mental illness issues.” Reports identified the father as Howard Newhouse, 57. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting further that the mother was home when the incident, where both father and daughter ended up dead, happened on March 19.

She was a Northbrook, Illinois native until the family moved to Georgia in 2020.

According to PLC, “Kathryn was a Minecraft and UberSpire enthusiast, an advocate for trans rights, had a bright smile, enjoyed changing up her hair styles, and attentive to world events. She enjoyed hiking and sightseeing. She was proud of her AAPI heritage; she was of Filipino heritage. She believed in the credo: Model best behavior in your own sphere, break down stereotypes, and speak out.”

A candlelight vigil was held this week to honor Kathryn, described by a friend as “a real sweetheart.”  No member of the family attended the vigil.

“In no circumstances is a father murdering his own daughter acceptable or understandable or a solution. It is murder,” writes the PLC.

Human Rights Watch, citing court records, says Kathryn’s father was previously arrested for assaulting her in 2019 when she was 16. “In 2019, Howard Newhouse was accused of ‘intentionally or without provocation’ causing physical pain and harm to his daughter at their home by ‘holding her down on a bed by her throat.’ Records show the father was arrested by deputies for a misdemeanor charge of simple battery, described as family violence.”

Adds HRW: “Newhouse’s death is at least the eighth violent killing of a transgender or gender non-conforming person reported in 2022.

“We say ‘at least’ because too often these deaths go unreported — or misreported. In 2021, despite limitations in reporting, HRC officially recorded the largest number of fatal trans violence incidents for a second consecutive year since we began tracking this violence in 2013.

“A report by the HRC (Human Rights Campaign) Foundation, “An Epidemic of Violence 2021,” found that between 2013 and 2021, approximately two thirds of transgender and gender non-conforming people with known killers had their lives taken by an acquaintance, friend, family member or intimate partner.”

Hi my name is Paul Cinco and I’m fundraising for my Mom Janet Cinco. On May 26, 2022 she was murdered by the hands of my Father. Now it’s is only me and my sister, Kyla Cinco. All donations will be used to contribute to medical bills, funeral expenses, relocation costs, and general utilities to support my sister and I. Thank you for your support.

Here is the Gofundme link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/kswrw-medical-bills

A Filipina resident of Lodi, New Jersey was killed by her estranged husband the evening of May 26 in what law enforcement is saying is a case of domestic violence.

Janet Cinco, 44, was “fatally stabbed” to death, according to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office. Her husband Joel Cinco, 48, was charged with her murder. Janet was rushed to Hackensack University Medical by emergency responders where she was pronounced dead in the operating room. Joel is currently held at Bergen County Jail awaiting trial on charges of murder, burglary and weapons offenses.

“In December 2020, Joel was arrested on domestic abuse charges — including stalking, harassment, terroristic threats and violating restraining orders. He now faces charges of murder, burglary and weapons offenses, for which he could serve a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted,” according to a report by 1010Wins.

Janet was stabbed to death in her home in 242 Westervelt Place in Lodi. Reports say neighbors held Joel down until police officers arrived. The couple have who children Paul and Kyla.

Janet’s Facebook page shows her last post to be dated January 25.  It shows a prayer meme in Tagalog:  “KAHIT AKO’Y NAGDARANAS NG MARAMING SULIRANIN, AKO’Y WALANG AGAM-AGAM, PANATAG SA IYONG PILING.” Janet’s 2017 cover photo shows her standing beside an Iglesia ni Cristo board that says: “I am proud to be a member of the Church of Christ.”

A press statement from Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced the arrest of Joel Cinco (married; unemployed) on charges of murder, burglary, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and unlawful possession of a weapon.

The arrest is the result of an investigation by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office under the direction of Chief Jason Love and the Lodi Police Department under the direction of Chief Donald Scorzetti.

On Thursday, May 26, at approximately 9:32 p.m., the Lodi Police Department received a 911 call reporting a stabbing at 242 Westervelt Place in Lodi. Upon their arrival at the residence, officers found 44-year-old Janet Cinco with apparent stab wounds. She was transported to the Hackensack University Medical Center, where she was pronounced deceased. An investigation conducted by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit and the Lodi Police Department revealed that Joel Cinco fatally stabbed his wife, Janet Cinco.

On Friday, May 27, Joel was arrested and charged with first-degree murder; second-degree burglary; third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose; and fourth-degree unlawful possession of a weapon. He was remanded to the Bergen County Jail pending his first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack, NJ.

Prosecutor Musella said the charges are merely an accusation and that the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and he would also like to thank the Lodi Police Department and the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office for their assistance in this investigation. — Cristina DC Pastor

© The FilAm 2022

By Cristina DC Pastor

Queens mom Casey DeLeon Pinola remembers shedding tears when she learned 19 children were mowed down in a school in Uvalde, Texas, a city once heralded as the “honey capital of the world.”

She immediately thought of her three children Carlos, 15; Caydence, 6; and Coah, 4, who go to three different schools in New York City.

“That night I will admit that I cried and held my children a little tighter than usual,” said Casey when reached by The FilAm. “When I sent them to school the next day, all I could do was believe they’d be okay.”

Eldest son Carlos in 10^th grade attends Legacy High School in Roosevelt Island. Daughter Caydence goes to PS 390Q, and youngest Coah is a student at Brookville Center for Children’s Services. Carlos and Coah are bussed to and from school as part of their  Individualized Education Program being students with developmental disabilities. Caydence is taken to school either by Casey or Caydence’s Lolo depending on who is available for the day.

