FilAm

Issue 1, March 2018

Jeffrey Cirio

Principal Dancer at American Ballet Theatre

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How Vivian Talambiras-Cruz won a Nobel Peace Prize p4

Tanya Faye Ramiro honors her OFW mom p3

More stories on the web @ TheFilam.net Todd Lee Photography

Letter from the Publishers

The FilAm is now a newspaper

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On our 7th anniversary as an online magazine, The FilAm has decided to go into print.

here seems to be a dash of irony in this venture.

Most publications are diving headlong into digital publication. We are heading in the opposite direction, while still keeping TheFilAm.net.

The reason is both romantic and prosaic.

In our community, at least, there is still a strong yearning for the printed word, the newspaper in your hand, the flipping of pages, the clipping of stories or advertisement. Publishing a monthly newsmagazine is a milestone for us because our roots are in newspapers. We are going back to where we started as journalists.

Our beginnings were shaped by the martial law regime of Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines. Our deepest beliefs lie in the vibrancy of independent and objective journalism and its contribution to the community.

Sometimes, it is easier to say what we will not do.

We will seek to get it right and apologize when we get it wrong. We believe in a diversity of opinion, but have no patience for purveyors of spin.

Independence lies at the heart of that commitment along with a willingness to serve a community that is sprinkled across the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

That independence will govern the way we look at stories or issues confronting the community. We will not pretend to be the authority on any issue, but we will get both sides and strive to be fair in our storytelling.

There are stories in the Filipino American community that are worth telling.

Those stories reflect the lives we have lived in our adopted country – one of triumph as much as failure, the aspirations of our faith and dreams, the families that are at the center of our lives and keep us going.

In 2011, when we created The FilAm, we knew we wanted it to be a different kind of publication. We wanted to write about regular folks

Founding Editor Cristina DC Pastor

Business & Advertising Manager Rene Pastor

and how they came to America, Filipinos on the margins, and not so much the community leaders and the fundraising galas which are already adequately covered by the more established newspapers.

Before we knew it, more than a year has passed, and we would win our first journalism award and get our first advertisement.

Our milestones: • In 2013, we were interviewed by Voice of America for our coverage of the relief efforts for Typhoon Haiyan in NYC. • In 2014, we were featured in an interactive exhibit at The Newseum, included in “100 of the most influential ethnic media in the U.S., from Colonial times to today.” The exhibit was curated by the Smithsonian Institution.

• We launched an investigative reporting project in 2014 that resulted in about eight long-form series of articles. The reporters received compensation for their articles.

• We had 2 interns who are journalism and media studies students.

• Three The FilAm publications in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Washington D.C. have joined our family.

• Our views continue to rise.

The FilAm belongs to the community of Filipinos in the United States. It is sometimes easy to forget that we are as much American as we are Filipino.

Independence does not mean we will not give voice to positions

by Filipino Americans who passionately believe in the causes they espouse, no matter if those views are not shared by the publishers.

We will articulate our stand when the times call for it. That would mean we have certain values that we feel are inviolable. While journalists should strive for fairness, it does not mean we are neutered from expressing or criticizing officials and issues when the need calls for it.

Cristina DC Pastor & Rene Pastor

Address P.O. Box 8071 New York, NY 10116

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

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Contact Editorial: 848-219-0069 Advertising: 732-428-6318 Thefilamny@gmail.com

New York is a bittersweet posting for Vice Consul Tanya Faye Ramiro

By Cristina DC Pastor

Vice Consul Tanya Faye Ramiro used to visit NYC when her mother was working in the city. Now that she is Vice Consul at the Philippine Consulate, her mother is no longer around.

She carries in her purse laminated photographs of her mother, Gloria Jean Ramiro. The FilAm Photo

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n December 5, 2014, Gloria Jean Ramiro – who worked as a private chef for an affluent family — was hit by a car as she crossed Third Avenue at 81st Street. She was alone; it was raining.

She was 64 when she died. She passed away a year before Tanya was sworn in as a diplomat. Her children took the earliest flight to New York and went straight to Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Hospital. They kept vigil until she passed away three days later.

Tanya remembered one of her visits to New York with her siblings. Her mother acted like the savvy tour guide, showing them around Fifth Avenue and pointing to the Philippine Consulate building, “That’s the Philippine Embassy.”

At that time, Tanya was a lawyer not yet a diplomat. She never would have imagined that one day she would hold office in that

By wearing her late mother’s suits, Tanya keeps her memory alive. building her mother had hilariously proclaimed was the equivalent of Malacanang in America!

She laughed softly, “That’s my mommy!

She’s a very animated person.”

It was one in a series of memories she shared about her mother with The FilAm in an interview one gray and windy January afternoon.

Her mother she endearingly described as “loud, over the top, larger than life.”

Her alacrity dissolved into tears as she remembered how her mother worked as an OFW for almost 20 years to give her children the best education, and her family the comforts of life for them to enjoy. She may not be around as Tanya was coming of age, but through letters, texts, calls, and balikbayan boxes, it’s like she was home and the family was complete.

“She lived vicariously through her children’s accomplishments,” she said. “She dreamt big dreams.”

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New York is her first foreign assignment and her ‘second home.’

The bond between mother and her four children was enduring. Tanya and her siblings often visited NYC. Her mother would take them to touristy places like the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, and the Met, help them find shopping bargains, and treat them to the best restaurants. Most important, said Tanya, “She allowed us to dream.” She keeps her mother close by, carrying her laminated photos in her purse. As she pulled them out, a flood of emotions came over her. Tears rolled down. For several seconds, the interview stopped. We sat in silence.

“My mother had a strong influence over me,” said Tanya. “She kept up to date on our needs, our school work. She made an effort to learn technology, she opened Facebook Messenger, opened Viber, she wanted to stay connected.”

Vivian Talambiras - Cruz and the endearing story behind her Nobel Peace Prize

By Cristina DC Pastor

“I think the U.S. is going to declare war on Iraq.”

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ith these words, spoken calmly with no hint of panic in her voice, Vivian Talambiras-Cruz broke the news to her boss, Mohamed ElBaradei, then the Director General of the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

ElBaradei had just arrived from Vienna on one of his many peace missions. As the Assistant to the Director at the IAEA, Vivian was the first contact of information when he arrived at the UN Millennium Hotel one evening in 2003.

“His jaw just dropped,” she said recalling the look on his face. It wasn’t exhaustion from the long trip that she was looking at. It was like a defeat. “He was trying to prevent that.”

ElBaradei was saddled with a monumental decision: The IAEA needed to verify the existence of a nuclear program in Iraq as mandated by the Security Council. The Egyptian diplomat pleaded for more time because there was not enough evidence. At the same time, he argued that the allies consider making an “investment in peace.”

The allies couldn’t wait, and so the U.S.-led coalition forces invaded Iraq on March 19, 2003.

Operation Enduring Freedom launched massive strikes on sites and buildings known to contain nuclear weapons. The fall of Baghdad and the flight of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein may have ended all military attacks, but the loss of civilian lives and the havoc on children continue to be felt to this day.

“He was very concerned about (that), and history proved him right,” said Vivian who, by virtue of her position in the UN, found herself at this stage in contemporary world history.

“I wasn’t nervous at all (breaking the news to him),” she said when interviewed by The FilAm about this storied episode in her professional career.

“I was more worried about him and his would-be reaction because we worked so hard to evade this unnecessary war.”

Two years later, ElBaradei and the IAEA jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize. They were commended “for their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes and to ensure that nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is used in the safest possible way.”

