FILAM-jan2020

Issue 23, January 2020

More stories on the web @ TheFilAm.net

N.J. Judge Carlia Brady Charlotte Nebres

Fighting to stay on the bench p5

Nutcracker’s Marie is black and Asian p3

Dr. Alice Almendral

Soaring into the world of beauty and healing p10

Letter from the Editor

A remarkable athlete named Roger Casugay

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oger Casugay is a Filipino surfer who did something so uncommonly gracious while competing for a gold medal in the Southeast Asian Games last month.

After rival Indonesian Arip Nurhidayat broke his ankle leash and was hit by huge waves caused by typhoon Tisoy off Monaliza Point, La Union, Casugay remembered that he is a human being first and an athlete second.

He paddled back to the Indonesian and helped him back to shore. Casugay eventually won the gold medal in his event, but at that point it looked like he had given up his chance to win anything.

The surfing instructor insisted he is not a hero.

Casugay said there is a “brotherhood” in surfing, that no matter what happens, if someone needs help, you go back and help, he told a local paper. Indonesian President offered his gratitude to the Filipino athlete via Twitter: “Winning the competition and upholding sportsmanship is important, but humanity is above all.

My appreciation for Roger Casugay.”

In the macho world of sports where winning is the only thing that matters, what Casugay did was a great display of kindheartedness.

There was no gloating, no trash-talking, no breast-beating. Just a simple act of extending a Hailed as the Philippines’s ‘hero surfer.’ hand and pulling a rival out of choppy waters.

Contributing Writers Tricia J. Capistrano Ludy AstraquilloOngkeko Joel David Mariel Padilla Wendell Gaa Maricar CP Lindy Rosales Hampton Danielle Vania Angelito Cabigao Bonus

Founding Editor Cristina DC Pastor Address P.O. Box 8071 New York, NY 10116

Remember the slogan “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing”? It was originally uttered by UCLA Bruins football coach Henry Russell ‘Red’ Sanders and wrongly attributed to legendary football coach Vince Lombardi of the Green Bay Packers as it became an oft-repeated expression. One only has to look around the world to see how the phrase seems to characterize the so-many things wrong with sports and life these days.

When one thinks about it, the ‘winning is the only thing’ mentality is the reason why athletes use performance-enhancing drugs to get ahead.

As one baseball player quipped: “If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying hard enough.” It may help explain why Russia is being banned from the Olympics and the World Cup for state-sponsored doping.

What Casugay did is something we no longer see a lot of. That quality of kindness and good old-fashioned human decency. Shouldn’t his action be the norm rather than the exception?

What does it say about our society when such acts are so rare, where such qualities are so extraordinary we react with shock and incredulity when they happen?

Some part of our humanity is lost when winning becomes the only thing in the world. Roger Casugay is a forceful reminder it should not be that way.

Contact Thefilamny@gmail.com

The FilAm is a publication of A&V Editorial THE FILAM |

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Charlotte Nebres and the FilAm ballet stars who came before her

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By Cristina DC Pastor

n the ballet world, they say ‘being black’ is a big thing, a cause for celebration.

When Misty Copeland became the first female black principal dancer for a major company like the American Ballet Theatre, it was a joyous, historic moment. In ballet where white dancers — “lily white,” according to Pointe Magazine — reign supreme Copeland was able to smash the glass ceiling and break barriers.

It came as no surprise to people familiar with ballet that in announcing that 11-year-old Charlotte Nebres is playing the role of Marie in The Nutcracker this year, the media highlighted her African American ethnicity.

Nebres, a ballerina for the School of American Ballet (SAB) is being hailed for being young and being black.

The next Misty Copeland.

“The first black lead in NYC Ballet’s ‘The Nutcracker’,” reads the New York Post headline.

“Seeing a black girl as Marie in ‘The Nutcracker’ is ‘huge,’” says CBS News.

“Charlotte Nebres is the first black Marie, the young heroine of ‘George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, at New York City Ballet,” is the opening line in a New York Times feature article.

The mainstream coverage appears to highlight only half of Nebres’s ethnicity. While Charlotte’s mother Danielle is from Trinidad, her father Joe is from the Philippines. She is the middle of three children.

The FilAm learned that her father is related to a prominent prelate, Fr. Bienvenido Nebres, who served as president of the Ateneo de Manila University for many years. It was pointed out on social media how in the accounts of this little girl’s rise to ballet prominence, her Filipino ethnicity is being “erased.”

“Omg I’ve been reading the headlines and no one mentions her Filipino background,” writes one on Facebook.

Filipino American dance artist and educator Roberto Villanueva explained the history of ballet tracing its storied roots in Italy in the 15th century. In an interview with The FilAm, Villanueva, the founder of BalaSole Dance Company, discussed how the predominantly white art genre is becoming conscious about the need for diversity.

“Ballet historically, from its roots in Italy during the 15th century and its professionalization in the 17th century until the 20th century, has been a (white) European art form,” he said. “So, there are very few blacks in the ballet world in general.”

Even though ballet started to make its way to the U.S. in the 1800s in a very small scale, it wasn’t until the first part of the 1900s that it started to gain popularity, he

Georgina Pazcoguin is the first Asian American promoted to soloist role at the New York City Ballet. Photo by Paul Kolnik/ GeorginaPazcoguin.com Filipino-Trinidadian Charlotte Nebres plays Marie in George Balanchine’s “The Nutcracker.” Instagram Photo. principal dancer in 2015,” he said.

The diversity campaign is making headway with reports that ballet is now starting to open its doors to dancers from other ethnicities. In the “Nutcracker” production where Nebres is portraying Marie, she is Siblings Lia Cirio and Jeffrey Cirio when they were joined by other performers both with the Boston Ballet. of mixed race — Tanner said. “It did not become a popular art form until Quirk, who is half-Chinese the mid-1900s.” and Sophia Thomopoulos, While blacks have been in the American balwho is half-Korean, halflet scene earlier, it wasn’t until 1955 that a first Greek, according to reports.

Stella Abrera, a principal dancer for black male dancer received a principal title in a In the Filipino American American Ballet Theatre. major U.S. ballet company, he said. His name was community are dancers who Arthur Mitchell, and he was the first African American have similarly broken stereotypes. Stella Abrera of Calidancer with the New York City Ballet (NYCB). fornia was promoted to the rank of principal dancer with The SAB where Nebres is a ballet student, was founded the ABT in 2015, the same year as Copeland. Philadelin 1934 by George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. It is phia-born Lia Cirio is currently a principal dancer with the dance academy of the New York City Ballet. the Boston Ballet. Her younger brother Jeffrey Cirio, Before Copeland, there was African American Debra previously with Boston Ballet, became the first FilAm Austin who was named principal dancer in a regional male principal dancer with the ABT before joining the ballet company, the Pennsylvania Ballet, in 1982, said English National Ballet as a guest artist in 2017. Lia and Villanueva. But it was Copeland, he stressed, who Jeffrey are biracial; their father is from Subic Bay who reached the pinnacle in 2015 at the world-renowned met his American wife when the family came to the U.S. American Ballet Theater (ABT) founded in 1939.

Georgina Pazcoguin is NYCB’s first Asian American, first “There has been a big push and awareness campaign Filipina American ballerina promoted to a soloist role. for black/brown ballerinas since Misty’s promotion to She has a Filipino father, and her mother is Italian.

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Architect Emmanuel Canlas: A towering success in KL

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was in Kuala Lumpur in December for the Asia Pacific Leaders program hosted by the Obama Foundation to train some 200 young, “emerging leaders” from 33 countries in the region.