“I am not scared about my children being in school because my kids are in good schools,” said Casey. “And  we are a tight knit school community.”  All three schools have practised different safety drills with their students, for which Casey is grateful.

But Casey and some parents have some observations about school security and suggested ways to reform them. It starts with a locked door, a security guard, and cameras. They noted how some schools have only cameras as the first line of defense  with no security guard to inspect the visitors’ bags or backpacks.

“Cameras are great but it takes only how many seconds for an intruder to enter and — worst-case scenario — attack the security guard before walking inside the school building. Some schools, have buzzers and an intercom where you state your purpose in entering the school,” she said.

Another suggestion is installing bulletproof doors and locks and a direct connection from each room to 911 stations. With all the money that has not yet been used for the COVID-19 pandemic relief, Casey believes schools can install these safety measures, at the very least the buzzers for the main doors.

She said screeners like those in airports are good to have too but may not be a priority in terms of budget.

Schools in other states have foggers or smoke machines to disorient any intruder, she said. “The fogging machine are installed in ceilings so the intruders can’t see the classrooms.”

She said parents in one of her children’s schools have brought up some safety concerns to the teachers.  “We parents have signed a petition to be presented to the principal and the DOE (Department of Education).”

 They observe also how some school staff need additional safety training.

“All we can do as parents is teach community safety and stress awareness (to our children),” she said.

She tells her children  that when they are in school “teachers are the authority.”  In the event of an emergency, they have to put their listening ears on and follow directions.

“I told them in the event of an emergency just get to safety, and don’t try to be a hero. I told them crying is okay but after they have taken action and they are safe and out of danger.”

© The FilAm

In her short film “Malditas,” Filipina-Puerto Rican filmmaker Bree Nieves documents how her Catholic Filipino community grappled with grief after the death of her Uncle Vince. The director centers the film around herself and her cousin Giselle coming to terms with their new reality in the conservative Florida county where they were raised. Through heartbreak and celebration, Nieves examines her multi-racial heritage, her faith and familial relationships.

Nieves’s documentary  is part of the World Channel series on  Asian American Stories of Resilience and Beyond which aired May 31 on PBS and is available also on World Channel’s YouTube. It has seven shorts that address the gamut of issues affecting the AAPI community, including immigration; the loss of loved ones and work due to COVID-19; the impact of George Floyd’s killing on Black Asian American families; and the murder of four Sikh Americans at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis in 2021.  

Nieves, who works as a field producer for CNN, pointed out what Maldita means to her as a headstrong daughter of a Filipino mother. That she chose to profile Filipino women who fight back proves her unbreakable attachment to her Philippine roots.

“To me it’s a phrase that a parent uses to a child to describe their combativeness or ‘bad behavior,’ when someone stands up for themselves and it isn’t wanted,” she said in an email interview with The FilAm. “I think the term’s use varies from family to family, person to person — sometimes it’s really negative and other times it can be used lovingly.”

Growing up, Nieves recounts, she always saw Giselle as the “perfect child” – well-behaved and well-liked. But at home, Giselle, was a “maldita.” Combining interviews with   verité footage, Nieves presents her family’s resilience during a time of increased hate and violence toward the Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community. 

“At the time, there was unrest against Asian women and men – emotional violence, emotional labor,” Nieves said. “The call to action came when me and my family were working through how to make sense of our grief.” 

Nieves was born in Oklahoma to a Filipino mother from San Carlos City in Pangasinan, and a Puerto Rican father from Brooklyn.

“My mom comes from a large family. Her maiden name is Evangelista from her dad’s side but she never met her father,” she said. She has four brothers, an older sister and very close cousins who are like siblings.

Her father she described as “Nuyorican through and through.”  

As a CNN field producer she works out of New York and Los Angeles. “I work for CNN on a team that produces Longform Documentary. We mainly focus on pop culture. We produce quick turn feature docs and are headed up by some amazing producers and thinkers.”

She continues to work on longform and short films, and is currently being mentored by New York director and cinematographer Stephen Maing. At one time, she was paired with Filipino filmmaker Ramona Diaz – hailed for her documentaries on Arnel Pineda of Journey and Imelda Marcos — who guided her on a project.

“I admire her work from afar and wanted to land in her orbit, when I found out she would be my mentor I was shocked. As a filmmaker she has killer instincts and I’m just hoping they rub off on me,” she said.

World Channel is a platform for up-and-coming filmmakers who tell stories that humanize complex issues.  Its content is available on the PBS app via Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and Roku.

Watch “Malditas” here:  https://youtu.be/-OIGacNhl3U

(C) The FilAm 2022

By Cristina DC Pastor

In New Jersey, there are only 11 doctors who specialize in the rare medical practice of Pediatric Nephrology, or the care of children with kidney disease.

Mother-and-daughter doctors Connie Uy, MD, 78, and Natalie Uy, MD, 44, belong to this near-exalted circle. As Connie was preparing for her  retirement as a pediatric nephrologist of 50 years in 2018, Natalie had stepped into the field, as a pediatric nephrologist at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC).  How is it possible that out of a dozen practitioners in the state, two would come from one Filipino American family?