To her eternal astonishment, Vivian also received a Nobel Peace Prize along with other members of the IAEA staff who labored long days and hours as

the agency worked on the verification process and negotiated reason with the world powers.

She was with ElBaradei, for instance, during Colin Powell’s infamous “white powder” testimony before the Security Council. Powell, then the Secretary of State, said the powder was proof positive there were chemical weapons in Iraq.

Looking back, Vivian said, “He too was duped into believing they were the real thing.” She said this mistake could have been prevented if the IAEA inspection was allowed to take its course.

Vivian’s framed Nobel certificate would sit on the mantle of her West Orange home for years. It blended beautifully with her living room adornment, a wonderful conversation piece that always seemed to bring out the wondering queries, “You won a Nobel?” followed quickly by “How come we never heard about it?”

To these questions, Vivian’s would have the loudest laugh. Her story would belie the modesty of one who worked diligently for this organization for almost 25 years. “It was for all of us at IAEA,” she would reply. Each one received a certificate. Hers had her name on it.

Vivian, now retired from the UN, looks back at a quarter of a century being part of an organization that promoted peace and sought to secure its place in as many countries of the world. It is very much a personal philosophy as well, although throughout her life, keeping the peace has a more spiritual than diplomatic dimension. Vivian is active within a tightknit group of the lay Jesuit followers in New York who meet regularly to read passages from the Bible and examine how they apply to daily life.

A graduate of Assumption Convent in Manila where she majored in Banking & Finance, the Batangas-born Vivian came to the U.S. in the 1979 as a tourist. She decided to stay for good when she found work at the Egyptian Consulate. The UN was her second employer.

In 1980, she married banker Frank Cruz in New York City. They have two sons: Francis, who works as an occupational therapist, and Matthew who recently had a daughter.

Retirement did not entirely sideline Vivian at home. She is involved with many fundraising projects that require frequent meetings, often at the Philippine Consulate. She is one of conveners tapped by Consul General Mario de Leon Jr. to help the Build a Shelter Project that raised almost $400,000 to benefit the survivors of super typhoon Haiyan.

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Vivian at center, with former boss at IAEA Mohamed ElBaradei and his wife Aida She was also in the committee that worked for the return of the Simbang Gabi midnight masses to the Consulate after the Archdiocese of New York banned this Filipino tradition for two years.

She is an advocate in helping street children in her hometown in Batangas City; helps coordinate the distribution of free hearing aids in the Philippines and free surgery for Filipino children with hairlip and cleft palate.

“God has truly blessed me,” she said of a life lived to the fullest and with meaning. “The ultimate happiness for me is being able to make a difference in people’s lives.”

‘Truly blessed’

COVER STORY

Jeffrey Cirio is the first FilAm male principal dancer

‘Dancing is a freeing experience.’

Francisco Estevez Photography

at American Ballet Theatre

By Cristina DC Pastor

The ballet world seemed to move slowly because the dance itself is leisurely in pace, dreamy in its measured steps.

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ut there was nothing by the book about Jeffrey Cirio’s promotion from soloist to principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre in less than a year, the announcement a welcome surprise to many. “Well, that was fast,” noted Pointe Magazine, a publication devoted exclusively to ballet.

Jeffrey himself was “very surprised” at the quickness of it all. He joined ABT in August 2015 and earned his promotion on July 1, 2016.

“I was, wait what? It sort of just happened, but still shocking,” he said when interviewed by The FilAm. “I wasn’t expecting anything. There were people ahead of me.”

The comparison to fellow FilAm Stella Abrera may seem improper but couldn’t be helped. It took more than a dozen years before Stella made the leap from soloist to principal dancer of ABT, the country’s national ballet company. Jeffrey’s promotion, by industry standard, was of breakneck speed.

“We had an end-of-the-year meeting where it was announced. When Kevin announced it, he was very relaxed, very nonchalant. At the moment I was very shocked. There was a picture of me where I covered my face,” he recalled, laughter in his voice. Kevin McKenzie, the artistic director, also declared during the meeting the promotion of corps member Blaine Hoven to soloist.

As a matter of fact, things seem to be happening too fast, too soon for 27-year-old Jeffrey, who went to ballet school at age 9. Even the fabled Billy Elliot, who inspired many young boys to try ballet and not be shy about it, began at 11.

Jeffrey’s inspiration was his sister Lia, who is five years older and is currently a principal dancer at Boston Ballet.

“There’s always been ballet since I was born. I was surrounded by it, but didn’t think anything of it,” he said.

When Lia was 14, the Cirio family moved to a small town, Carlisle, Pa., home of the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet (CPYB) so Lia could receive more

formal training. It was there that he was drawn to “something different” other than soccer, baseball and basketball. He asked his mother, Mimi Snyder, if he could try ballet just like Lia. Mimi was nothing short of encouraging.

For the Cirio siblings — Lia, Jeffrey and Gabriel — who were all home-schooled, ballet class was where they made friends.

“There were eight boys in my class. I have all these friends doing ballet together,” he said.

It was not weird for a boy being seen in sheer leotards. Jeffrey said he did not experience any kind of bullying. Carlisle is a known ‘ballet town,’ and many of its young kids grow up learning ballet and appreciating what it does to the body and to one’s self-esteem. As he got older and became a professional dancer, he said, he was regarded with awe for his skill, some calling him an “artist.”

He studied at CPYB for four years, training privately with internationally known choreographers Laszlo Berdo, and later Magaly Suarez. He joined Boston Ballet at age 15, a professional dancer by this time. He and Lia were in the same company. After a year in Boston, he decided to train some more at the Orlando Ballet School, where he studied under Peter Stark and Olivier Munoz. He represented the Orlando Ballet at the 5th Seoul International Dance Competition, where he won a silver medal.

From then on, it’s been one award after another: “Best Male Dancer” at the 2006 American Ballet Competition; the Mary Day Award for Artistry at the 2009 Youth America Grand Prix; gold medal at the 2009 World Ballet Competition; gold medal at the 2009 Helsinki International Ballet Competition, becoming the first American to do so; an award from the 2011 Boomerang Fund for Artists.

He returned to Boston in 2009, more confident of his techniques and movements, more willing to explore a variety of styles, and more assured that dance is truly what he wants to do in life.

“I don’t think I can live without it, dancing socially or ballet or contemporary. I’ve always felt a sense of freedom where you can just go on stage and just FILAM |

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dance with your heart. It’s a freeing experience,” pondered Jeffrey.

At ABT, he has danced with Stella Abrera and Misty Copeland, herself celebrated for breaking the barrier for African Americans in the ballet world.

The recent promotion of Stella and Misty to principal dancers did not escape the attention of The New York Times, which noted how the ABT has “now become a handsome example of racial diversity.”

“I have danced with Stella side by side, but we’ve never danced as partners,” he said. “She’s such a humble, amazing woman, so nice on and off the dance floor. It’s great to be around her.”

He was “privileged and honored” to be Misty’s partner in “Sleeping Beauty” and the three-act “Le Corsaire.”

“Misty is nothing but nice to me,” he said. “I love dancing with her, I love her energy.”

Jeffrey won praise at his debut performance from NYT dance critic Alastair Macaulay who hailed him a “marvelous newcomer” excellent in both acting and dancing.

||Filipino father

His father, Ardel Cirio, was born in Subic Bay. Ardel’s father was in the U.S. Navy and wanted his three sons to become Americans. The family moved around a lot, first to Japan, then California, until they settled in a naval base in New Jersey.