While in Malaysia, I met one of very few prominent Filipinos in the country: Architect Emmanuel Canlas. He was introduced to me through the kindness of Philippine Ambassador Charles Jose.

Manny Canlas was born in Manila on March 26, 1956 to Carlos Cordova Canlas, an accountant, and Aurora Oliveros, a dressmaker. His father considers Pampanga his hometown, and his mother is from Bataan. He is the eldest of two boys and four girls.

Manny grew up in Manila, but went to high school in Plaridel, Bulacan.

“It was an awesome self-realization of basic life without the sophistication and stress (of city living),” he observed about being educated in the province. “I’m glad my Mom took me to the province to grow up and see nature at its best: clean swim-able rivers, carabaos, birds, rice fields, nights without electricity...”

For college, he went to the University of Santo Tomas in Manila to study Architecture.

Choosing Architecture as his career was by happenstance, an “accidental choice.”

He recalled how his father accompanied him to Manila to enroll. “I was good at drawing, so I went to the UST

Father's Day dinner with wife Kristine and son Nicholas.

College of Fine Arts. I noticed a long line of 20-30 people at two of the window counters. So, I went to the one with the shortest line and asked for the form to fill up for Fine Arts. The lady said I was in the wrong line and pointed at the longest lines. Being determined to come home with a mission accomplished report to my parents, I filled up the form and only then I realized that I enrolled in Architecture. The rest is history.”

While still studying, he had his apprenticeship at his grandfather’s firm Simoun T. Soriano Architects and Partners. After graduation, he worked as a draftsman for less than a year with Asia Land Development Corp. to gain experience. Good fortune came his way when he joined Leandro V. Locsin and Partners in 1980 on the recommendation of a friend.

He passed the board exams in 1981 and at the same year was promoted to group leader and sent to Brunei to over-

An architect by accident. see the construction of the residential Palace of the Sultan of Brunei. It took three years to complete.

A huge sprawling complex of buildings (including underground floors) and 1,788 rooms, with a banquet hall for 5,000 guests and a mosque for 1,500 worshipers, Istana Nurul Iman (The Light of Faith Palace) is considered by the Guinness World Records as the “world’s largest residential palace” with 2,152,782 square feet of floor space.

It was in one of the social gatherings by the Ayala Group in Brunei that Manny’s life turned towards Malaysia.

He met a Malaysian businesswoman, Kristine Wong, who became his best friend. When the Palace project was at its near completion stage, Manny left Brunei and followed the love of his life to Malaysia in 1983. They got married in January 1, 1986 in Manila. His mother made Kristine's wedding dress.

The completed Istana Nurul Iman, the official residence of the Sultan of Brunei.

It is said to be the world’s largest residential palace.

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Since then, Manny has been connected with some prominent architectural practice and involved with the following landmark projects in Malaysia: 1) Hajeedar and Associates -Restoration of Heritage buildings, -Cherating Holiday Villa Resort Hotel -Bank Pembangunan Office Tower 2) Kumpulan Senireka Sdn Bhd -224 units high-rise condominium -235 units high-rise condominium -300 units high-rise condominium 3) RSP Architects Sdn Bhd -Platinum Park Office Tower -Seri Hening high-rise condominium -Master-planning for Queens Bay 4) Emmanuel Canlas Design -June Lew residence -Yeo Boon Leong residence -Dr. Mario Borja residence From 1999 to 2001, Manny maintained an office in Makati, Metro Manila.

During that time, their only child, Nicholas, now 28 years old, studied in Lourdes School in Mandaluyong.

His son followed in his footsteps and became an architect himself, graduating from Taylor’s University School of Architecture and Building Design.

Manny, at 63, considers himself semi-retired and was inspired by his son to teach at the same university he graduated from. A very rewarding career of sharing his work experience with budding future architects. He is also the founding president of the United Architects of the Philippines Kuala Lumpur chapter founded in 2015.

Son Nicholas finished his Master’s Degree in Dessau, Germany. He is now working with the design team of the prominent firm, RSP Architects Sdn Bhd. Manny is very proud of his son, who is comfortable both as a Filipino and as a Malaysian.

I asked Manny what his basic philosophy is. “Just be yourself and not copy somebody else,” he replied.

He learned from the National Artist Leandro V. Locsin, fondly called “Tatay” by his employees, to “always do your best and try to be the best in whatever you do.

But remain humble.”

N.J. judge in ‘harboring’ case fighting to keep her job

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By Cristina DC Pastor

his is the convoluted story of a Filipina judge in New Jersey accused in 2013 of “harboring” a fugitive boyfriend, cleared in 2018 of all charges, and is now fighting to keep her position as a member of the bench.

Superior Court Judge Carlia Brady, 47, was suspended without pay, lost her home, incurred legal fees and other expenses, and moved back in with her parents. After five years, she was cleared of the criminal misconduct and reinstated to her old position.

However, in the midst of starting to pick up the pieces of her fractured life, comes a motion from the Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct of the Supreme Court of New Jersey (ACJC) recommending she be removed as a judge. Brady considers this latest move as harsh and malicious, and she is fighting back.

Some members of the Filipino community who are following the case are left to wonder about this latest move after charges have been dismissed.

At the crux of the “harboring” case, which received wide media coverage, were two significant dates: June 10 and June 11, 2013.

On June 10, Brady reported her car missing after her then live-in boyfriend Jason Prontnicki failed to return it. The Woodbridge Township Police Department (WTPD) ran a background check and discovered Prontnicki was wanted for bank robbery and illegal possession of weapons. Brady said she was not aware of his criminal background. It was agreed that she would call WTPD when Prontnicki showed up to return the car.

WTPD said Brady did not call when Prontnicki came to her house on June 10 to return her car. She also, as alleged by WTPD, did not call when he came back the following day to get his belongings.

Brady insisted she did call on both days and actually left two voice messages with police officer Robert Bartko to whom she reported the missing car. She said in court papers she could not call WTPD while Prontnicki was inside her home because she was “afraid for her safety and the safety of her elderly parents” as he may be armed and dangerous.

What happened next, according to a civil complaint filed by Brady’s lawyers at Hinson Snipes, LLP, “Judge Brady…was handcuffed, arrested, transported to headquarters by (officer) Bartko, and shackled to a wall at headquarters. Defendants then threw Judge Brady into a holding cell with other prisoners.”

In the civil action filed against the Woodbridge Township, Brady’s lawyers maintained the arrest was “false and fabricated,” and that the judge committed no crime.

Although the indictment was dismissed and Brady was ordered reinstated on March 6, 2018, the ACJC has filed on September 16 a formal complaint asking for her removal from the bench. The ACJC court document was

At a court appearance in 2015.

Photo: Mycentraljersey.com signed by Stephen Skillman, Vice Chair; and Edwin Stern, Panel Chair. It was noted in the document that Chairperson Virginia A. Long did not participate.

The ACJC states that Brady violated provisions of the Code of Judicial Conduct, citing the circumstances of June 10 and 11, 2013.

“Respondent, having demonstrated a predilection toward dishonest conduct both when dealing with authorities in a criminal context and when defending Brady currently resides in Central New Jersey with her husband against these ethics charges, has irrepa- and their 4-year-old son. rably impugned her character for truthfulness and has rendered her continued They are now retired and are active members of the credible service as a jurist untenable.