It wasn’t a case of mother coercing – or cajoling – her daughter into following her footsteps. The decision was all Natalie’s.

“I did not coach her, I allowed her to decide for herself,” said Connie, amused to hear remarks that she had a hand in shaping Natalie to be the kind of specialist that she was.  Connie is the first Filipina to receive the New Jersey Woman of Achievement Award.

For so long, Natalie resisted the idea of following in her mother’s footsteps. But being  the youngest of three children, she said, “There was an unspoken assumption that I would be the doctor in the family since my brothers did not have any interest in medicine.”

Natalie is the only daughter of Connie and Nestor Uy, a retired corporate accountant. Brothers Lawrence is Associate Director in the Digital and Technology Partners at Mount Sinai Medical Center; and Darryl is Director of Admissions at Bates College in Maine.

After graduating from Columbia University with a degree in Neuroscience, Natalie remained ambivalent on what to pursue after graduation. To find her compass, she immersed herself in interests that are non-medical in nature, such as teaching in Hong Kong and working in a New York law firm.

“I wanted to explore other careers before committing to medicine because I knew, through my mom, that it would be a long road,” she said.

In 2003, Natalie decided to apply to medical school, and was initially interested in adult medicine, but “fell in love” with pediatrics. She was still fighting the idea of specializing in kidney disease because “I knew my mom was an exceptional pediatric nephrologist – and I didn’t think I would be able to do what she does.”

When Natalie finally chose to be a pediatric nephrologist, Connie was elated. “Knowing Natalie and her quest for logical thinking and a problem solver, I knew that she would choose nephrology,” she said.

Close bond despite distance

Mother and daughter are close. Even when Natalie moved to Manhattan, the two would not let a day pass without calling or texting each other.

“I am comfortable sharing with her my feelings on controversial issues,” said Connie, speaking to The FilAm.

Connie,  a medicine graduate from the University of the Philippines, came to the U.S. in 1967, and moved to Wisconsin for her internship at the Evan Deaconess Hospital. The following year, she moved to New Jersey, where she practiced medicine, first at the Martland Hospital in Newark. She and Nestor got married after two years and bought their first home  in Pine Brook in the 1970s. The chalet-type house  with a sprawling garden has been the family’s first and only home.

Natalie graduated medical school from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, and did her residency at Yale New Haven Hospital. She spent her fellowship at Montefiore in the Bronx.

Her admiration for her mother goes beyond what Connie had accomplished as a doctor in America.

“She moved to the U.S. in the late 60s, and joined the workforce as a female, immigrant physician, when medicine at that time was really an all-boys club. Based on hard work and perseverance, she rose to the top. She was way ahead of her time,” said Natalie.

As a mother, “My mom always separated work from family, so when she is home, she is a wife and mother. She doesn’t discuss work at the house. And so it was nice to see the other side, and watch her in her role as a physician.”

As a pediatric nephrologist  — Natalie is the director of the Pediatric Nephrology Fellowship Program at CUIMC / New York Presbyterian Hospital —  she takes cares of children who have kidney disease,  as young as newborns through adolescence. 

“I enjoy the ongoing relationships with my patients. Though kidney disease in children is rare, some are born with underdeveloped kidneys, and some develop kidney disease later,” she said. “Kidney disease affects overall health, and my goal is to restore their health, and help children manage these conditions so they can lead fulfilling lives.”

Connie, citing data from the Council of Pediatric Subspecialties, said that “As of 2012 there were 843 pediatric nephrologists in the US with average age 56.8 years, with 27.5% older than 65 and an additional 21.4% will reach that age within the next decade. It is estimated that the U.S. will require at least 30 new pediatric nephrologists per year over the next decade to simply maintain the pediatric nephrology workforce.” It is therefore important to continue to train and inspire the next generation.

Asking for help

Connie serves as Natalie’s inspirational mentor. Said Natalie, “It was so easy to discuss cases with her. She makes complex problems seem logical. There is a reason she has won so many teaching awards.”

Natalie has met many of her mom’s colleagues, students, and patients. She has been described by others as brilliant, scary and intimidating, which gives Natalie a good chuckle:  “I wondered how someone so petite could be so scary.”

Connie reminds her daughter not to hesitate to ask for help. A pediatric nephrologist’s hours can be long and burnout happens even to the best doctors. Having a strong support system is important. And Natalie does, recalling a time she came home exhausted from a long week. How does mom do it?

“She said she doesn’t do it all on her own, she has learned to delegate. And she was lucky to have my grandparents help raise us while she balanced her career with family,” said Natalie.

Has it been a tough act to follow? Absolutely! But with Connie’s guidance, Natalie has continued her mother’s legacy in becoming an accomplished physician with a passion for her students and patients. They hope to inspire not just students, but other mother-daughter doctors to share in this unique relationship in caring for children with chronic disease.

(C) The FilAm 2022

By Allen Gaborro

In 1967 a US Supreme Court ruling led to the legalization of interracial marriages. One such interracial marriage would be the union two years later of American lawyer Reginald F. Lewis and Sorsogon-born Loida Mañalac Nicolas. It would be the beginning of a beautiful and productive relationship that ended with the untimely passing of Reginald in 1993.

As a result of his entrepreneurial skills, Reginald would become among the richest Black Americans in the 1980s. A year after his death, his widow Loida would become the chairwoman and chief executive of the company her husband acquired in 1987, TLC Beatrice. Securing those leadership posts was one thing. But to be an effective executive was no easy task for Loida in what was considered to be a man’s world.