Ardel met Mimi at a dance party in the 1970s. The family made a home in Philadelphia where Ardel now runs a chiropractor clinic in Newtown Square which Mimi manages.

It was dance, Jeffrey pointed out, that brought his parents together.

“Mom and dad were amazing dancers; they’re pretty awesome, my mom will deny it. They did the hustle, the disco, no ballet at all,” he said. “We sort of just picked it up.”

Jeffrey said, “When I tell people I’m a dancer, the reaction is ‘holy crap, you’re an artist!’ I’m just very grateful to be (a dancer) but also to have had very supportive parents,” he said.

Older AAPIs vulnerable to fraud and scams:

AARP survey Nearly four in 10 (39 percent) Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) age 50 and older report that they or their family members have experienced fraud schemes, according to the recent fraud survey from AARP.

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dditionally, one-third (33 percent) of victims lost $15,000 on average.

Non-financial costs are even more widespread, with most fraud victims (72 percent) experiencing some sort of emotional, physical or mental health impact, including anger, stress and anxiety, difficulty sleeping and shame.

“Everyone in the AAPI community is at risk for fraud,” said Daphne Kwok, AARP Vice President of Multicultural Leadership, Asian American and Pacific Islander Audience Strategy. “This survey underscores the need to raise awareness around fraud and scams in order to protect against financial and non-financial loss. AARP seeks to help the AAPI community protect their families and their hard-earned savings.”

Awareness and education are major factors in avoiding fraud, but many AAPIs age 50 and older may be overconfident in their ability to spot common scams. In the survey,

• Re-channel those feelings into action. Volunteer to help educate others about fraud. Share tips with family and friends.

• If you have continued feelings of shame, embarrassment or anger, seek professional help. Talk to your doctor or another professional.

Family members can also support a victim of fraud by: • Listening with an empathetic ear to your loved one.

• Asking questions to better understand the situation and context in which the fraud occurred.

• Keeping lines of communication open. Remember to focus frustration and anger on the scam and the perpetrator — not the victim.

nearly three of four participants (73 percent) were confident they could spot a fraudulent offer, yet the majority (71 percent) failed a general fraud knowledge quiz of six questions, unable to correctly answer more than half of the questions.

Some of the most common types of fraud targeting AAPIs age 50 and older include: • Foreign lottery scams (36 percent) • Crisis-related charitable donations (33 percent) • Tech support scammers offering virus removal (32 percent) • IRS imposter calls to collect back taxes (24 percent) • Phishing emails (20 percent) AARP offers advice on dealing with the non-financial impact of fraud, including: • Understand you are not alone and that it's not unusual to experience feelings of anger, shame and embarrassment.

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• Listening for clues of continued participation, such as: “I’m going to win money” or “the nice man on the phone said.”

• Reading the free AARP Fraud Prevention Handbook and discussing it with your family members (see below for details).

AARP urges people who have lost money to a scammer to report it immediately to the consumer credit bureaus (directions available on their websites) and credit card companies if a charge card was involved. Victims should also report scams to the Federal Trade Commission and their state Attorney General’s office.

For more information, visit aarp. org/AAPIfraudsurvey.

T: (917) 341-5746 • E: Lc@cobradorlaw.com 6

Jessy Daing knows the ABCs to a girl’s heart: Authentic Birkins and Chanels!

By Cristina DC Pastor

How can she not?

She wears them fashionably, sells them reasonably, and urges women they’re a must-have in a wardrobe where style and deals can co-exist nicely.

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esigner handbags may seem overpriced at thousands of dollars a pop, but Jessy Daing knows how to make them “within reach” of the average American woman: Her price is less expensive than retail, and she offers layaway.

Annie Batungbakal, meet Jessy, the peripatetic Pinay saleswoman.

She travels from one customer to another, office to office, party to party. She has neither storefront nor website. Her business model runs on word-of-mouth fueled by social media. Sometimes, she invites a group of working ladies to her showroom in her Jersey City home for drinks at a “Prada Party.” To those who cannot come, there’s the constantly updating Facebook page, Jessy Couture & Instagram which lists her merchandise with snappy visuals.

In the layaway jargon, her merchandise is available on ‘hulugan,’ ‘terms,’ or ‘gives.’ Not all but most. Imagine owning the ultimate prestige brand, a Birkin, in six monthly installments.

No need to go to an Hermes’ shop in Manhattan, where the sales staff is likely to serve you more attitude than attention. Of course, one-time payment is always the best option, but some women cannot just drop a grand on a Chanel Classic Flap. Consignments? She would gladly do them.

“I make sure that authentic designer handbags are within reach,” Jessy said in an interview with The FilAm. But what hooks in potential buyers and return customers are the captions

on her Facebook and Instagram page: Celine Phantom Bag In 8 installments; Classic Chanel Jumbo Double Flap Caviar Leather with Gold Hardware In 10 installments.

Many of her customers are Asian women, mostly Filipinos and Vietnamese, who know how to make the dollar go a long way. They also know that authentic designer handbags are no longer just fashion accessories to match the shoes. These lavish leather products can be a hedge in an unstable economy. They are now accepted at many pawnshops for those looking for quick, short-term funds.

“I’ve been an entrepreneur since I was a kid,” said Jessy who has the charm, the classy looks, and the silver tongue of one born to move merchandise. It’s not just handbags. There’s also makeup, shoes, Rolex watches and diamond jewelry, which she sells with a personal touch.

As a kid, her first ‘sale’ was a name tag her school required each student to wear. Hers was no ordinary white cardboard with a name slapped on it; it had borders and flowers and butterflies. Soon her classmates were asking her to make them pretty name tags too and offering to pay for them.

‘Trust.’ Jessy is oozing with it and stores much of it in the Louis Vuitton suitcase she carries with her when she makes a sales call. “It’s all about trust,” she said. “Many of my customers are referrals, friends of friends.”

In the Vietnamese community, the name “Jessy” is synonymous with affordable designer labels.

“My Vietnamese friends are saying, ‘you want to buy a Gucci, call Jessy,’” she laughed as she was sharing this bit of anecdote, more so at the thought that she may have a following within the Vietnamese American community. “Wagas!” That’s her favorite expression which means “so true.”

Jessy had worked for many years in the private construction industry where she supervised projects from FILAM |

‘Hulugan’ handbags for the woman who shops for styles and deals. bidding, pricing to planning all the way to completion. She also did consulting jobs as a Project Manager for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the New York Police Department.

Currently, she is a Document Control Manager at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

It could also be a gift. This unique ability to get people to make a purchase, or as the cliché calls it, “selling ice to an Eskimo.” Jessy’s parents are both doctors, but her father is more, in her words, the “jeprox type,” who

is sort of unconventional, wore his hair long uncharacteristic of one who works in a hospital. She is sure she got her brazenness from her dad.

Eight years into the business, Jessy has mastered a lot of things about her trade. Authentication is one of them.

She can tell an imitation Gucci from a real one and extends that knowledge to all of her brands. The smell and feel of genuine leather is something she knows all too well, the stitchery style, the metallic accents. There’s more to designer names than just the price tags.

Jessy Couture Authentic Designers For Less Phone Nos: 201-889-7355 / 201-354-7614 Shop at: Face Book: Jessy Couture Instagram: jessycouturenj

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Inadequately Asian

By Tricia J. Capistrano

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lthough we’re full Filipino, when I was growing up in Manila, my family was often invited by a Chinese Filipino family for a celebratory lauriat. My grandfather worked for Mr. Yao Shiong Shio, a successful Chinese Filipino businessman. And during Mr. and Mrs. Yao’s birthdays, they generously invited my grandparents, my parents, my sister Cecille and me, my aunt and uncle, and my cousins to join their family banquet.

