Iron Chef Geoffrey Zakarian is president of a charity council in New York that has been feeding starving people for 20 years.
Mar 282014
Mar 272014
The Manila version of Todd English Food Hall is the replica of the one in New York.
Dec 302013
Members and supporters from a coalition of organizations supporting domestic workers, rally outside the Indian Consulate in New York where Devyani Khobragade, India’s deputy consul general was believed to be staying after she was arrested and charged with lying on a visa form. AP NEW YORK—The prosecution of an Indian consular official in New York for allegedly forcing her maid to toil for little pay highlights a problem advocates say is all too common — workers for foreign governments who bring along the baggage of human trafficking to the US. Because of the complications surrounding immunity laws, many abuse cases often go unreported or uncharged, advocates say. Victims’ claims often end up in civil court for that reason, they say. There have been at least 20 cases in the past decade filed by workers who said they were brought to the US by diplomatic officials and threatened with abuse, forced to work endless hours and kept isolated, with their employers not charged criminally. “We’ve seen it across the board, we’ve seen it with country missions to the UN, we’ve seen it with consular officials, diplomats of all levels,” said anti-trafficking attorney Dana Sussman, who is representing the maid in the Indian case. The case against Devyani Khobragade, India’s deputy consul general in New York, is unusual in part because the US State Department has said she does not have immunity, a claim her attorney and the Indian government are disputing. Khobragade, 39, was charged with visa fraud and accused of Read More …
Nov 292013
Beginning in 2009, Vilma Bautista and her two nephews allegedly began trying to sell the Monet water lily, “Le Bassin aux Nympheas,” (shown above) and three other valuable works that the Philippines government was trying to repossess. MANILA (AFP) – The Philippines said Tuesday that justice was done in the conviction of a confidante of former first lady Imelda Marcos in New York for plotting to sell valuable looted artworks. The special anti-corruption agency tasked with tracing the wealth stolen by the Marcos family said it would now seek to recover the money and artworks confiscated from Vilma Bautista, a former New York-based social secretary of Imelda Marcos. “New York has seen justice done today,” the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) said, as it hailed the US prosecutors for recovering paintings that had been missing since the Marcos family fell from power in 1986. Imelda Marcos, 84, known for her extravagant lifestyle, is alleged to have looted millions from state coffers when her husband Ferdinand Marcos was president from 1965 to 1986. She used this wealth to acquire jewelry, art, real estate and a massive shoe collection. An army-backed popular revolt toppled President Marcos in 1986 and sent him and his family fleeing into exile. But much of their allegedly stolen wealth has not yet been recovered. The PCGG said it had provided key testimony and evidence that led to the conviction of Bautista for conspiring to sell three valuable artworks including a piece by French impressionist Claude Monet. Read More …
Nov 232013
U.S. Marines provide safe drinking water to typhoon survivors Thursday Nov. 21, 2013 at Tacloban city, Leyte province in central Philippines. Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful typhoons ever recorded, slammed into central Philippine provinces Nov. 8, leaving a wide swath of destruction. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez) MANILA, Philippines – The United Nations appealed for more aid for typhoon victims in the Philippines on Friday, increasing the original amount it sought to raise by $47 million (P2 billion) to $348 million (P15 billion). UN Undersecretary General Valerie Amos, the world body’s humanitarian chief, made the announcement at the UN headquarters in New York after seeing for herself the situation in the hardest-hit areas of the Visayas, including Tacloban City, which she visited twice in two weeks. “A massive disaster like this requires a massive response,” a UN press statement reported Amos as saying at a news conference in New York on Friday. “Much more needs to be done. Food, clean water and shelter remain the top priorities. Vast numbers of vulnerable people are still exposed to bad weather and need basic shelter. Families who have lost their homes will need substantial longer-term support from the international community to ensure they have the means to rebuild their houses,” she added. The UN launched on November 12 an action plan seeking to raise $301 million (P13 billion) from the international community to support six months of relief and recovery operations in Eastern Visayas, including the provision of emergency food, shelter and water Read More …
Nov 192013
The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) said Tuesday that justice was done in the conviction of a confidante of former first lady Imelda Marcos in New York for plotting to sell valuable looted artworks. The special anti-corruption agency tasked with tracing the wealth stolen by the Marcos family said it would now seek to recover the money and artworks confiscated from Vilma Bautista, a former New York-based social secretary of Imelda Marcos. “New York has seen justice done today,” the PCGG said, as it hailed the US prosecutors for recovering paintings that had been missing since the Marcos family fell from power in 1986. Imelda Marcos, 84, known for her extravagant lifestyle, is alleged to have looted millions from state coffers when her husband Ferdinand Marcos was president from 1965 to 1986. She used this wealth to acquire jewelry, art, real estate and a massive shoe collection. An army-backed popular revolt toppled President Marcos in 1986 and sent him and his family fleeing into exile. But much of their allegedly stolen wealth has not yet been recovered. The PCGG said it had provided key testimony and evidence that led to the conviction of Bautista for conspiring to sell three valuable artworks including a piece by French impressionist Claude Monet. New York authorities began their investigation in 2010 after learning of the suspicious sale of a Monet painting by Bautista and her nephews. They contacted the PCGG “as there appeared to have been other attempts by the defendants… to sell Read More …