In her memoir “Why Should Guys Have All the Fun: An Asian-American Story of Love, Marriage, Motherhood, and Running a Billion-Dollar Empire,” Loida Lewis provides us with her collection of personal experiences and momentous turn of events that took place in her life. 

Her book features some honest introspection and remembrances, unshakable familial bonds, the sentimentality of the tender mercies that fortified her soul and spirit, and the evolution of Loida Lewis’s business acumen.

During her “joyful” childhood with her well-to-do parents in the Philippines, Loida cultivated what would be a close, lifelong relationship with God. Her faith was never more conspicuous than when she narrowly escaped death from an accident involving a military vehicle. Loida writes that her father saw this episode as a blessed portent of things to come: “My escape from death is simply God’s affirmation that I’m going to be a great lawyer.” In 1974, she would be the first Asian woman to pass the State of New York’s bar exam.

Loida met her future husband Reginald on a blind date in 1968. In that first encounter, the issue of race came up when Loida innocently asked him “what’s it like to be a Black man in America?” A piqued Reginald responded “I’m international!’” adding that “I don’t encourage or embrace labels that allow people to pigeonhole me.” 

Loida astutely grasped the meaning of Reginald’s reply: “He doesn’t want me dealing with him as a Black man, but as a human being. So just like that, he erases the concept of race from our conversation, which impresses me further.”

Racism would continue to be a lingering issue for both Reginald and Loida as a wedded pair but it would not deter them from future success and prosperity. With their conjugal paths blossoming together personally and professionally, Reginald and Loida would emerge, thanks greatly to the former’s highly-lucrative investments, as one of Manhattan’s “power couples.”  Loida asserts that “my beloved and I are undoubtedly the only African American/Filipina duo in the mix.”

Reginald’s enterprising ascendancy would lead to the lifestyle of the rich and famous for the Lewises. Which brings me to the blind spot in Loida’s book. To be fair, Loida makes a concerted effort not to appear snobbish or haughty. And yet, more than once does she unwittingly boast about her and Reginald reaching the financial summit and acquiring the perks and extravagances that dreams are made of.

With what I would describe as her occasional subconscious victory lap taking, Loida lays out self-congratulatory offerings like “Landed Gentry, Here I Come!” and “there’s no question my family and I are bona fide One Percenters now,” not to mention having attained the lofty status of consorting with “France’s uber elite.”

There are also casual Freudian slips if you will, that trot out a summer home in the Hamptons, a Parisian haute couture wardrobe, sumptuous art possessions, and collector’s item furniture.

Guilelessly, Loida walks a tightrope between living and breathing humility (she writes that “the rapid rise in the wealth, luxury, and privilege that I’m experiencing with Reginald is also making me uncomfortable.”) and the innate human desire to proudly tell everyone what you’ve accomplished without in her case, sounding supercilious. A handful of exceptions in her memoir notwithstanding, she does her best to manage that equilibrium.

On deeper reflection, Loida Lewis has come a very long way. The sparks of what would be her inspirational and fortuitous existence came from the humblest of origins. Now in her eighties, Loida has accumulated the wisdom of the ages and with that wisdom has realized her aspirations with the praise, respect, and admiration of her peers and loved ones.

Pre-Order her book today thru Amazon.com Search Loida Lewis, and

Why Should Guys Have All The Fun?

By Cristina DC Pastor

Who hasn’t met the husband of a nurse? We know him, he is in our circle of friends. We ask ourselves and sometimes wonder how he feels about his unconventional role in the family.

In the Philippines, he was probably an engineer, an accountant, the manager in an office or the foreman in a warehouse. He is used to giving orders and earning a good salary that allows his family to live comfortably.  In the U.S. the gender roles have shifted. His wife is now the breadwinner of the family. He becomes the stay-at-home parent while the wife is regarded as the one “wearing the pants.”

Dely Go, Grand Marshal of the Philippine American Friendship Community, Inc., has met many such husbands  in the course of her decades-long career as a nurse who became a nurse educator and is now the president of Nursing Network, LLC, a company that provides nursing staff to more than 35 facilities for New Jersey’s elderly population.

She shared this story at the PAFCOM Gala: One evening as she was preparing to go to bed, she got a call from one sobbing husband.

He said: “I’m the one who takes the children to school, does grocery shopping, cooks meals for the family, and drives the family to their appointments. I help the students with their homework. She has very little time left for the family. How long must we go on like this?”

Dely invited him to the hospital where his wife worked. The two met there the next day. She showed the husband how his wife diligently assists the elderly doctor who is her boss, how she shuffles from floor to floor to carry out his instructions, how she has been entrusted with the huge responsibility of caring for patients and how she efficiently delivers results. In short, the husband watched how his wife was trying to save lives. Right there, he understood why certain sacrifices had to be made if there is a nurse in your family.

Why Dely chose to share this story at the PAFCOM Gala on May 20 appears to be her way of  recognizing  the husband’s crucial role in the family and how he is regarded as a co-equal and not the lesser partner. It was also her way of illustrating the Filipino qualities of resilience, staying positive, and making sacrifices as they  “adapt to new environments.”

“It is this resiliency that has allowed us to thrive in the face of challenges, to adapt to new environments,” she said to a crowd of affluent Filipino Americans  gathered at the Marriott Hotel in Newark. By staying positive, she said, “we not only uplift ourselves but also create a supportive and encouraging environment for others.”