A large section of the restaurant was reserved for the party. Each family or group of friends had their own table. After a short prayer and welcoming words from the hosts, the waiters promptly began the 10 courses by filling bowls with soup and putting it in front of each guest. Sometimes there was shark’s fin soup or birds’ nest soup. I liked the soups’ gluey constitution and savory flavor. Almost always, there was also sweet corn and egg drop soup for us children. I often finished my serving pretty quickly.

Sometimes I would even have two. But when the other courses were served– onyx colored century eggs, ‘rubber band’ noodles, sautéed spinach with long black mushrooms in oyster sauce–my mom would slice small portions and put them on Cecille’s and my plates. She gave us the look. We knew better than to complain. At home my mom always told us that we had to try new foods before we refused.

As I write about this memory on a subway seat on New York City’s A train, my mouth waters. It’s been a while since I had those flavors. I wonder who of my friends in New York I can ask to invite my husband, Tony, and me to a Chinese banquet.

I moved to the city in the mid ‘90s to attend grad school. I met Tony, a doctoral student, and we decided to stay in Manhattan. Tony is Caucasian and grew up in Michigan. He was only exposed to Asian food as an adult.

He and I were invited to a lauriat once while we were visiting Manila but that was about 15 years ago. We haven’t been to one since.

The author, 3rd from left, with her family at Victoria Peak, once upon a summer vacation in Hong Kong.

It was only last month, while re-reading Amitav Ghosh’s “The River of Smoke” that I learned that birds’ nest soup is made of swiftlet saliva. All these years I thought it was kind of chicken soup. “The River of Smoke” is the second book in Ghosh’s Ibis trilogy, “The Sea of Poppies,” “The River of Smoke” and “The Flood of Fire.” ‘Ibis’ is the name of the fictional slave ship owned by a British slave and opium financier, Benjamin Burnham.

In “The River of Smoke,” Amitav Ghosh writes about a night in the 1840s when five lascars escaped the Ibis in the middle of a typhoon. When they miraculously found land, the lascars–four Indian men and a half Chinese, half Indian man–found themselves in the island of Great Nicobar, close to Thailand, where swiftlets circled the skies. Swiftlets use their gummy saliva to make nests for their young. When exposed to air, the saliva hardens. In the book, the escapees joined the locals in harvesting the nests from caves and sold them to Chinese chefs. Because the nests were in high demand in China, the escapees were able to afford passages to Singapore and eventually to Hong Kong.

In the early 90s, while in our teens, my sister, Cecille, and I, with our mom, flew from Manila to Hong Kong to join our dad during the last few days of a business trip. During FILAM |

my dad’s hours off work, we took a ferry to nearby Kowloon Island to visit a museum. The following day a friend of my parents drove us up steep roads so we could see Victoria Peak, the highest point of Hong Kong, where the city’s wealthiest families live. The view was impressive but my favorite memories of our Hong Kong trip were going to a restaurant that served Peking Duck four ways. I loved the crunchy duck filled pancake with spring onions, hoisin sauce, and shrimp crackers–and then the next day waking up early so Cecille and I would be the first in line when the Esprit store opened.

Coincidentally, the store was located in the basement of the hotel where we were staying. It was also final sale weekend; the discounts were up to 75 percent off. I have read Mr. Ghosh’s trilogy four times now. “The Sea of Poppies” is set in India. “The River of Smoke” is set in the Ibis while it crosses the Bay of Bengal and the South China Sea. And the third, “The Flood of Fire” follows the characters from Canton to Hong Kong. I follow current events and consider myself well-read but somehow it escaped me that that the city that my sister and I thought of as a food and shopping haven, so close to where we grew up was founded because British businessmen lobbied their government to start a war against the Chinese using 8

soldiers from India, so the British could have a market for opium.

Ironically, when I finished the trilogy, I was in withdrawal. I re-read the books immediately. I wanted so much to return to that world that enraptured my consciousness. I missed reading about the fascinating lives of Zachary Reid, Deeti Singh, and Seth Bahramji Modi. I missed hearing the mix of languages—many of the characters spoke in Urdu, English, and Chinese. When I lived in Manila, my friends and I regularly spoke in Taglish, sometimes with a spattering of our parents’ dialects Capangpangan or Bisaya. It was frowned upon by our teachers. In school, we were only supposed to speak all Tagalog or all English, but there was something about mixing languages that made the daily banter more fun.

In the second book, “The River of Smoke,” there were LONG letters from Robin Chinnery, a mestizo painter to his British horticulturalist friend, Paulette Lambert. And in the “The Flood of Fire,” journal entries

by Neel Rattan Halder, a ship owner’s secretary. I was impatient and wanted to find out what happened to the other characters so I skipped them. During my second and third readings of the novels, however, I found that the letters and diary entries contained details that made the novel even more intriguing. It made the novel richer, just like how soups and stews taste richer the next day.

When I finally felt I had exhausted the trilogy, I read Mr. Ghosh’s “The Glass Palace,” a historical novel about what happened to King Thibaw of Burma and his daughters after they were escorted by the British out of their home. It was heartbreaking. I loved it too. It made me long to hear more stories by Asians and Asian Americans.

I then read a review about Peter Ho Davies’s latest novel in the New York Times and requested it right away from the New York Public Library web site. “The Fortunes” follows the lives of Chinese Americans from the 1850s to the present. I then saw a woman on the subway reading Ruth Ozeki’s rainbow striped book

“A Tale for the Time Being” and borrowed it as well. In Ozeki’s novel I met Haruki, a conflicted Japanese fighter pilot in during World War II. I remembered my great grandfather.

While talking to my elderly aunts, I learned that my great grandfather left his family and hid in the mountains from Japanese soldiers because he helped American soldiers during the war. It was stirring to hear another side of the story.

A good friend recommended Min Jin Lee’s “Free Food For Millionaires.”

I was so engrossed reading about the familial challenges of the Korean American New Yorkers (they’re much like ours!) that I remained oblivious for an hour and a half that I had stepped onto the wrong train on what I thought was my ride home.

I found “The Peach Blossom Fan,”

by K’ung Shang-jen in a New York City bookstore shelf featuring books from the New York Review Books Classics. I have a hard time reading plays (there are too many spaces in between lines) but I pushed myself and finished it at 3 a.m. one Saturday while my husband and son were

sleeping. The sleepless night was worth it even if I was upset by the unhappy conclusion. I wondered, as what the introduction suggested, if I have been conditioned too, too much

by Disney’s happy endings.

The piles of books next to my bed continue to grow but since reading the Ibis trilogy, I found that books

by Western writers that I bought and intended to read and gifts from friends are now at the bottom.

Growing up in the Philippines in the ‘70s and ‘80s—a former Spanish and U.S. colony–I was exposed to so many stories by and about Westerners.

When I was a child, during dinner my dad would recite lines from Aristotle, Shakespeare, Don Quixote, and even South Pacific! During Martial Law under Ferdinand Marcos, I remember that we didn’t have much local fiction to choose from in bookstores.

Many Filipino writers were in exile or imprisoned. I repeatedly read Mother Goose children’s stories, “Paddington Bear,” “Little House in the Big Woods,” all 52 Nancy Drew books, Jane Austen, Jeffrey Archer, and Sidney Sheldon. It was only when

I moved to the U.S. in the late 90s that I discovered books by writers from other post-colonial nations.