San Carlos City Negros Occidental Organization – USA “Given the totality of Respondent’s conduct on Chapter (SCCNOO-USA), a Filipino cultural group June 10 and 11, 2013, we find that no remedy short of that raises funds for the education of needy children in removal will properly safeguard the public’s confidence San Carlos City. in our system of justice.”

She graduated from the Seton Hall University School Brady is determined to fight her “continuing perseof Law and has an undergraduate degree from Rutgers cution,” according to close family friends.

College. Prior to her confirmation to the Superior “Judge Brady remains strong with the help of God’s Court of Middlesex County, she served as a law clerk grace and support of her family and friends, who believed for three judges in the Superior Court of New Jersey. in her innocence since the beginning of her ordeal.”

She would later go into private practice with top New Brady is the daughter of Oscar and Ophelia MagJersey firms Peckar & Abramson and Stark & Stark. pantay from San Carlos City in the Philippines. In She has been called a “rising star” following her 1976, she immigrated to the U.S. with her parents and confirmation and widely respected for her “solid trial younger brother. Carlia and her family have resided in experience” and “sharp intellect.”

Central New Jersey for the last 43 years.

On April 5, 2013, she was sworn in as the first FilipiOscar Magpantay was an accountant in the Philno-born Superior Court Judge in Middlesex County. ippines and worked as a laborer in the U.S. Ophelia Two months later, this incident that began with a Magpantay was a teacher of the severely handicapped. missing car happened.

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Catholicism and identity in contemporary Philippine art “Under the Bells,” an exhibition featuring the works of three contemporary Filipino artists, is currently on view at Pintô International in New York until February 29. It opened on October 16, 2019. aith, religion, and spirituality are powerful forces in the Philippines. Catholicism, the archipelago’s predominant faith, colors all aspects of local culture. This exhibition, curated by Pintô International Director Luca Parolari, brings together the works of three artists to demonstrate not only how the country’s Catholic history provides fruitful subject matter for artists (be it from a position of critique or careful analysis), but how this history and its iconography becomes indigenized, adapted, and filtered. The works of Cian Dayrit, Kawayan de Guia, and Nona Garcia confront the paradoxes inherent in religion, calling into question the purity of singular religious identity.

The exhibition’s title refers to how the lives of Filipinos have been organized around religion. For 400 years, Filipinos have lived ‘debajo de las campanas’ (under the bells) of the church. As the Spanish colonized the archipelago, they consolidated dispersed peoples into pueblos with the church at the center of

town life. Church bells would dictate the day’s events and summon villagers to worship. The parish priest often wielded dominant power in the pueblo, and so Filipinos have lived “under the bells” of Catholicism, figuratively and literally. As the works of Dayrit, de Guia, and Garcia demonstrate, religion often becomes uniquely hybridized “under the bells” as Catholicism blends with pre-Hispanic traditions of spirituality.

Cian Dayrit’s textile works engage with faithbased symbols to analyze the images, objects, and institutions that dictate what power “is.” In his works, created especially for this exhibition, Dayrit monumentalizes the anting-anting, a type of charm often inscribed into handkerchiefs carried by Filipinos. Intended to protect the carrier from harm, Dayrit embroiders his works with an imagined iconography and Latin words, creating a constructed sense of mysticism and spirituality.

Kawayan de Guia’s surreal, tableaux-like paintings emerge as “portraits” of indigenous figures in museological settings. Based in the Cordillera mountain range north of Manila, de Guia’s paintings engage with the changing nature of this region in the face of modernization and development, as well as the region’s spirituality.

The figures are surrounded by Van Gogh paintings, globes, and ‘bulols,’ pre-Hispanic representations of spirits or ancestors carved in the Cordillera region. De Guia’s works consider the fallout when ancestral spirits collide with Western culture.

Kawayan de Guia’s ‘Ethics of Mysticism’.

Nona Garcia’s ‘Divine Exposure IX’.

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Nona Garcia’s haunting light boxes are the latest iteration of her ongoing x-rays of statues of saints.

Catholic families frequently place saintly icons in their homes, which offer the devoted paths to spiritual and physical healing. Garcia seeks to reveal the materiality of the statues, while bestowing upon them a sense of otherworldly presence. She channels the traditions of the Cordilleras into her surroundings and takes an objective look beneath the surface of venerated objects.

Pintô International is the New York-based entity overseeing the global exhibitions and programming of the Pintô Art Museum in the Philippines.

The organization is committed to supporting the careers of pioneering regional contemporary artists and fostering global connoisseurship for their distinct artistic practices. Pintô International presents quarterly exhibitions, an artist residency program, and a monthly Pintô Sessions event series at the East Village location.

Dr. Joven Cuanang, Pintô founder and president, states: “For over three decades, it has been my unwavering vocation to undertake the promotion and support of contemporary Philippine art in my home in Manila. As Pintô builds its global constituency, we are looking to New York’s uniquely cosmopolitan, progressive arts community to join us in building a dialogue around a platform for the contribution of living Filipino artists.”

Cian Dayrit’s ‘Adversus Contradictores III’.

Study examines attitudes toward homosexuality in ‘70s Leftist group

By Cristina DC Pastor

A new research showed how Filipino LGBT members of a U.S.-based Leftist organization in the 1970s navigated their emerging sexualities while maintaining revolutionary commitments.

Gender studies scholar Dr. Karen Buenavista Hanna discusses her research at a CUNY AARI forum.

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r. Karen Buenavista Hanna discussed her article “Being Gay in the KDP: Politics in a Filipino American Revolutionary Organization (1973 to 1986)” in a talk organized by the CUNY Asian American/Asian Research Institute Forum on November 22. The study found that the KDP was “unique” compared to other groups in the Third World Left in that its LGBT members occupied leadership positions.

“In fact, it was the only Asian American organization in the 1970s that allowed gay or lesbian members,” it said.

Hanna, an assistant professor on Gender, Sexuality, and Intersectionality Studies at Connecticut College, has done extensive research on Asian American movements as a gender studies scholar. Before that, she was involved with organizing communities of immigrants, domestic workers, and young Filipinos in New York City from 2006 to 2011.

The KDP was founded in the San Francisco Bay Area as an anti-imperialist, anti-Marcos dictatorship organization a year after Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law. In its heyday, the militant organization had chapters in nine U.S. cities, including Guam, New York, and Seattle.

One of the three founding members is identified as FilAm bisexual “Melanie Santos,” a pseudonym. She was imprisoned during martial law and deported back to the U.S. She co-founded the KDP in the Bay Area which became an important Filipino organization in the U.S. that denounced human rights abuses under the Marcos Dictatorship and lobbied against U.S. aid to the Philippines. The KDP tiptoed around Santos’s sexual orientation and would not openly discuss it worried it might be used to discredit its leadership.

The KDP had a cultural arm called Sining Bayan, and a newspaper, “Ang Katipunan.”

“It was quite sophisticated in its infrastructure,” said Hanna whose research interviewed almost 40 former KDP members. “It was local, transnational, and radical, and had two main goals. One, to fight for socialism in the U.S. and two, to support the revolutionary movement in the Philippines.”

An interview in Trinity Ordona’s 2000 study, “Coming Out Together” cited in Hanna’s research,

describes how being a gay activist before KDP was founded in the early ‘70s tended to be “isolating.”