Dely came to the U.S. in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from Silliman University. She initially worked as a geriatric nurse and later became an open-heart surgery nurse.

While employed, she pursued higher education and completed her master’s degree in Nursing and Public Health Administration as well as her degree in Doctor of Nursing Practice in Nursing Education Administration and System Administration.

A licensed nursing home administrator, she founded Nursing Network in 2000 and grew the company serving about 35 facilities in New Jersey.  More than 500 nurses are employed through Nursing Network, and it is Dely’s responsibility to make sure they “consistently provide quality and safe nursing care” to patients.

She stressed how growing stronger as a community “demands sacrifice.”

She said, “Our ancestors and community members have laid the foundation for us, for our present opportunities through their sacrifice, resilience, and unwavering dedication. We must honor their legacy by following in their footsteps, by being willing to make sacrifices for the greater good, and by fostering an environment that rewards hard work, perseverance, and determination.”

By Veana del Carmen Pastor

They’re called “special” for a reason, children who are a little bit different, some a little bit slow, others a little bit frisky, still others with exceptional abilities we may never be able to understand.

Why are they excellent with numbers, why is their art so beautiful, their music so uplifting?

Children with special needs was a recent topic on Makilala TV, the  longest running talk show for Filipinos in the New York metro area. On the panel was Casey Deleon Pinola, a mother from Queens  who is raising two  neurodiverse sons, one of them a teenager, and a daughter. This mother and caregiver has experienced anxiety, burnout,  stress but has created a home where her children feel safe, loved and cared for.

Joining her was Deirdre Levy, a special education teacher in Brooklyn, who has known  families like Casey’s. She and other teachers try to support children outside of their homes, providing them education, guidance  and additional life skills they would need as they advance in years.

Casey said she would like people to be more understanding of children with autism, but acknowledged  there would always be stigma attached to the condition.

Her eldest child Carlos is 16 years old. She shared how doctors had told her he could never walk or talk when he was 2 years old. The boy has obviously defied doubters and naysayers as he is currently in his second year in college.

“I was 20 years old when my son got his diagnosis. Carlos was 2 years old then, and it was rather definitive that they told me he would never walk or talk,” she said.

Casey went on to  applaud her son for pursuing a  college education and deciding to study biology.

She said, “My 16-year-old son goes to college through a program he is enrolled in. I am so proud of him and my entire family is very hands-on which is a strange feeling because as Filipinos, we tend to avoid asking for help because we are all about pride.” 

She said her mother is a “very strong role model in my life and she taught me how to create boundaries when dealing with those who do not understand our situation.”

She took a soft breath then calmly said, “Just follow your instinct and advocate for your child. Make the other children around your child aware of their diagnoses so they can understand the behavior they do not understand. Children are resilient and the sooner they are exposed to learning, they can grow on their own. Do it in a way that can benefit your child. “

Special education teacher Deidre Levy pointed out that “neurodiverse” is a term that explains different ways of thinking and learning.

As a special needs educator she said she constantly reminds people that neurodivergent backgrounds mean having different approaches to learning. When asked how she introduces her students to others, her response was, “I do not include the word autistic. I do not like to label my students.” She said she prefers to point out their strengths  rather than pigeonhole them through labels.  

While it is not uncommon for children to have meltdowns, Deidre said, it is usually because “they simply cannot understand what they are doing due to communication issues.”  

She said she reminds her students to always ask for help if students become unruly. She explains that in their world, “We are just trying to help them understand in a calm manner and letting them make their own decisions.” Schools offer programs that include prep speech for certain behaviors when special needs students interact with other students. “They are welcomed with open arms and want to ensure that they are safe,” she said.

Casey shared the story of when one of her boys was having a tantrum in a very public place, a mall, and was acting out while lying on the floor.

“I lay down with my child (on the floor). What they are experiencing is…they just want somebody to understand since they can’t communicate (their feelings) properly,” she said.

©The FilAm 2023

Back in March 2018, neither believed they could meet a lifetime partner through a dating app. 

Roberto Villanueva liked Roman De La Cruz’s sweet and shy disposition and Roman liked Roberto’s candor. Perhaps such traits could be traced to their upbringing: Roberto, 48, was raised in Manila and became an accomplished professional in Manhattan. Roman, 28, grew up in the coastal province of Pangasinan where people’s livelihood was rooted in agriculture.

The couple’s journey from the Philippines to New York City was filled with adventure and laughter. Not to mention resilience because in the course of  their romance, Roberto suffered a knee injury that led to a months-long confinement in his Manhattan apartment. By September 2018, when Roberto had recovered, he returned to the Philippines to celebrate Roman’s birthday on the beautiful islands of Cebu and Palawan. 

As a city-loving person afflicted with entomophobia (fear of insects), botanophobia (fear of plants) and xylophobia (fear of forests and wooded areas), Roberto contemplated their future. He was still not sure about the possibility of a long-term relationship with a biophiliac, who preferred a traditional life in the province where he grew up: Would Roberto be willing to pack up his Manhattan studio apartment and live in a village where the nearest major department store was 40 minutes away? And would Roman be willing to swap out his tranquil five-minute walk to the neighborhood beach with a five-minute walk to the chaos of NYC streets?