Reading fiction by Amitav Ghosh, Peter Ho Davies, Ruth Ozeki, K’ung Shang-jen, Min Jin Lee, and my fellow Filipino transplants Gina Apostol and Miguel Syjuco was for me like having a spoonful of champorado with fried salted fish on top–after not having had it for 20 years—rich, bitter, sweet, salty, creamy, crunchy– wonderful.

For the next few years at least, I resolve to read Asian and Asian American literature exclusively.

When I told Tony, now a writer and a professor of Communications, about this resolution he was offended. I think he felt that I was disparaging white writers. Tony and I have been married 18 years now.

He is the only Caucasian I seriously dated when I moved to New York.

And one of the reasons why I fell in love with him immediately is because he read Harper’s, the first magazine I was exposed to in the U.S. whose words occupied more space than pictures.

I told him I knew it sounds exclusionary but I said I felt a NEED to do this. I have been exposed so much to history and literature about the West. I want to read more stories, watch movies, be exposed to ideas and the history of Asia. I am Asian. In New York City, people put me in that category. “Soy sauce, soy sauce!” a man once jeered while I was walking in the Village. But, I feel inadequately Asian because there are so many stories about us that I don’t know.

I am not sure what I will find, or what reading books by all Asian writers will do to me. Will I change? Does it even matter? I have this yearning to know. Amitav Ghosh served me a slice. How could I refuse to partake of the banquet?

Tricia J. Capistrano is a writer whose articles have appeared in Newsweek, Mr.BellersNeighborhood.com, and the Philippine Star. She is the author of “Dingding, Ningning, Singsing and Other Fun Tagalog Words.” She wrote this essay in commemoration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in May. This piece won a Plaridel Award for Best Personal Essay.

Queens teen now playing for the PHL women’s hockey team

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teen from Rockaway Beach, Queens is now the starting goalie for the Philippines Women’s National Ice Hockey, which is working toward competing in the Winter Olympics 2022 and 2026.

A teen from Rockaway Beach, Queens is now the starting goalie for the Philippines Women’s National Ice Hockey, which is working toward competing in the Winter Olympics 2022 and 2026.

Rosalyn de Castro, 15, is the first Filipino American and import player to be on the team. She brought home the gold with her team last May from the Hong Kong Hockey 5s tourney, and was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament. She is the youngest member of her team with everyone being at least four years older.

“It is a huge undertaking and an honor to be a Filipino American representing the Philippines and New York,” said Rosalyn in an email interview with The FilAm. “Fortunately, I have an extremely supportive team that has welcomed me with open arms, which has helped me adjust really well.”

A sophomore at Bridgeway Academy in Pennsylvania, Rosalyn is in the online school’s Elite Athlete program.

As a young girl, Rosalyn has shown how competitive she could be at hockey and that this talented player can accomplish more given the right training and environment. Five years ago, she led her hockey team to the championship of the Hudson Valley Hockey League. She was the captain — and goalie — of the all-boys NYC Skyliners.

In an essay she wrote when she was 10, Rosalyn expressed how she would like to be a professional athlete and hoped to be in the Olympics one day.

“Right now, I am the only girl on my hockey team, and I am a goalie,” she wrote. “I am at the rink almost every day working hard to get better — sometimes rising even as early as 5:30 in the morning. I am usually one of the only Filipinos or Asians who plays hockey, and I’m a girl…It’s funny because when I am playing a game, no one on the other team notices. But after we change and they see me carrying my gear, I usually hear the other boys say, ‘Dad, FILAM |

Dad… Their goalie is a girl!!!’ It just makes me giggle but proud that I can do it.”

On March 1, 2018, Rosalyn will move to the Philippines to fulfill the residency requirements of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and Team Pilipinas. She will stay there for two years.

“I went to the Philippines in May of 2017 to train with the national team. I came back to the U.S. soon after to continue training,” she said.

In 2016, Team Pilipinas was recognized by the IIHF, governing body for Olympic Hockey, and is on track to participate in the Olympics of 2022 and 2026.

As Rosalyn begins her official training with the team in March, her presence becomes a historical milestone for the team. As a visible women’s goalie, her participation calls attention to the sports of hockey in the Philippines and how it has come a long way from recreational to competitive sport.

“Rosalyn is determined to do well,” said her mother Janice, a pas9

Rosalyn de Castro is the youngest in the team. try chef who runs her own bake shop called Jae NYC Eats in Chinatown.

Rosalyn is excited to return to Manila to continue with her training and to rekindle the friendships she’s made with Filipino kids.

“I’ve been able to make many friends from both the men’s and women’s national team, along with their families,” she said.

For more on her story, please go to: https://www.gofundme.com/RosTeamPilipinas. – Cristina DC Pastor

U.S., CANADA SHOWS for GMA’s ‘Sikat Ka, Kapuso!’

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MA Pinoy TV is gearing up for the most star-studded event of the year as the hottest Kapuso royalties grace the muchawaited return of “Sikat Ka, Kapuso!” this April.

Following the huge success from last year’s event in California, the Kapuso abroad can once again get the chance to see their idols perform live on April 7 at the Newark Symphony Hall in New Jersey and on April 8 at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto, Canada.

Leading the ensemble of the brightest stars is none other than Kapuso Primetime King Dingdong Dantes who returns to the U.S. after his successful shows in 2017. Dingdong, who top billed the recently-concluded “Alyas Robin Hood 2,” will entertain the Kapuso abroad with poprock songs that they can surely sing along with.

Returning to the “Sikat Ka, Kapuso!” cast is real-life couple Kapuso Drama King Dennis Trillo and Ultimate Star Jennylyn Mercado who will bring kilig as their fans watch out for their duet performance.

Kapuso Premier Drama Actress Lovi Poe, who co-stars with Dennis Trillo in the sexy romantic comedy series “The One That Got Away,” is also returning to the show together with Kapuso comedian Betong Sumaya.

Last, but definitely not the least, GMA Pinoy TV is once again bringing the Kapuso abroad’s most requested artist – no less than Pambansang Bae Alden Richards.

With today’s hottest Kapuso stars performing in New Jersey and Toronto, the Kapuso abroad can expect nothing but pure fun and entertainment.

Sikat Ka, Kapuso! is a GMA-produced event which aims to bring Filipinos abroad closer to home via its international channels GMA Pinoy TV, GMA Life TV, and GMA News TV International. Stay informed by following GMA Pinoy TV on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

For ticket inquiries, contact (917) 858Sikat Ka’ stars, top to bottom: Dingdong Dantes, 2356 for Sikat Ka, Kapuso! New Jersey and 1-866-7KAPUSO for Sikat Ka, Kapuso! Toronto. Alden Richards; Dennis Trillo, Jennylyn Mercado; Betong – GMA Pinoy TV. Sumaya, Lovi Poe

Stevenson shown here with NYS Gov. Krista ShaferVazquez.

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he weekend of January 26 to 28 in Long Island City was a momentous occasion for Junior Chamber International New York State as it successfully held its 2017 yearend convention in the Big Apple after more than 10 years.

Highlighting the event was the turnover ceremony of the Outgoing President and the Installation of Office of the Incoming State President, followed by its board.

The year 2017 was a tremendous one for New York State; it achieved membership growth at par with the country’s membership growth performance under the leadership of New York State Gov. Krista Shafer-Vazquez with her theme, “Live.

Learn. Love.”