“It was a quiet thing. I could not tell anybody. Any inclinations, I had to can it. I had to dance with a guy and yet be attracted to a woman. ‘Looky-loo, but not speak.’ You could see, but not use your hands or mouth…”

Said Bruce Occena, a member of the KDP National Executive Board based in the Bay Area, who was interviewed in 2015. “Even though there was no explicit homophobia, there was still a pressure…well, coming out is never easy. When you’re in a very intense, demanding situation and you hold a position of leadership, this was always the joke…–Okay, you can come out, but you’re not going to have time to find a boyfriend or girlfriend. (laughs).”

There was a shift in the way that homosexuality was treated in the KDP over time, and this was shaped by historical forces, among them the emergence of a Gay Liberation Movement in the early ‘70s and the AIDS epidemic of the ‘80s. During this time, ‘coming out’ became easier as fellow activists became receptive to emotional support. Many KDP members, such Gil Mangaoang, Ia Rodriguez, Jaime Geaga, and John Silva got involved in AIDS advocacy as part of their political activism.

In its early years, one member left the organization over disenchantment with not being able to freely express his homosexuality. Those who stayed behind had to repress or “subsume their sexuality” at the risk of being viewed a security risk or not a true militant, mirroring the homophobia of McCarthyism and the THE FILAM |

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The KDP was founded as an anti-imperialist, anti-Marcos dictatorship organization. revolutionary groups that inspired the KDP. In 1986, the KDP officially disbanded.

“While KDP was unique for its tolerance of gay and lesbian members, its starting point was imperfect, a reflection of the homophobic era that shaped it,” said Hanna. “Yet, it evolved. Understanding reasons for intra-movement homophobia in the 1970s can help to better understand the hetero-patriarchy that continues in current day organizing in the Filipina/o community and beyond. By recognizing the forces that shaped KDP’s evolution, we find hope that people and movements can and do change.”

Mencie Hairston of Mabuhay Inc. tells the story of ‘Why Filipinos love Christmas.’

Mabuhay Inc. performs the Tinikling bamboo dance.

Parol and Tinikling on Philippines Day

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ore than 300 visitors composed of families with young children participated in the firstever “Philippines Day and Ligligan Parul” held on December 8 at the KID Museum in Bethesda, Maryland.

Ligligan Parul or Festival of Light is a traditional holiday festival observed in the City of San Fernando Pampanga. It features a competition of giant lanterns

to welcome the Christmas season.

Kids were introduced to the Philippine lantern and were given materials to create and design their own which they could bring home with them. They participated in crafts making and textile projects featuring the Philippine tarsier, paraw boat, and tigmamanukan (fairy bluebird).

Interactive activities also added entertainment for the eager kids,

including a cooking demonstration on how to make lumpia shanghai (fried egg rolls) and macaroni salad. The program featured storytelling of Filipino folk tales and a Tinikling bamboo dance presentation.

“As we celebrate the Christmas season, we are proud to impart unique Filipino traditions, which will help foster stronger bonds within Filipino American families and communities,” said Ambassador

Jose Manuel Romualdez in a statement.

“This is what the holiday season is really all about.”

The event was made possible through a collaboration with the Filipino Young Professionals of Washington DC (FYPDC) and Mabuhay Inc. Both organizations contributed time, manpower, and resources beginning from the planning stages of the event up until the execution during the program day itself.

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Helen Castillo: New PAFCOM president shakes things up

By Cristina DC Pastor

This year, PAFCOM will have a different spectacle for U.S.Philippine Friendship Day.

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here will be no single grand marshal.

What incoming President Helen Castillo would like to happen is for all past grand marshals to headline the parade as the Philippine American Friendship Community, Inc. marks its 30th anniversary. The celebration will herald bands, hip hop artists, and food trucks.

“I will not have a grand marshal next year but will have all the past grand marshals to be at the parade,” said Helen in an interview with The FilAm. “I want them to relive the time when they were grand marshals. I want them to be more involved and be recognized at the gala.”

Helen, 59, is a rare leader in the community. She has been affiliated with only one organization for many years and that is PAFCOM, a non-profit that mobilizes Filipinos in New Jersey, identifies their needs, and works toward improving their quality ‘We have very good leaders at PAFCOM.’ of life as immigrants.

She started out as an observer in 1997, invited with ABS-CBN; fundraising for the Balatbat by her long-time partner Edwin Solano. The following year, she decided to formalize her mem- family who died in a Virginia tornado; and numerbership and offered to help out in the parade. ous annual parades. In collaboration with Let’s It’s been two decades since she joined. Helen Celebrate Soup Kitchen, PAFCOM has been serv- A love for dancing, walking for a cause, and just enjoying a quick getaway to Washington D.C. Photos by Gani has been behind the scenes, in front, on the ing Filipino breakfast and lunch to the homeless Puertollano and Lumen Castaneda sidelines, and from time to time stepping up community of Jersey City for four years now. Its when some leaders are not available or not up to “Pusong-Pinoy” health fair in collaboration with their tasks. Through varying roles, she learned Holy Name Medical Center and now with Jersey After two months in Northwood, Irvine, she the ropes. As she began to acquire more experiCity Medical Center is another well-attended moved to Jersey City and fell in love with the ence, more responsibilities fell on her lap: booth gathering, as its annual “Pasko sa Hudson Mall.” city by the Hudson. She got her working visa assignments, permits for parades, fundraising, “I like PAFCOM because of the diverse memafter three months working for the production company of Tommy Hilfiger in Manhattan. She grant writing, etc. She took her duties seriously bership and the transparency. We have very good worked with the private-label company for almost and always with the graciousness of one who is leaders who make sure we are on track and coma decade. genuinely devoted to her club, her one and only. pliant with regulations governing a non-profit After two years as a property manager for a “Since I joined PAFCOM I have been a loyalist,” she organization,” she said. company in Short Hills, N.J., Helen joined the said. “I am not a member of any other organization. ||Single parent Math Department of the New Jersey City UniI am a person who gives my 100 percent to what I believe in. I cannot serve two masters at a time.”

A graduate of Agricultural Business from the versity in Jersey City. As a program assistant, In 2004, Helen became Overall Chairperson, University of the Philippines, Los Banos, Helen she juggles many duties, such as coordinating ushering in her membership in the board in the came to the U.S. in 1993, staying in California the department calendar, maintaining students’ succeeding years. She took part in organizing initially. She was urged by her parents to come to files, reviewing and recommending vendors, PAFCOM’S Zumba, yoga and line dancing health the U.S. after the end of her marriage. and authorizing payment. A role that requires and fitness program; youth basketball clinics; “My parents said I have no future in the Philipresourcefulness, exceptional intellect, and focus. fundraising for Typhoon Haiyan in collaboration pines,” she said. “I came here as a tourist.”

She has been with NJCU for 15 years now.

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COVER STORY

Dr. Alice Almendral: Soaring into the world of beauty and healing

By Maricar CP Hampton

Alicia Almendral (nee Sta. Maria) – the youngest of three siblings from Pasay City -- knew she wanted to be a doctor. A nurturing doctor-uncle took care of her when she was bitten by a dog as a little girl. She healed, felt good and was amazed at the whole process. She wished she was that kind of a doctor. This would be the beginning of her journey to medicine.

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ith her mother, a nurse, as her “biggest influencer,” she studied Nursing at the University of Sto. Tomas. Four years later, she got a post-graduate degree in Medicine & Surgery from the same school. She went to the U.S. in 1999 not planning on staying but her family convinced her of the many opportunities the country has to offer.

She settled in the Bronx which she found friendly, welcoming, and multiracial. Here, she found her way. She worked as a registered nurse in elder care facilities. In 2002, she crossed over to the medical field specializing in Family Medicine and Geriatrics.