Oct 142013
NEW YORK—Last year, Noli Me Tangere, the opera, was staged in Chicago. I heard about it and wanted to see it but couldn’t and wished that it would be staged here as well. Fortunately like-minded New York-based Filipinos had the same idea. And so it was that over a recent weekend this month, the Foundation for Filipino Artists, in celebration of its 25th anniversary, presented it at the Kaye Playhouse that is part of Hunter College (where I teach, coincidentally). The foundation, headed by its founder Aida Bartolome, partnered with a committee to raise funds, whose chair was Loida Nicolas Lewis. As the latter pointed out in a speech welcoming the audience to the last performance, New York hadto have its own production. In 1888, it was the culmination of his transcontinental train journey begun in San Francisco. He stayed for three days before boarding a passenger ship to Liverpool. A scene of the party at Don Santiago’s Binondo home, welcoming Ibarra back. Photo/Project Fury13 Working to stage this opera was a creative team made up of gifted veteran professionals, from the artistic director and composer/conductor Michael Dadap and dancer/choreographer Kristin Jackson, from set and costume designer Jerry Sibal to the singers, all of whom have had considerable experience and success in regional venues in the US and in Europe. Sal Malaki, for instance, singing the role of Ibarra, is with the Los Angeles Opera; Antoni Mendezona (Maria Clara) has sung to critical acclaim in New York; and Andrew Fernando Read More …
Sep 042013
By Momar VisayaAJPress/INQUIRER.net News Partner 5:32 am | Thursday, September 5th, 2013 Eleven-year-old Frenie Acoba belted the US national anthem at US Open. NEW YORK—Frenie Acoba, an 11-year-old Fil-Am, kicked off the U.S. Open, one of the world’s largest sports and entertainment events, by singing the “Star-Spangled Banner” in front of thousands of fans at opening night on Monday, Aug. 26. “This is my fourth time performing the national anthem here, but my first time to do it on opening night, so I was very nervous,” a visibly excited Acoba told the Asian Journal minutes after her performance at the Arthur Ashe Stadium. Born and raised in New York to Filipino parents Willy and Nieva, Frenie has been singing for as long as she remembers. None of her parents are musically inclined, but they encouraged her to just sing and pursue her dreams. At the age of eight, Frenie sang at the U.S. Open for the first time. This was in 2010. “We heard that they were conducting auditions and my mom asked me if I wanted to try it out. I did and I have been doing it every year since then,” Frenie said. The US Open has a tradition where boys and girls sing the national anthem and other patriotic-themed songs. The talented vocalists ages 12 and under go trough an audition process. This year, among those chosen to perform are youngsters from Arkansas, California and North Carolina. Frenie also realized one of her dreams – to be Read More …
Sep 012013
In this Aug. 29, 2013, file photo, Becky Rafter, left, Courtney Hanson and Emilia Kaiser with Georgia WAND (Georgia Women’s Action for New Directions) protest in front of a McDonald’s on Moreland Avenue in Atlanta, on a day where organizers say fast-food employees in 50 cities across the country are calling for $15 an hour and the right to unionize. Thousands of fast-food workers and their supporters have been staging protests across the country to call attention to the struggles of living on or close to the federal minimum wage. The push raises the question of whether the economics of the fast-food industry allow room for a boost in pay for its workers. AP NEW YORK — American fast-food workers often earn about $7.25 an hour to make the $3 chicken sandwiches and 99-cent tacos that generate billions of dollars in profit each year for McDonald’s, Taco Bell and other chains. Thousands of the many millions of U.S. fast-food workers and their supporters have been staging protests across the country in the past year to call attention to the struggles of living on or close to the federal minimum wage. The push raises the question of whether the economics of the fast-food industry allow room for a boost in pay for its workers. The industry is built on a business model that keeps costs — including those for labor — low so companies can make money while satisfying America’s love of cheap, fast food. And no group along the food Read More …
Aug 062013
By Cristina DC PastorINQUIRER.net US Bureau 5:23 pm | Tuesday, August 6th, 2013 From top left clockwise: Menchu De Luna Sanchez, Judge Nina Elgo and Dindi Gallardo Mills This year’s TOFA-NY, the third in a row, is proud to announce the New York Tri-State’s outstanding Filipino Americans, led by a nurse who saved infants in critical condition when Hurricane Sandy caused a power outage, a former actress who is suing for racial discrimination, and a judge who is the first FilAm to serve in Connecticut. The Outstanding Filipino Americans in the New York Tri-State is an annual search for role models in the region with a population of more than 300,000 FilAms. The awards program coincides with the celebration of Filipino American History Month in October. Menchu De Luna Sanchez, the NYU Langone nurse who sprang into action to save at least 20 babies in ICU units when the hospital lost power during Hurricane Sandy, was nominated for the Health Care category. Actress Dindi Gallardo Mills, who brought charges of racial discrimination against her employer — a powerful writer in Hollywood – is a finalist for the category Courage of Conviction. Judge Nina Elgo won a nomination for the category Public Service & Politics for being Connecticut’s first Filipino and first Asian judge. They were among the 39 individuals who comprise this year’s crop of TOFA-NY nominees. The winners will be selected based on Facebook votes (Likes) collected. Last day for voting is September 30, 2013. They will be awarded Read More …