Stevenson Van Derodar, a local chapter president in 2016 under the “The Heart of Impact” banner also served as State Vice President in 2017 prior to his 2018 Presidency.

Derodar is new president of JCI New York State Sworn in to lead the Young Leaders Organization in New York State, Stevenson shared his wealth of experience as a leader early in life. He sought the attendees’ support for 2018 JCI New York State and for them to carry through its vision and mission in “Excelsior!” and “Nothing is Impossible!” – the theme for 2018.

Stevenson, a local Chapter President in 2016, was one of only three “Most Outstanding Local Presidents” in the USA – receiving the Charles Kulp Memorial Award. Consequently, his local chapter, JCI Philippine-New York also received its Most Outstanding Local Chapter status. One of only three awardees in 2016, it earned the Howard Clarence Memorial Award for Most Outstanding Local Chapter in the USA in 2016, besting more than 500 chapters nationally.

As 2018 JCI New York State Programming is out, Stevenson hopes to achieve its key objectives, including the promotion of its State Priority Projects, such as Entrepreneurships or Owning a Small Business Campaign, New York State Uplifts the Homeless, Bilingual English Literacy Volunteerism to select communities, etc.

A push for Extensions and New Chapters, The Search for The Outstanding Young New Yorkers, and The Search for The Outstanding New Yorkers are among the targeted 2018 projects hoping to re-energize participation from members across the state, which include chapters from Batavia, Buffalo, Liverpool, Long Island, Orchard Park, Saratoga Springs, Queens and Manhattan.

The year 2018 JCI New York State Executive Board include NYS Gov. Krista Shafer-Vazquez, Chairman of the Board; Tammy Honeywell as Executive Vice President; Karina Tineo as Vice President; FILAM |

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JCI Sen. Mark Napierkowski as Treasurer; Christina Bakos as Corporate Secretary; Margaret Quimosing as State Membership Director; Finance Advisor JCI Sen. Melissa Bernstein-George; Technology Advisor JCI Sen. Brandon Schumacher. JCI Sen. Jocelyn Ochoa was appointed as Presidential Coach and JCI Sen. Vivian Velasco as Presidential Chief of Staff.

Presidential Advisers include JCI Sen. Chrystal Dyess, JCI Sen. Jocelyn Bernal-Ochoa, JCI Sen. Jeff Lank, JCI Sen. Kim Lambert and JCI Sen. Ria Serrano. Board Advisers include JCI Sen. Dennis Kramer, JCI Sen. Ron Napierkowski, JCI Sen. Richie Rillera, JCI Sen. Scott Kingsley, and JCI Sen. Mike Dietz. Inter-chapter Advisory Liaisons include JCI Sen. Ma. Cristina Ramos, JCI Sen. Gary Abasolo, NYS Gov. Cathy Preston, JCI Sen. Brandon Schumacher and NYS Gov. Gina Pellettieri.

Program Managers who are tasked to monitor programming and projects include NYS Gov. Krista Shafer-Vazquez, Tammy Honeywell, Margaret Quimosing, Eric Kim, Laurence Shuurman, NYS. Gov. Erika Echavarria, Chris Smith, Cristina Keiley, Ashley Lavilla, JCI Sen. Krizteen Dulay-Concepcion, JCI Sen. Kim Lambert, Karina Tineo, Jeanette Marco and Stevenson Van Derodar.

JCI is a worldwide community of young active citizens ages 18-40 who share the belief that in order to create positive change, we must take collective action to improve ourselves and the world around us. Members engage in activities ranging from individual and community development to international projects, demonstrate their social responsibility and improve themselves through participation, leadership and action. Interested to join the organization? Emails can be sent to membership@newyorkjaycees.org.

Concert producers Ogie and Mel Mendoza

and the soundtrack of their lives

By Cristina DC Pastor

The couple that headbangs together produces concerts together.

Forty-year marriage gave birth to Mountaintop LLC.

FILAM |

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ecause they can, and because the power of music sends good vibes throughout the 40-year marriage of Brooklyn couple Robert ‘Ogie’ Mendoza and Melissa Rubio Mendoza. From Manila to New York, this couple has bonded through Karaoke singing, watching theater musicals and, of late, producing concerts.

“My father sings very well so I was introduced to music since I was a child,” said Mel when interviewed by The FilAm. “I played guitar since elementary at church choirs and amateur contests. Ogie is a much bigger fan of music. He has so much collections of vinyl and continues to collect until now.”

It started about three years ago, recalled Ogie, of when the producing bug hit them. The couple created Mountaintop Entertainment Productions, LLC. and tried staging a concert in collaboration with friends from California. It did not go so well. While a big amount of money went down the drain, there were also teachable moments that arose, and from which they acquired some life-long lessons.

It was an experience they put in the back of their minds but never really abandoned. They felt they could apply those lessons the next time they tried.

“We were influenced by friends,” said Ogie.

While cooling their heels, Ogie and Mel continued to visit NYC’s community lounge circuit, nightclubs and bars unveiling new talent, watch concerts with local and Philippine-based talents, met new friends, acquired new insights, and took note of things that would be useful. Just as important, they continued to do their day jobs: Ogie as a concierge of luxury property homes in New York, and Mel as a personal assistant.

The next time around, Ogie and Mel’s attempts began to see some promising progression. They invested in Jadine’s High on Love concert at Lisner Auditorium in June, 2016 and another concert

by Erik Santos and Angeline Quinto

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the same year, but it was “mismanaged,”

by Ogie’s account. The concerts of Basil Valdez and the Stylistics drew in a decent net. They invested also in a series of concerts in New York. It was the November 12, 2017 concert of Ogie Alcasid and Regine Velasquez at TownHall that broke record. Tickets were sold out, sponsors delivered, social media was exploding, and Ogie and Mel were seeing the rewards in their bank accounts.

“It was our most successful show,” said Ogie, surprised but also humbled.

“Logistics is the most challenging aspect of concert producing,” he conceded. Mountaintop is currently preparing its next concert featuring the hugely popular singer-actress Sarah Geronimo from the Philippines. It is slated for May 6 at the Colden Auditorium in Flushing, Queens. Tickets from $60 to $150 are available through Ticketmaster.com.

The name Mountaintop was an idea pitched by the Mendozas’ youngest daughter Pam. (They have two other daughters, Patricia and Peachy.) The design was Ogie’s creative interpretation of what he and Mel have aspired to, and that is to keep trying until they reached their dreams.

“The word has meaning to us,” said Mel. Ogie and Mel are fans of the old standards. Sinatra. Gershwin. Holiday.

Porter. Ella. Crosby, etc. “Our friends usually ask our daughters why are familiar with old songs, and they say because we hear it from our parents,” said Mel. “They usually give us concert tickets as gifts, it’s funny.”

Asked why concert producers need to mine talent from the Philippines when there are just as many local talent available in the ‘neighborhood,’ Mel replied, “It is a trend in every community to bring in international talents and adding local talent in one show all together. It enhances our support, appreciation, and love for Philippine music and strengthen our social connections with friends, family and kababayan.”

New Yorkers feeling famous

By Edwin Josue

at the Golden Globes

I had to pinch myself; it was for real!

I

ran into Tom Hanks at the men’s room.

I was shoulder to shoulder with Susan Sarandon and Mariah Carey at the after-party. I had a selfie with Neil Patrick Harris. I was a few feet away from Oprah Winfrey. We were among cinema celebrities, me and my partner Jerry Sibal, when we attended the recent 75th Golden Globe Awards in L.A. The moment Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) ex-Chair and now board member Ruben Nepales and Executive Secretary Janet Susan Rodriguez Nepales texted us about our availability to attend the Golden Globes, we readily said yes! The only caveat: Keep it confidential and no Facebook posting.