“The scope of practice in Family Medicine, seeing the very young to the very old - a broad spectrum of patients I can help - triggered my altruistic desires,” she said.

‘Because beautification heals’ is Doc Alice’s own Hippocratic Oath.

allow patients of a certain age to feel good about themselves and ready to face the world again.

“It mainly has to do with life changes,” she said. “Like a butterfly which was trapped in its own cocoon for a period of time, one can emerge as a free, beautiful and better version of yourself,” she said.

Her interest in aesthetic medicine came about while she was attending a geriatric fellowship. “During that time, I was already thinking about how to help care for the Baby Boomers and be financially productive too.”

With the kids entering their teens, she focused more on Monarch and added her own primary care practice.

Meanwhile, Doc Alice has returned to being an attending physician. At the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, she is a Civil Surgeon providing physical exams, bloodwork, and vaccinations to applicants.

At the start of the new year, she is set to open a second clinic this time in Manhattan. It will be located alongside the Gloria Cabrera Salon and Spa on East 23rd Street. She looks to the new year as

||Like a butterfly

“Doc Alice” – then a young mother juggling career and four children -- decided to open a private practice as a family doctor in her home in Pelham Gardens.

Encountering patients in her family practice who were very happy about wart removals and other beautification procedures she’s done, it opened her eyes to the power of beautification as a form of healing. It was an epiphany. By simply making people look good, they can feel good too. This paved the way for her medical aesthetics practice, Monarch Medical Aesthetics, which was established in 2008.

At Monarch, she performs procedures such as Botox injections, dermal fillers, microblading for eyebrows, weight loss, stretch marks, and scars therapy and thread contouring for the body. Treatments that

Attending the Red Poinsettia Ball with life and business partner John Baltazar. Photo by Nonoy Rafael.

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Weekend at a theme park with children Alyssandra, Adrian, Aiden, and Adam.

bringing “exciting” new ventures. Currently, she is in talks with Montage Skin Science in the Philippines to franchise Monarch-Montage in the U.S. “This will give opportunities to nurses, nurse practitioners and doctors to have their own spa,” she said.

“We will provide training and give them a chance to have their own business.” She is also eyeing to start a concierge and telemedicine clinic in the city.

||No quitter

“These are some of my goals for the coming years,” she said. “When I find something interesting I get challenged then I try it. I don’t quit.”

What the end of her marriage did was strengthen her relationship with her children. Single parenthood brought them much closer. Alyssandra, 17, is a senior and in the process of deciding where to apply for college. Alice beams with pride that Aly wants to be a doctor. Adrian,14, is choosing between becoming a plastic surgeon or working in Finance. Aiden,13, wants to be an engineer but is showing an interest in medicine. Adam,11, wants to run the company his mother has built.

“I pick them up from school and bring them to their extra-curricular activities. I make it a point to see and talk to them every day. On weekends we go out,

we watch movies, attend parties, go to theme parks, or try different restaurants,” she said.

Doc Alice said she is ready to entertain retirement in about 10 years. “It’s all about leaving a legacy. They can continue (the business). By that time my daughter will already be a doctor and I will just be a consultant.”

She is in a relationship with her managing partner John Baltazar, a UP alumnus with an MBA in Health Care Administration and System Improvement at Walden University. With over 35 years of health care experience combined, these business partners are growing Monarch Medical Aesthetics to its fullest potential, continuously developing new ideas to help patients, looking out for collaborations that make sense, eager to see how high it can fly - while enjoy each other’s company.

It has been a multidimensional path as Doc Alice provides services in Urgent Care, Primary Care, and Aesthetics.

She said, “I love every bit of what I do as a physician. But the most gratifying is being able to help my patients understand the whats and whys of their conditions and how we can address them together. When I see people’s health improving making them happy, I feel happy too.”

Billiards and biking are her stress relievers.

84 organizations partner for Simbang Gabi

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imbang Gabi Sa Konsulado is a popular Filipino Christmas tradition in New York now on its 31styear. It is a solemn celebration that brings together different members of the FilAm community, partner organizations, choirs, volunteers and Filipinos who want to experience Pasko away from home.

This year, 84 organizations partnered with the Consulate in organizing the Simbang Gabi sa Konsulado.

In the spirit of the season and in solidarity with kababayan in Mindanao, the community earmarked the donations and contributions collected in the nine nights of the Simbang Gabi for the benefit of the victims of the earthquakes in the region.

Each Simbang Gabi was followed by a salu-salo where organizations and caterers served Filipino food like Lumpia, Pansit, Lugaw, Puto Bumbong, and Kutsinta to the delight of the attendees. Free raffles added to the fun and spirit of camaraderie of the community.

Consul General Claro Cristobal thanked the organizations and the attendees, many of whom completed the nine masses. He said that the tradition did not only serve as

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venue for celebrating Christmas the Filipino way but also provided an opportunity for fellowship for FilAms. – Philippine Consulate, New York

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Photos by Edwin Josue and Jenny Castaneda

||Ongoing till February 29

Calendar

of Events

Under the Bells: Exhibition featuring the works of Cian Dayrit, Kawayan de Guia, and Nona Garcia Pinto International 431 East 12th Street, Suite 5b NYC

||January 3 to 13 Diskubre Tour Bicol, Philippines

||January 4

Feast of Santo Nino de Cebu Basilica of Our lady of Perpetual Help 526 59th Street, Brooklyn

||January 20

Catanduanes International Assn., Inc. 2020 Medical Mission Virac, Catanduanes, Philippines

||January 20

||July 15 to 18

Deadline to apply to the Neighborhood Grants program of the Citizens Committee for New York City Contact Katie at kgrassle@citizensnyc. org or 212-822-9567 for information

FANHS National 18th Biennial Conference Waikiki Marriott Beach Resort & Spa, Hawaii

||July 19 to 26

VIP Tour: Very Important Pinoy (Ambassadors’) Tour Manila, Iloilo, and Boracay

||January 4

Pink Gala 2020 1284 Strongtown Road, Southbury, CT

||January 10

Jersey City Immigrant Affairs Symposium Saint Peter’s University 2641 John F Kennedy Blvd, Jersey City

||January 18

Dressed to Kill Tour of the Metropolitan Museum 1000 5th Ave, NYC

||January 18

Health Fair by Philippine Nurses Association of America Baliwag, Bulacan

||January 18

Tango Crash Course New Yorker Hotel 481 8th Ave, Ste 811, NYC

||January 21-February 9

||February 14

||January 21-February 9

||February 14

Jaya: My Valentine D’Haven Queens 58-02 37th Ave., Woodside, Queens

NYC Broadway Week

NYC Winter Restaurant Week

||January 23

Musiko Autismo: Jamming with the Master Maybank Performing Arts Theater Bonifacio Global City Taguig, Philippines

||January 31

Drop off Date for Winter Drive (organized by the office of N.Y. Assembly Member Brian Barnwell) 55-19 69th Street, Maspeth NYC

||February 2 to May 3 Winter/Spring Ang Mundong Pilipino Sa Bergen County: Children's language and cultural program Sukha Arts Center 20 Elm Street, Harrington Park, N.J.

Eagles concert The Garden

||February 14

History of Central Park Tour Contact: NYC for Families

||February 15

Angel Ram and Gail Banawis concert Apollo Theater 253 W 125th Street, NYC

||March 28

Most Empowered Transwomen fighting Transphobia awards event Ukrainian Community Center

||May 9

Introvoys 2020 Canada Tour Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

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Green Light Law passed

Illegal immigrants may now apply for a driver’s license The politically controversial Green Light Law went into effect in New York State on December 16.