Since the couple’s first meeting, they’ve met up in other Asian countries and sent each other thousands of online chat messages and Milk and Mocha emojis. They used the emojis as a fun way to express their affections for each other. Even when they weren’t connected by a mobile phone or computer, Roberto could hear the sound of Roman chuckling. 

In August 2020 at the height of the COVID pandemic, and with his mother’s blessing, Roberto proposed to Roman virtually via Google Meet and committed to relocating to the Philippines where they would build a life together. 

When Roberto underwent a spine surgery, he had to give up being a concert dance artist, relearn how to walk, and accept permanent debilitating nerve pains, body spasms, and neurophysiological and sensory deficits. Despite all these challenges, Roman never stopped cheering him up.

The K-1 visa process took two-and-a-half years, instead of the standard seven to eight months. They persisted. They never stopped learning new things about each other. Roman always had a small appetite. At one point, after Roman watched Roberto’s voracious appetite in action, Roman said: “I think you love food more than you love me.” Roberto, with a grin, responded: “I love you both equally.”

On the late evening of March 11, 2023, Roman finally arrived in NYC, his new home. This also marked his first visit to the U.S. While he had seen endless photos and videos of New York, nothing could prepare him for the introduction. In Roman’s words, “Wow, it’s so cold and expensive here! And the food portions are so large!”

Roman also discovered Roberto did not eat or keep any rice at home, nor put salt in his food. Roberto eats mainly bland steamed fish and meat with blanched vegetables. Filipinos consider rice as their primary staple food and eat it with savory dishes. 

One night, Roman teased Roberto by saying he was calling 911. “We have an emergency—we don’t have rice at home!”

Roberto initially booked the Buffalo, New York wedding and reception venue for December 2022. However, a delay in Roman’s visa processing forced Roberto to postpone the special event for his family and close friends until April of 2023.

Roberto made all the wedding decisions. As a New Yorker, he wanted every guest to be dressed in black–to honor NYC’s popularized head-to-toe black style. Roberto also choreographed a dance duet entitled “Tender Love”; his part required use of a chair. A reception for Roman’s family and friends was also held in Pangasinan at 5:30 a.m., on April 23–due to the 12-hour time difference.

Since Roman’s arrival in the U.S., Roberto noticed Roman’s infrequent moodiness. Nonetheless, Roberto has always managed to quickly turn Roman’s mood around. Roman also promised to work on his sporadic moodiness, which Roberto appreciated.

Furthermore, as the two spent more time together in NYC, Roman noticed Roberto’s workaholic tendency. Roman questioned Roberto about this and Roberto eventually agreed to curtail this tendency.

While there are certainly some differences between the two, they do have a couple of similarities. Both have large families (over 25 each) and enjoy being homebodies.  

(C) The FilAm 2023

“Batangas: My Sky and Earth” honors the late brother of  Vancouver-based author Bong Serrano.

Written as a heartfelt tribute to his older brother, Kuya Boying, who succumbed to kidney cancer in 2014, Bong Serrano’s debut work provides readers with fond memories of Batangueño life and culture through this meticulously researched book.

The province of Batangas is on the island of Luzon in the Philippines.  

“Publishing this testament to the most memorable times of my life fills me with emotions ranging from sheer excitement to a profound sense of fulfillment,” Serrano said. “Reflecting upon my childhood has been a labor of love, and I feel a deep sense of satisfaction in knowing that I have done it justice. Ultimately, I wanted to ensure that my precious memories of Batangas, and of our time together as a family with my dear late brother, would not vanish when I too am gone.”

“Batangas: My Sky and Earth” paints a deeply personal portrait of the people, culture, and traditions that shaped Serrano’s formative years. It transports readers to a remote era as it explores the landscapes and experiences of a child’s life unfolding in a little-known subdivision atop a hill. The memoir shares the universally relatable joys, challenges, and growth of Serrano’s childhood, while celebrating the inspiring love, guidance, forgiveness, and resilience of the surrounding community. It is a tale of connection, remembrance, and the power of storytelling to illuminate the rich tapestry of our shared human experience.

“This is a remarkable and engaging book on several levels,” said Howie Severino, one of the Philippines’ prominent journalists. “In remembering granular details of growing up, the author evokes a time and place in the tradition of the best memoirs. This book is important not just to a close-knit family but to anyone interested in Batangas in the 1960s and 70s. Colorful descriptions such as the sounds of mahjong tiles, and how the author’s grandmother had the common, and harmful, habit of smoking cigarettes with the lit end in her mouth, add vividness to the writing. If you’re of a certain age, references like these will bathe you in nostalgia. If you’re much younger than the author and I, this book will make you regret missing that era before mobile phones and social media, when kids still gathered in kitchens listening to an elder’s stories, and teens looked at the same lyrics in a magazine while singing along to a live guitar.” 

Published by FriesenPress, “Batangas: My Sky and Earth” is being distributed in hardcover, paperback, and digital editions. It is available online.

“I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity to connect with others through my words, to touch their lives, and hopefully to leave a lasting impact,” Serrano said. “With each page turned and each reader immersed in my narrative, I hope to evoke a sense of nostalgia, spark conversations, and inspire reflection and joy.”