While the anticipation was pure excitement, getting there was nerve-wracking!

NYC experienced the bomb cyclone, and the snow canceled all flights. Frustrated, we were on the phone and Internet trying to rebook.

The flight we got had a layover of six hours in Austin, Texas; we got it. As luck would have it, our good friends Rina Saporsantos-Dia and Benjie Dia, who are from there, fetched us at the airport. In the wee hours of the morning, the four of us did some serious catching up in a 24-hour diner.

We arrived in L.A. and began to read the rules in the three-tiered big envelope invitation.

• Hire a limo or ride in Uber/Lyft – with a plastic dashboard permit. All ticket holders and vehicles are subject to search.

• Instructions on where and how to go to Beverly Hills Hilton hotel for the red-carpet walk.

• Retaining the invite ticket all the time, no unauthorized photography and recording.

We got on a Lyft and drove to where the action is. We saw single line cars and strict security a few miles long: Inspection points with metal detectors and dogs. We presented our invitation and put the permit card on the dashboard.

The minute we stepped into the red carpet… ah, what a feeling! A feeling of being famous and fabulous. The Beverly Hilton Hotel was crawling with celebrities in black gowns and suits, the women in black making a bold statement against sexual misconduct.

On both sides of the red-carpet walk were big studio tents, with foreign and American press lined up to interview the stars. At the end of the line, we were served with Moët and Chandon champagne in tip capped for drinking. From the bar we eyed the unfolding scene, we watched recognizable faces pass us. Jerry and I could not contain our excitement. Sigh, no cameras or selfie shots allowed in the center of the ballroom.

||Champagne and chocolates

Our table was bedecked with full bloom of orange and red colored roses on a big round vase with diamonds underneath it. Each table held 2 big 2006 Moët Chandon bottles and giveaway boxes of Lindt chocolates. We were seated not far from the stage, sharing a table with Neil Patrick Harris and Kate Hudson. We had a panoramic view of every Hollywood A-lister in the center of the room and most of the nominees. We had our dinner of greens with mozzarella, sea bass, and finally a chocolate dessert with inscription 75th Year. Couldn’t help it, I had to take a couple of clandestine memory shots.

We were a table away from Margaret Gardiner, a former Miss Universe from South Africa, who is now an entertainment journalist at HFPA. We met her in NYC and became fast friends. She introduced us to the current Miss Universe from her country, Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters.

The highlights of the night are all etched in memory: Kirk Douglas, all of 101 years, appearing on a wheel chair commanding the silence of the ballroom as he spoke. Oprah Winfrey’s electrifying speech accepting her Cecil B. DeMille Award. The speech merited three standing ovations! The surprise appearance of the stunning Barbra Streisand who was not mentioned in the program.

After the show, Ruben and Janet led us to get our gift bags. The men got a traveling rolling bag with charger loaded with men’s accoutrement and a 75th Year memory book. A Kate Spade tote bag with more gifts were given to the women. The next stop was the after-party where food stations and a larger-than-life dance floor awaited.

From red carpet to ballroom to after-party, we FILAM |

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The author ‘eavesdropping’ on Mariah Carey and Allison Janney. ran into FilAms — some we know, others we got to meet that night: Award-winning songwriter Robert Lopez, actor Vinny Rodriguez, Dr. Tess Mauricio who is a Golden Globe regular, fashion designers Puey Quinones and Oliver Tolentino, photographer Filbert Kung, Narciso Chan who is the president of Curve Entertainment Philippines, Flora Ramos who is the former managing director of Dyna-EMI Music; her husband Marlo Ramos who is a retired manufacturing safety and environmental manager; and publicist Rene Durian.

It’s been three weeks since, and we’re still talking about our experience. We cannot thank enough our good friends Ruben and Janet for this beautiful gift of friendship. In the wink of an eye everything is but a memory we will always treasure.

A New York resident for 31 years, Edwin Josue has a successful career in real estate, specializing in high-end properties. He was the first Filipino to work as an Associate Broker and trusted to manage several landmark buildings across NYC. He is currently a licensed property agent at Halstead Properties. He was actively involved in the 2015 Philippine Gold Exhibit held at the Asia Society. He and partner Jerry Sibal joined the Noli Me Tangere the Opera staged in NYC. A TOFA (The Outstanding Filipino Americans) awardee, Edwin is a magna cum laude Economics graduate from San Beda College and earned an MBA from De La Salle University.

The legend called Digong T

By Cristina DC Pastor AGUM City, Davao del Norte — At the rambling Hijo Resorts in this city dotted with graceful coconut trees, Rodrigo Duterte used to frequent the firing range every Sunday before he became president of the Philippines.

He would fire a few shots, usually with his best friend, relax a bit before heading out, according to a resident.

He was nondescript, not flashy at all. There was nothing to indicate he would one day make history as the first president to come from the island of Mindanao.

“No more,” the resident replied when asked if Duterte, who had bragged to a BBC journalist he had shot three men dead when he was mayor, still frequented Hijo. “Busy na.”

That’s one tale passed on to visiting Filipino American journalists from New York who were invited to the Philippines on a familiarization tour of the Davao region.

Tourism Director for Region 11 Roberto Alabado said Duterte would always emphasize to his police officers to apply city ordinances equitably. No separate laws for the rich and the poor. One day, he said, Duterte dared his cops to issue him a traffic ticket.

“Sabi ni Digong, wag kayo matakot, basta lumabag ng batas tikitan niyo,” he said chuckling.

“Sige, tikitan niyo ako.”

Manila newspapers reported in September 2009 how Duterte received a ticket for driving his motorcycle without a helmet as required by law.

According to Philippine Star, the then mayor’s security aide also received a ticket for the same violation.

No doubt Duterte – known by his nickname Digong — is well loved throughout the Davao region, also known as Southern Mindanao or Region 11. He was seen as fair, tough on crime, and he restored order in the city known during Martial Law as a hotbed of communist death

Muslim supporters capture a moment with Pres. Duterte. Malacanang Photo squads. Residents say they felt safe under his leadership. There was a 9 p.m. curfew for loud karaoke singing, and an alcohol curfew at 2 a.m.

“We’re not telling them to stop drinking, just telling that if they want to continue they can do it in their homes,” said tour guide Ervin Bansot.

There’s another reason: “Usually employees who stay out late from drinking come to work feeling tired and sleepy, and cannot work efficiently.

It’s just that,” Bansot explained to the visiting journalists. “It has nothing to do with curtailing human rights.”

||Administrative region

In 1972, the Philippines was sliced into 11 regions, three days after Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law ostensibly for administrative efficiency. Critics believe it was to reward local politicians with their own fiefdoms. Today, there are 17 regions, including Davao, which are independent and which elect their own leaders.

Region 11 has five provinces – namely, Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental and Davao Occidental. Davao City, the largest city in Mindanao, became the regional center. Duterte had been its mayor for seven terms beginning 1988 all the way through 2016 until he ran for president.

FILAM |

||‘Charming, compassionate’

Cultivating his image as a “promdi” — provincial not city-bred – Duterte’s manner of speaking sits just well with Davaoenos. He does not sugarcoat but tells it like it is.

He is known to crack green jokes, and expresses frustration using curses and expletives. “He is just like us” is a common sentiment.