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he legislation paves the way for undocumented immigrants to acquire driver’s licenses.

Reports say the law is expected to benefit more than 700,000 immigrants in the state with no legal status.

Filipino Americans on both sides of the aisle welcomed the passage of the law, known as the Drivers’ License Access and Privacy Act (DLAPA). Finally, no more driving in the dead of night to avoid detection, no more hitching with friends, no more mass transit during extreme weather conditions, no more driving in fear.

New York’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) states in its website that applicants will need to provide ID, pass a knowledge test as well as a road test before a license can be issued. It said the license “will not look different from other standard New York Driver licenses.”

New York joins 12 states and Washington D.C. who have enacted similar laws. Republicans have denounced DLAPA as “rewarding” immigrants who broke the law.

Filipinos interviewed by The FilAm do not see it that way.

||Marilyn Abalos

Arts & culture writer

Since 1993, states have allowed undocumented people to get driver’s licenses. Washington State was the first then a decade later New Mexico extended driver’s licenses in 2003. Since then from Hawaii and California to Vermont and Connecticut with New York among

the 13 states who presently give driver’s licenses to those without legal status. In addition, at least a half dozen more states have introduced legislation to give out driver’s licenses, including Texas, Florida, Kansas and North Carolina.

It’s a growing trend.

I believe this allows opportunities for people to get a job, drive to work, cash a paycheck, among other things. I understand that states

Yolanda del Mundo embodies the state’s recognition of non-exclusivity, an inherent right of every bona fide resident of New York regardless of ethnicity and citizenship status.

||Ernesto Pamolarco Public school teacher

Marilyn Abalos have worked out the protections for both the immigrant who wants to safeguard his/her identity and the state who wants to prevent abuse.

This is a country of immigrants and opportunities. It should be of inclusion and prospects. I think it’s a good thing. It’s the right thing.

The Green Light Law is good not only for undocumented immigrants who are living and working in New York, but also for New York State residents. The law was passed for public safety and for economic reasons. It is a fact that many hardworking undocumented immigrants have cars and they drive

in going to work every day even if they don’t have a license. Allowing illegal immigrants to drive with license is better than letting them drive without a license. It is very risky for the public. By granting them the license to drive, the DMV has the control in determining those who are qualified to drive. The licensing fees will also be additional income for New York State.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed it into a law, on conditions that illegal immigrants will be safe and not be afraid of being deported. The state solicitor general felt there were enough protections to prevent federal immigration authorities from accessing immigrants’ data.

Attorney General Letitia James released a statement saying the measure contained “ample protections for those who apply for driver’s licenses.” So there is nothing to fear on the part of illegal immigrants.

||Nonoy Rafael

Engineer/Realtor

||Yolanda del Mundo Entrepreneur

It is high time that the law granting undocumented immigrants to acquire driver’s license must be promulgated in full force. This will provide them enough window of opportunities to accept more job offers, to reach work destinations creating multiplier effect in terms of benefits accruing to the economy of New York. The passage of this law THE FILAM |

Nonoy Rafael

Ernesto Pamolarco 13

I live on Long Island where driving is a necessity to live, work, go to the parks, and have a comfortable way to live. With proper registration and driver tests, and if immigrants pay their taxes, I am in favor of this new law.

The return of Elsa and Anna in ‘Frozen 2’

By Wendell Gaa

When the now classic “Frozen” movie was released in 2013, the public embraced it with such heart and fervor that it became one of Disney’s finest contemporary animated fairy tale hits. It entered the pop cultural mindset to such an extent that children instantaneously became familiar with the story of Anna and Elsa, two sisters who live in the Kingdom of Arendelle which is presumably located somewhere in the Scandinavian European region.

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ased on the classic children’s literature piece “The Snow Queen”

by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, the soundtrack of “Frozen” greatly benefitted from the talents of New York-born FilAm songwriter Robert Lopez, who is one of the few members of Hollywood’s elite club of winners in all four awards categories of Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony (EGOT).

“Frozen II” continues the adventures of the loving sisters. After having overcome the adversities they faced in the first film, Elsa who is gifted with ice-making powers now oversees the daily affairs of Arendelle as its queen, while Anna grows a budding romantic relationship with her best friend Kristoff, the ice harvester. Also back for another round of good humor is Olaf, the

Tony Award winner Idina Menzel is Elsa’s singing voice. She is shown here with FilAm Broadway fan Maricel Salubayba.

In this sequel, the loving sisters become involved in an intricate plot. goofy magical snowman, and Sven, Kristoff’s ever loyal reindeer.

The film’s opening sequence provides the catalyst for the plot with a flashback depicting King Agnarr, the father of Anna and Elsa, who tells his daughters of the story of their grandfather King Runeard, who had forged a peace treaty with the people of a neighboring tribe called Northuldra through constructing a dam in their home territory, known as the Enchanted Forest. But then a misunderstanding occurs between the two groups, and war ensues resulting in King Runeard’s death. This conflict angers the Forest’s elemental spirits of Earth, Fire, Water and Air, and a wall of mist then traps everyone in the Enchanted Forest as punishment.

Anna and Elsa soon discover that the only way to end the mysterious THE FILAM |

force affecting their kingdom is to follow a mystical voice and to embark on an adventure into the Enchanted Forest to unravel more truth.

I really enjoyed “Frozen II,” and though I didn’t feel it was necessary for Disney to produce yet another sequel so soon, this is a worthy follow-up. I didn’t care too much about the intricacies of the plot as I was entranced with the progressive character development here. What has always made “Frozen” unique for me is that unlike so many of the past movies starring female protagonists, the heart of the story of Anna and Elsa has always been about their strong sister relationship, rather than the oftentimes used “prince meets princess” romantic narrative.

“Frozen II” furthers the exploration of the bond between the two leads 14

and leaves room for the growing understanding and compassion between them.

Kristen Bell, an actress whom I adored in the teen detective series “Veronica Mars,” offers much warmth and life as the voice of Anna. The supporting characters here are also given their dues, particularly Kristoff who amusingly struggles with his desire to propose marriage to Anna. Josh Gad as the voice of Olaf continues to brilliantly and convincingly pull off the comic relief role.

I didn’t find the overall musical score to be quite as catchy and memorable as in the first film, except for one showstopper called “Into the Unknown” sung by Elsa as she contemplates following the magical voice. Talented actress and singer Idina Menzel, who voices Elsa, performs this song with such bravado and gusto. I cannot imagine young girls singing this song either in concerts or in karaoke bars the way “Let It Go” became such a popular hit, it’s still a memorable number. I hope to see Robert Lopez win yet another Oscar for this music.

On Bonifacio Day, activists tear photos of Duterte “Laban Kabataan [Youth, Rise Up]! Fight against Fascism and Dictatorship!

Organize the People to Oust the U.S.-Duterte Regime!”

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his was the bold theme of the recently concluded 3rd National Congress of Anakbayan-USA held at the University of California, Los Angeles from November 30 to December 2.

The rally coincided with the 156th birthday of Philippine revolutionary leader Andres Bonifacio.

More than 200 members, delegates and allies representing 24 chapters from across the U.S. attended the national congress that culminated in a protest march and rally to denounce “U.S. imperialism, Chinese incursions in the West Philippine Sea, and Duterte’s fascism.”

