What does it mean to be Filipino in America? According to the most recent U.S. Census data, only about half of the 1.4 million Filipinos in California speak Tagalog, Ilocano or Visayan. Whether it is because of the pressures of assimilation, residual effects of colonialism and the perceived value of English as being more beneficial, many first and second-generation Filipino Americans are probing why they never learned their native language or why it never stuck. News story from KQED News.
26 year old contemporary artist Lou Lim was recently granted a prestigious artistic residency at the Palais de Tokyo, a popular contemporary art museum in Paris, France. The residency is part of the museum's "Emerging Artists from Emerging Countries" program which seeks to showcase little-known but gifted Southeast Asian artists to the French art world. Lim is one of six other artists in Southeast Asia, and the first Filipino to ever be selected for this program. Story from The Rappler.
Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, N.J., has launched the first hospital-based Filipino Medical Program in the U.S. Under the umbrella of Holy Name’s Asian Health Services, the program is designed to meet the medical needs of this community in a culturally sensitive environment and provide healthcare amenities to make Filipino-American patients and their families feel welcome and comfortable, according to a news release. News story from Nurse.com.
A group art exhibition in Berlin, Germany entitled "WASAK! Filipino Art Today" opened last Saturday, December 5th at the new Arndt Art Agency A3 premises. Curated by Norman Crisologo, The Berlin Group Exhibition “WASAK! Filipino Art Today" is a seminal exhibition exploring Filipino contemporary art in Europe. The exhibition will be accompanied by a hardcopy catalogue published by European publishing house DISTANZ Verlag. Exhibiting artists include: Zean Cabangis, Annie Cabigting, Buen Calubayan, Louie Cordero, Jigger Cruz, Marina Cruz, Kawayan De Guia, Alfredo Esquillo, Ian Fabro, Nona Garcia, Pow Martinez, Manuel Ocampo, Alwin Reamillo, Norberto Roldan, Kaloy Sanchez, José Santos III, Rodel Tapaya, Tatong Torres and Ronald Ventura. News story from The Inquirer.net.
Ramar Foods is a third generation Filipino-American family business that has produced well-loved Filipino food staples for over thirty years. Ramar Foods was founded by Ramon and Maria Quesada (pictured) in 1969 after they immigrated to the U.S. with their 11 children. Eager to bring the taste of home to America, the Quesada family transformed the company from import and distribution to a full-fledged food manufacturing business, bringing the taste of the Philippines to the U.S. palette. Last week, Ramar Foods celebrated an outstanding milestone of producing its one billionth lumpia in its headquarters in Pittsburg, California. News story from CBS San Francisco. Link to the video after the jump.
Philippine Senator Loren Legarda has been named the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction’s (UNISDR) Global Champion for Resilience. Legarda’s appointment was announced by Margareta Wahlstrom, Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction, on November 30 at the Climate Vulnerable Forum High Level Meeting at the 2015 Paris Climate Conference or COP21. The senator, a regional champion for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation for Asia-Pacific since 2008, was recognized for being “an outspoken and consistent champion for the need to rethink development and work with all stakeholders and in many sectors to prevent and reduce risk,” Wahlstrom said in a speech delivered at the Paris conference. News story from Inquirer.net.
Thank you to our kind and generous donors. This is the first year Filipina Women's Network joined #GivingTuesday, the social media-powered global day of giving. With your help, we raised $2,994.00 over the course of 8 hours!
Giving Tuesday is a charitable initiative that serves as a counter-effort to big holiday-fueled spending days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Largely fueled by social media, Giving Tuesday is an annual day to encourage the global public to give back to one's favorite charity or non-profit organization, through volunteering or financial contributions. In its fourth year, #GivingTuesday 2015 had 1.3 million mentions on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram, compared with 750,000 from last year. It raised nearly $117 million in online donations, a jump of 155% over last year. Source: NBCNews.com
Excerpt: A U.S. appeals court Monday, December 1 upheld a jury’s $4.5 million award to a class of roughly 350 Filipino teachers who accused recruitment companies of demanding they pay massive processing and placement fees or face losing their jobs in Louisiana. A class of 347 Filipino teachers, who came to the United States to work on H-1B guest worker visas, said recruitment agencies and their agents misled them and collected millions of dollars in fees, according to Courthouse News Service. They reportedly paid up to $16,000 each to work in public schools in Louisiana. News story from Inquirer.net.