By now, the story of Duterte ordering a cocky tourist to eat his cigarette when caught smoking in a public place is known around the world. The people we spoke to were not too sure if that incident actually happened but they were proud to weave it among the folk tales that cast Duterte as a fearless defender of law and order.

“You have to understand,” continued Bansot. “Digong is the first president to come out of Mindanao and the Visayas,” bringing the two regions together because Duterte was born in Maasin, Southern Leyte, a province in Eastern Visayas. His election was historic. “People from Mindanao were saying ‘it’s about time,’” he said.

“There’s a lot of pride there.”

They shrugged off reports of extra-judicial killings of drug suspects committed by his police officers and their supposed henchmen. The Human Rights Watch said

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Duterte is engaged in a “systematic” and “abusive” campaign against drug dealers and addicts. Reports said as many as 7,000 to 9,000 suspects have been killed in the so-called ‘war on drugs.’

“Davaoeños generally don’t want killings, however, when the lives of the innocent are in jeopardy, then it’s a different story,” said Bansot, who described Duterte as “compassionate.”

“Duterte is very charming, wise and honest,” said travel agency executive Jobelle Co of Belle Horizon. “Despite him being ruthless and tactless sometimes, we can see how he truly loves Davao and the Philippines. I am not a Dabawenyo but I love him.”

“A tough man for criminals with a soft heart for good people,” said resident Samuel Alboro Libre.

||Marawi aftermath

Davao leaders and officials are trying to pick up the pieces of disappointing tourism numbers following the months-long siege in Marawi City that led President Duterte to declare Martial Law across Mindanao.

Said Ralph Kristoffer Porio, a manager at Hijo Resorts Davao, “Just because something happened in Marawi City does not meant it will happen in Davao. Marawi is eight to 10 hours away from Davao!”

Last September, however, Davao’s Night Market was hit by a bomb attack which killed 14 people. Three suspects with ties to the rebel Maute Group were arrested. When we dropped by, there was security at the Night Market, where bags were inspected.

The leaders echoed how the declaration of Martial Law has made the region even more safe.

“Except for some checkpoints, you don’t hear any curtailment of freedom,” said one local leader. “We still see foreign tourists going to bars.”

The FilAm magazine was among the news organizations invited to a November 20-28 familiarization tour organized by the Philippine Consulate in New York, the Philippine Department of Tourism, and Philippine Airlines. Davao was the tour’s centerpiece destination.

Higaonon Filipina

By Sheena Ocot

writes about feeling alienated in her FilAm community

My memories of Mama Liling, my paternal grandmother, will always be vivid.

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he was there when we were little tykes romping around in our diapers. I would lie on her bed while she crocheted and I watched the Mets with her. She always let us play outside our home in Lodi, New Jersey until the sun went down. She had a lavish vegetable garden in the backyard and rose bushes on the side of the house.

Christmas meant everyone slept over, and I mean everyone. There would be people sleeping on the couch that pulled out into a bed. When we had family visits from the Philippines, they stayed at Mama Liling’s. She always had room even if she didn’t. It was always loud and filled with life in that little house on Kipp Avenue. It was filled with her children, her friends, her grandchildren, and beyond. It was such a huge tribe. It was family.

The bond, the closeness, the weirdness, and the differences.

I learned how at age 15, she was part of a Filipino softball league equivalent to All-American Girls Baseball League of the 1940s. She was like Dottie of “A League of Their Own.” She was one of the best!

In the 1940s, she had to escape into the mountains with three children under the age of 5 during the Japanese invasion. The Japanese soldiers did not know the territory high in the mountains and so her family was safely tucked away. I have always had this vision that when I grow old, I will be in the mountains.

She had a total of 10 children with Papa Thiago.

She was a widow and never remarried. She came to America in the 1970s with the help of her sister and petitioned most of her children to reside in the little town of Lodi in New Jersey. That’s how my mother and I came to the USA.

||A Filipino trying to be American

I came to America when I was only a year old.

English is my second language. Growing up, I had to balance being in a household where it was Filipino and I was trying to be “American” with my friends.

Did I have a hard time? Maybe.

I do have a memory that at a young age, I despised my name and how I wanted my name to be “normal.” “Sheena” was and still is a very unique name. I was too young to appreciate being different from your classmates even though it was somewhat diverse. Was I having an identity crisis at such a young age? Maybe. I guess my whole beef

The author: Indigenous Pinay and proud of it

The Higaonon tribe of Misamis, also known as the ‘people of the mountains.’

was the fact that I could never find my name on a damn keychain!

I grew up in Lodi. Not an exciting town, but it’s where my brother and I experienced racism from a stupid bully. To this day, it really irks me when people acknowledge me as every Asian country on the map but can never guess Filipino and to say, “We all look alike.”

I always felt alienated within the Filipino American community. I never really hear stories on this topic. The dark side. We are always portrayed as a united community but I am not part of that nor felt that. I think that’s why I don’t have too many Filipino friends because they were never too friendly with me or were just faking it. I’ll never really know the answer to that but I guess in every race/culture you will have those few who feel unwanted. When I went to the Philippines, I realized the locals in the motherland were so friendly, caring, and loving as opposed to the Filipino Americans in the States.

Isn’t that something?

Why would I want to be a part of that? I am one who has always rooted for the underdog, who stood up to people being bullied, and I’ll always talk about inclusion. I never want to mistreat anyone because it is already a hard enough world.

It’s important to me to be mindful as I know sometimes we lack that. Sometimes it’s all talk, a buzz, but never fully maintained.

||College dropout

Papa was a hard-working merchant marine and is now living the retired life. He deserves every bit of it. Mama is a registered nurse with her stories of strength. I am a college dropout because at the time, I felt like I didn’t need it. My major was English Literature with a focus on writing. Maybe one day I will finish the few credits left to get my Bachelor’s.

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My parents had a lot to do with the kind of human I am today. It was a strict household, one that I can only thank and appreciate up to today. As the oldest to two brothers with Papa always away on the ship, I learned to do a lot at a young age as Mama prepared me before I became a ‘dalaga.’ Make rice, do chores, learn to cook certain foods, get good grades, watch my brothers, and help Mama. Those traits shaped me. Respect is something ingrained in our culture as well as being humble. Two of the most important characters that I feel a lot of us lack these days.

I live in a city and for years now, I like my time spent in the peaceful outdoors! It resets my soul.

I create whenever I get the chance, mostly setting up photo shoots when need be. I still shoot photos on 35mm film with my favorite Pentax camera. I have a green thumb and own about 11 plants in my humble abode. Halloween is my favorite holiday and I love watching horror movies by myself (yes at night, too). My friends tell me I am a rare gem and I walk to my own beat. I blame my astrology moon sign which is Scorpio. I am a mystery but full of heart.

My grandfather and great uncle were chiefs of the Higaonon tribe in Cagayan de Oro, my birthplace. Ever since I was a teenager, I wanted to know more about my identity, I wanted to know the stories of the family and stories of the Philippines. Being Filipino is more than just Filipino. We are so mixed, that is the beauty. So to find out that I am indigenous makes me super proud that it is part of who I am.

Sheena Ocot is an artist living in Newark, New Jersey, her home for the last 10 years. She goes by the name “Sheena She.” She recently curated a Unity In Color – Newark edition photo shoot of women of different backgrounds and lifestyles.

Issue 1, March 2018

Styles and deals in Jessy Daing’s ‘hulugan’ handbags

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Indigenous Pinay Sheena Ocot and her feeling of alienation

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Robert & Mel Mendoza: A marriage powered by music

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