“We as Filipino activists in the United States have not been exempt from the harassment being incited and directed

by Duterte,” said Adrian Bonifacio, the newly elected national chairperson. “We have been called terrorists, we have been doxed, we have even been physically assaulted by Duterte supporters here.

This congress is our way of declaring that, despite these attacks, we will continue to fight.”

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Held every three years, Anakbayan-USA’s congress focused on the role Filipino youth play in organizing a movement to end President Duterte’s dictatorship.

“The Duterte administration has already far surpassed that of former Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos in its 15

brutality,” asserted Dominico Vega, the newly elected national vice chairperson.

“With almost 30,000 people estimated to have been killed by his failed war on drugs alone, we must be thinking about how to create new people power movements that will finally bring lasting change in the Philippines.”

Anakbayan-USA has chapters in California, Hawai’i, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Washington, and Washington, D.C. There are plans to expand into new areas such as Georgia, Minnesota, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Utah.

The march began at MacArthur Park and ended at the Philippine Consulate, where protestors ripped images of Duterte reminiscent of the tearing of cedulas (identification documents used by the Spanish colonial government) by the Katipunan during the Philippine revolution against Spain in the 1890s.

“Andres Bonifacio, and the millions of others who continued the fight for freedom and democracy, serve as our inspiration,” said Adrian Bonifacio.

Public charge proposal may not apply to many people: study

By Mark Hedin

Federal courts have temporarily blocked the public charge rule change from going into effect, but its chilling effects continue to reverberate. The number of immigrants who, fearing the consequences of the rule change, have taken or plan to take steps to drop out of public services for which they are eligible far exceeds the actual number who would be at risk if the rule ever goes into effect, research data show.

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May study by the Urban Institute found adults in immigrant families almost 14% reported that they or another adult family member had dropped benefits or skipped applying for them, even on behalf of a child, rather than take on the perceived risk of exposure to new rules. Among low-income families, that number rose to more than 20%, the study found. Programs they shied away from include: SNAP (food stamps) CHIP (children’s health insurance), and Section 8 and other types of housing assistance. Nationwide, the families of 22.7 million people’s families include immigrants who could potentially fall victim to the chilling effect created by fear of public charge rules changes.

The proposed rule change was due to take effect Oct. 15 this year until four different federal courts all ruled to block it and issued injunctions against implementing it.

But long before, as word of the proposed rule change began leaking out ahead of its October 2018 announcement, millions of people feared being

Visa denials on public charge grounds jumped from 1,000 in 2016 to 12,000 in 2018: Chilling effect. caught in its clutches and avoided using government programs intended to help them and their families lead healthier, more successful lives.

Nationwide, said Randy Capps of the Migration Policy Institute, “So few noncitizens are eligible for the safety net programs covered by the rule that those who would be affected is estimated to be in the low tens of thousands,” not millions, as cited incorrectly by both officials and the news media.

A Michigan government study found that “of 86,298 noncitizen legal immigrants receiving public assistance from the state health department, only 611 may find a tougher path to legal permanent residency if they continue receiving public benefits.” That’s less than 1%.

For those already in the United States, the category of people who most need to be cautious about public charge rules aren’t those receiving benefits, but those who plan to travel beyond U.S. borders.

“If I had one message for every immigrant in America I would say, ‘Look, if you’re a green card holder, don’t leave for more than 180 days,’” said former Obama administration official Doug Rand, a co-founder of Boundless.com.

The public charge rules, even if toughTHE FILAM |

‘People are still disenrolling from public benefits when they don’t have to.’

ened as proposed, simply don’t apply to many people already in the country. Not to asylum seekers or refugees, citizens or those applying for citizenship, nor DACA, or those with green cards. Use of benefits by family members and past use of benefits also is irrelevant, even under the proposed tougher rules.

“The list of programs now considered in the public charge test is more limited than it seems at first blush,” Sara Feldman of the National Immigration Law Center said. “The impact will mostly be restricted to use of food stamps, housing subsidies and cash assistance.

While Medicaid is included, there are so many exceptions in the rule that few people enrolled in the program would be impacted.”

“And use of public benefits is only one factor considered when determining who gets a green card,” Feldman added.

“Immigration officials also take income, health condition, English proficiency, and other factors into account.”

The people who have most fallen victim to public charge rules are those applying to come to the United States.

Since 2016, the State Department has cited public charge issues more aggressively. Visa denials on public charge 16

grounds jumped from 1,000 in 2016 to 12,000 in 2018 at U.S. consulates around the world.

But half of those denials already have been overturned, and more may be overturned as the time-consuming appeal process continues, the Migration Policy Institute’s Jeanne Batalova pointed out at a telebriefing co-sponsored by Ethnic Media Services, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center and the National Immigration Law Center.

“The brutal irony is that people are still disenrolling from public benefits when they don’t have to,” Rand said.

Mark Greenberg, senior fellow at the Migration Policy institute, told Ethnic Media Services in a phone interview after the telebriefing that “It’s very unclear what problem the administration thought it was going to solve, because Congress had already agreed 20 years ago to public charge-based restrictions.”

“The number of people who would be denied adjustment of status based on benefit use would be low because they aren’t eligible (for those benefits),” he said, far fewer than the number feeling the effect of the proposed rule change while it wends its way through the courts. — Ethnic Media Services

At Miss Universe, Filipinos turn out for Gazini Ganados

By Lindy Rosales

Chicago resident Antonette Jabilona came all the way from the Windy City to watch the Miss Universe competition in Atlanta.

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t has been some kind of a family tradition: watching the Miss Universe competition whenever it is held in the U.S. It began with Venus Raj (Miss Philippines 2010), Janine Tugonon (2012), and Mary Jean Lastimosa (2014). They missed Pia Wurtzbach (2015). Still, they traveled to Atlanta to hoping to see Gazini Ganados (2019) even though tickets had sold out.

“Lagi kaming nanonood ng Miss Universe since 2010 pag nasa States sila,” said Antonette.

Antonette is your typical Filipino pageant enthusiast. They are legions — they who will drop everything to watch the competition on TV or they who are self-appointed historians of titleholders since Gloria Diaz became the first Miss Universe from the Philippines in 1969.

This year, Miss Philippines Gazini Ganados made the Top 20 but did not go further. That did not end the cheering. She went home with the award for National Costume, her silver gown inspired by the plumage of the Philippine Eagle.

Miss South Africa Zozibini Tunzi would be crowned Miss Universe, the most beautiful of 89 other women from all over the world this year. A student of public relations management, Tunzi was both hailed and bashed because of the color of her skin.

Colombia as Miss Universe although the real winner was Miss Philippines, Pia Wurtzbach.

Miss Universe Organization quickly announced a retraction on Instagram: It said Miss Philippines who won the National Costume award, and Steve Harvey made no mistake.

Gazini’s mother, Carmencita Acopiado Ganados, was a bundle of nerves when we spoke to her.

She was grateful she got a visa to travel with her daughter to the U.S.

||Behind the scenes

The competition was marred by minor accidents.

Four candidates slipped on the runway during the swimsuit portion. The runway was mopped two times by the production staff to prevent more mishaps. Ganados almost slipped but thankfully recovered her composure. I wonder if the slippery runway affected how the women presented themselves by walking slowly on purpose.

On Coronation Night, you could feel the electricity and excitement throughout the auditorium when there were only three women left on stage.