Bong Serrano lives in Vancouver with his partner of 30 years and loves engaging with good stories, listening to music, and cooking adobo when he’s not watching Asian dramas. You may contact him at  media@bongserrano.com or through his blog at BongSerrano.com. A portion of the proceeds from sales of the book will be donated to the Ateneo de Manila Scholarship Fund to support students in the university’s School of Medicine and Public Health.

By Tricia Capistrano

“Sus ginoo!” Jon Jon Briones exclaims in Hadestown, where he plays Hermes, the messenger god.

I had heard that Briones was in the Broadway musical along with his daughter, Isa Briones, who plays Eurydice, and expected impassioned songs from the father and daughter. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the more senior Briones’ Tagalog interjections. He also does some Arnis choreography, but it is subtle; you will have to pay attention.

“Hadestown,” whose music, lyrics, and book were written by Anaïs Mitchell, is a folk, pop, and jazz interpretation of two Greek myths: Orpheus and Eurydice, and Hades and Persephone. In the musical it’s been ages since Persephone has left hell, ruled by Hades.  Persephone longs to be above. Because of the conditions on earth, Eurydice ends up in the underworld, and her lover Orpheus travels down to save her. Broadway.com  likens the musical to a  “hell-raising journey to the underworld and back.”

Jon Jon Briones plays Hermes, who tells the story, and his daughter, Isa Briones, plays Persephone. Jon Jon’s name will sound familiar to many Filipinos because he was in the original ensemble of “Miss Saigon” in 1989. The Quezon City native played many roles in “Miss Saigon” and was eventually cast as the Engineer. In the West End revival in 2014, he was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical. He reprised the part on Broadway in 2017. Fellow Filipino American New Yorkers and I saw him perform then, and he was excellent.

Isa Briones was born in London. Both her parents (Jon Jon Briones and Megan Briones, née Johnson) performed in “Miss Saigon.” Isa was cast in “Hamilton” in 2018. She was the youngest person to join the first national touring company. She played the dual roles of Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds and was the understudy for Eliza Schuyler until 2019. On TV, she starred in “Star Trek: Picard” in 2020. In 2023, she starred as Margot Stokes in the Disney+/Hulu series “Goosebumps.”

Unfortunately, baritone singer, Philip Boykin, who was supposed to play Hades, was out when I saw the show, but Alex Puette, the understudy, played the role exceptionally well. Another surprise is that the role of Persephone is played by folk singer Ani DiFranco, who makes her Broadway debut in “Hadestown.”

Jordan Fisher plays a very sweet and fragile Orpheus. He and Isa Briones sing soulfully in this tragic love story. For us Filipinos, Jon Jon Briones’ tokens of Filipino-ness make the show even more tender.

Jon Jon Briones and Isa Briones’ final performance will be on June 30.

© The FilAm 2024

Couple Roberto Villanueva and Roman De La Cruz went back to the scene of their wedded bliss, The Lincoln Center’s “The Wedding,” to celebrate their one-year anniversary.

A year ago, dance artist and higher education administrator Roberto and Roman, a hospitality professional, got married in Buffalo, New York, followed by an elegant and intimate reception for family and close friends. Weeks later, the duo also attended The Wedding as their way of sealing their matrimony, Manhattan-style.

In this year’s The Wedding, they were again joined by hundreds of couples including a pair who met in high school and have been together for 64 years. The Wedding, on its third year, was held at Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall.

“Roman and I attended the event for the second time. Basically, right after last year’s event, I told Roman we should attend the event yearly to renew our vows and to show our never-ending love for each other. He happily agreed,” shared Roberto in an interview with The FilAm. 

Vows made at The Wedding are not legally binding. The website says The Wedding “offer(s) New Yorkers the chance to celebrate love—from couples getting symbolically married for the first time, to those renewing vows or simply celebrating their love for the city.”

To make the event memorable, the couple made sure they stood out from the crowd with their attire:  extra-large bow ties and corsets with their shirtless tux. Roberto, who wanted the two of them to look sexy and stylish for the occasion, designed their look.

“It was a great hit from the time we entered the David Geffen Hall. Roman made the big bows that got everyone’s attention,” he said.

The couple invited their friends to attend. “They really enjoyed the experience and said they would do it again with us next year,” he added.

They got a kick out of the 360 photo-taking stations where they posed and kissed atop a revolving platform. They were drawn by a caricaturist and went home with Sephora Swag bags. There was also a henna tattoo station at the venue, which they decided to skip.

The program featured artists such as The Dance Cartel, Juilliard’s Alumni String Quartet, Street Beat Brass, Isaac Oliver, César Alvarez, Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis, Harolyn Blackwell, Joshua Henry, and DJ Lina.

Toward the end of the performances, a short ceremony was held where all the couples joined hands and wrapped a loose ribbon on their wrists while they recited vows. The program was followed by a champagne toast and a dance at the promenade.

Unfortunately, everyone had to leave the dance early due to the rain. Nonetheless, people left with smiles on their faces.

“Roman and I are very much looking forward to attending next year’s event,” said Roberto.

Roberto and Roman met through a dating app and agreed to meet in person in the Philippines in 2018.

It was instant connection. Roberto was drawn to Roman’s sweet disposition.  Roman, who grew up in the coastal province of Pangasinan, enjoyed Roberto’s candor.  Their  journey from the Philippines to New York City was filled with adventure and laughter.  