It was confusing when the National Costume winner was announced. As Steve Harvey was about to announce the name of the winner, Miss Malaysia stood right next to him on the stage. Yet it was Ganados’s picture that was flashing on the screen. Harvey was spotted backstage furious over the mistake which he blamed on the teleprompter.

It was the second time the popular emcee fumbled his cue. In 2015, he mistaken announced Miss

The National Costume award goes to Miss Philippines Gazini Ganados.

Photo by Troi Santos

South African beauty Zozibini Tunzi was crowned Miss Universe 2019.

Photo by Boyet Loverita THE FILAM |

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“I didn’t expect to be here ‘cause it was late when they announced (I was going to) Atlanta. I was glad they gave me a visa.” She came all the way from Cebu.

She spoke endearingly of Gazini.

“She is a very good daughter to me.

She likes to ride bicycles, climb trees, climb mountains, and swim in the ocean, every day.” It did not matter to her what crown Gazini won, “as long as she got a crown.”

COVER STORY

Filipino scientists call for prompt action on climate change

By Sero Toriano Parel and Carla Bertulfo

At their first seminar on December 7 at Columbia University.

AFSA’s October 26 interest meeting.

On December 7, Filipino scientists, science advocates, and allies gathered at Columbia University to learn about the effects of climate change in the Philippines as well as Palestine.

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his occasion marked the inaugural event of the newly formed Association of Filipino Scientists in America (AFSA).

The theme of the event was “Environmental Rights Are Human Rights” to commemorate the International Human Rights Day on December 10.

The event was AFSA’s first seminar featuring speakers Myla Ramirez, an environmental health researcher at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection; Carla Bertulfo, a Ph.D. Biological Sciences student at Columbia University; and Gemma Sahwell, an Environmental Science graduate from Barnard College.

Ramirez set the tone by breaking down the science behind climate change. She highlighted that low- and middle-income countries, such as the Philippines, are likely to feel the impact of climate change.

She highlighted how policy, advocacy, and activism can create “meaningful and lasting change” in the campaign against environmental disaster.

Bertulfo discussed the link between climate change and human rights, emphasizing how in the Philippines, government programs involving privatization, displacement of indigenous people, and military action against those who protest “is driven by vested interests” and is not beneficial to the environment.

Sahwell, a Cuban-Palestinian who is a member of Columbia's Students for Justice in Palestine, linked the situation in the Philippines to other places, such as Palestine. She expanded the understanding of environmental rights to include land dispossession and environmental racism carried out by the local elite and foreign powers.

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||Typhoon Tisoy

Recently, the Philippines was hit by Typhoon Tisoy which displaced over 200,000 families in the Bicol region, according to the Philippines’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council). A series of earthquakes also hit Mindanao that affected thousands of families. The Philippines has an average of 20 typhoons annually and has been experiencing earthquakes, but in the past decade it has been frequently hit by extreme weather, underscoring how vulnerable the country is to the impacts of climate change.

Data from the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources shows the country’s forest cover -- or the primary defense against these natural calamities -- is losing 47,000 hectares every year and down to less than 24 percent of the original forest cover in the 1900s.

Advocates are pushing for genuine changes in government policies to protect the environment but the response has been continued degradation 18

through the government’s support for large-scale mining, logging and developmental schemes. Projects, such as the Kaliwa Dam in Quezon, New Clark City in Pampanga, and mining operations in Davao, will not only destroy ecosystems but will displace indigenous peoples from their ancestral lands.

Thus, AFSA calls for policies that would truly protect the environment in the Philippines, Palestine, and other countries where there is continued extraction of resources by the local elite and foreign countries who are the perpetrators of human rights violations.

||Filipino scientists organize

With the environmental and health-related issues happening in the Philippines, Filipino scientists from New York and New Jersey saw the need to organize AFSA into a network of scientists in the U.S. that seeks to utilize the members’ collective experiences, expertise and resources in support of the Filipino community.

From the 11 individuals who came to AFSA’s interest meeting on October 26, 2019, it now has more than 50 members! Some of the pioneers are Sero Toriano Parel, a Ph.D. student of Neuroscience at Princeton University; and Mary Lou de Jesus, who is studying Biochemistry and Public Health at Columbia University.

Parel’s area of research is how stress in early life produces molecular changes in key areas of the brain and how these changes contribute to a person’s development in adulthood.

“My long-term goal is to integrate rigorous neuroscience research and militant activism, from understanding the basic science of mental health and illness, to mobilizing science and technology that genuinely serve the most oppressed and exploited communities in the Philippines and across the world,” Parel said.

De Jesus – who is also the treasurer of Liga Filipina organization at Columbia – has performed research at Weill Cornell Medical College in the Urologic Oncology department. After

her participation in Weill Cornell’s Youth Scholars Program, she realized that her long-term aspiration is to become a physician, using her passion for activism in both global health and marginalized communities.

Sero Toriano Parel is a PhD student in neuroscience at Princeton University and a founding member of the Association for Filipino Scientists in America.

They can be reached at parel@princeton.edu and twitter.com/mx_sero.

Carla Bertulfo is a PhD Biological Sciences student at Columbia University and a founding member of the Association for Filipino Scientists in America.

She can be reached at mtb2162@columbia.edu and twitter.com/carlabertulfo.

If you want to join a network of Filipinos working or studying STEM, psychology, social sciences or other related fields, feel free to contact AFSA through: Email: afsa.official@gmail.com Facebook page: Association of Filipino Students in America Instagram: @afsa.official Twitter: @AFSAofficial

The leaders and founders of the Association of Filipino Scientists in America. From left: Carla Bertulfo, Mary Lou de Jesus, Erika Valdueza, Caressa Valdueza, and Karl Gregana. Erika Valdueza is a geologist, Caressa Valdueza is a nurse practitioner, and Karl Gregana is a pre-Med student.

NOTICE OF REGISTRATION AND ELECTION TO ALL FILIPINO CITIZENS Notice is hereby given that under Republic Act No. 9189 as amended by Republic Act No. 10590, all citizens of the Philippines abroad, who are not disqualified by law, at least eighteen (18) years of age on May 9, 2022, and who are registered overseas voters, may vote for President, Vice-President, Senators and Party List Representatives.

All qualified Filipino citizens who are not registered overseas voters may file their applications for registration at the nearest embassy/consulate or other registration centers authorized by the Commission of Elections.

To register, all applicants must personally appear at any of the following: Philippine Embassy in Washington DC 1617 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036 OR Philippine Consulate General in Chicago 122 South Michigan Ave., Suite 1600, Chicago, IL 60603 OR Philippine Consulate General in Honolulu 2433 Pali Highway, Honolulu, HI 96817

Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles 3435 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 550 Los Angeles, CA 90010 OR Philippine Consulate General in New York th 556 5 Avenue, New York, NY 10036 OR Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco 447 Sutter St. 6th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94108

for biometrics capturing, applicants must bring the following requirements: 1) photocopy of valid passport; 2) additional proof of Philippine citizenship, i.e. valid Permanent Resident (green) card, valid visa, Notice of Action, or, if dual citizen, copy of Dual Identification Certificate and Oath of Allegiance; and 3) in case of seafarers, photocopy of Seaman's Book or other pertinent documents.

Filing of applications for registration shall be from December 16, 2019 to September 30, 2021.

THE FILAM |

19

Issue 23, January 2020

Helen Castillo Shaking things up as PAFCOM president p9

Illegal immigrants

Driver’s license Is within reach p13

Filipino scientists

Urging prompt action on climate change p18 Photo by Karl Gregana