In August 2020 at the height of the COVID pandemic, and with his mother’s blessing, Roberto proposed to Roman virtually via Google Meet. They wed April 22, 2023 in Buffalo, New York. Homebodies both, they enjoy spending time together at their Manhattan apartment. – Cristina DC Pastor

As the community celebrates Filipino American History Month, “Oakland Ilokana” shines a light on the extraordinary life of Marie Veronica Mendoza Rivera Yip, “Lola” to granddaughter and the film’s director, Bay Area filmmaker Elenita Makani O’Malley.

Set to premiere in February 2025, this film balances historical documentary with an intimate character portrait, capturing Marie’s unfiltered charm as she vividly recounts her life’s journey.

Born in Oakland in 1934, Marie is among the first American-born Filipinas, her life unfolding against the backdrop of pivotal historical events. Through her candid storytelling, “Oakland Ilokana” explores 100 years of Filipino immigration history, beginning with the Manong Generation in the 1920s and ’30s. The film details her experiences growing up in Oakland Chinatown, raising six children in Montclair, and witnessing the cultural evolution experienced by three generations of Bay Area-born Filipinas: Marie, her daughter Christine, and her granddaughter Elenita.

Even at 90 years old, Marie’s story resonates deeply. “Oakland Ilokana” captures not only the personal history of one family but also the broader Filipino American experience, shedding light on the ripple effects of history that continue to shape generations.

The film confronts the reclassification of Filipinos as “aliens” after the Philippine Independence Act of 1934—a shift that severed ties with their homeland and profoundly impacted Filipino American identity. This displacement not only affected those who lived through it but also set the stage for how future generations would navigate their identities and connections to their roots.

Director Elenita invites viewers to broaden their understanding of what it means to be Filipino American by contrasting the experiences of three distinct waves of immigration.

Her mother, producer Christine, summarizes it well: “Sometimes I’ve felt different from other FilAms because our journeys are so different. Yet my mom’s story, my story, and my daughter’s story are quintessentially Filipino American stories.”

Marie turns 90 on October 15th, halfway through Filipino American History Month! She has six children, five grandchildren, and now three great grandchildren.

“She spends most of her time enjoying the San Francisco Bay Area with her family, going to church every Sunday, playing mahjong with her friends, and participating in Filipino and Asian American cultural events / groups in the Bay Area,” Elenita shared with The FilAm how her grandmother is today. She’s a longtime member of the Filipino American National Historical Society East Bay chapter.

While she was primarily a homemaker, Elenita said she also worked for a very long time as an administrator in different government capacities.

The documentary is produced in collaboration with Balay Kreative, a SOMA-based arts organization. The film encourages audiences to reflect on their own cultural histories and underscores the importance of passing down stories across generations. For more information on the film, visit: www.elenitamakani.com/oaklandilokana

By Cristina DC Pastor

Behind the reels showing the multi-awarded actress dancing cheerfully on TikTok, the Santos-Recto family of Batangas has been plotting to command power and form a political dynasty.

The veteran actress Vilma Santos has recently filed her Certificate of Candidacy (COC) to reclaim her former seat as governor of Batangas. In a startling move, she was joined by her two sons who also filed their own COCs: older son Luis Santos Manzano who will be running for vice governor of the province, and Ryan Santos Recto who is aspiring for the position of representative in the province’s 6th district. The trio was photographed grinning, wearing the red shirt of the Nacionalista Party and holding up copies of their COCs.

Politicians, even those who come from prominent political families,  never saw this coming. Many thought Vilma Santos, a respected actor, would never use her fame to promote family politics although it’s a common practice among clans to perpetuate power.

“It’s shameful,” said Vivian Talambiras Cruz, who comes from Batangas City. “They’re not even from Batangas and during her term as governor she didn’t even make any significant change. She is just counting on her popularity as a star, that’s all.”

Popularity is something Santos has plenty of. She has won numerous acting awards over the 60 years she has been on movie screens. She started out as a child actress in the 1963 tearjerker “Trudis Liit,” and has remained a box-office star through her latest film “When I Met You” in 2023.

Also from Batangas, Joebert Opulencia of Tanauan, remarked, “No one is to be blamed except the Filipino voters. They have allowed such in exchange for what?”

Fans of Vilma Santos, and they are legions, are just as disillusioned.

Said Edwin Josue on Facebook, “I love her but what’s the political dynasty that they’re creating. Very sad. Enough of families controlling the country.”

“She’s my idol,” said Nette Aquino, a resident of Queens. “but this move is a definite NO for me! Nakakalungkot lang na pati sya ay nahawa na rin.”

“I love her, but this is very unexpected of her! Very sad,” echoed retired nurse Menchu de Luna.

Jiji Shapiro, whose father is from Taal, said, she may not know much to be able to give an objective opinion. “The only thing I can say is I don’t agree that both positions of governor and vice governor should be from the same family. I know many are saying they’re not even Batanguenos and they have nerves to run for those positions.”

Ging Gonzaga took note that Luis Manzano was implicated in an alleged fraud related to a fuel company that plans to set up gasoline stations. He has since been cleared by the NBI although the 12 officers of the company continue to face estafa charges. 

Wept Vilma on Luis’s alleged involvement in the company where he was the president, “Ang anak ko tumutulong ng tao, hindi nanloloko.”

Vilma has served three terms as mayor of Lipa City from 1998 to 2007, and another three terms as governor of Batangas from 2007 to 2016. She was a two-term representative in the House from 2016 to 2022.

© The FilAm 2024