|
For the past 17 years, The Filipino Express has provided the Filipino American community the best news, arts and entertainment coverage from around the United States and the Philippines.
|
|
This website includes selected articles from this week's edition of the Filipino Express. Not all the stories published in the printed version appear on this site.
|
|
Call RTA TRAVEL
(201) 434.8282
(718) 507.2500
|
|
To tell us what you think about Filipino Express Online or to comment on the stories published here, E-mail us at Filexpress@aol.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
JERSEY CITY, Aug. 23, 2004 --- Acting Jersey City Mayor L. Harvey Smith has appointed Ludy Corrales as honorary deputy mayor to represent the Filipino-American community here.
Corrales, who is presently the Philippine American Friendship Committee (PAFCOM) overall chairperson, an Asian American Commissioner under the administration of Governor James E. McGreevey, and former commissioner to the Jersey City Employment and Training Program, learned about her appointment immediately after a courtesy call meeting with the mayor on August 13, 2004, at the City Hall.
“My appointment would serve as a conduit between the mayor and the Filipino-Americans in Jersey City,” she said in an interview. “This will open the line of communication and provide direct access to the mayor.”
Corrales’ oath-taking will take place next week.
“I’m honored by this appointment, but I will only do a good job if the Jersey City government will address the needs of the Fil-Am community,” she said in a statement. “Rest assured that the welfare of the Fil-Ams is always in my mind and was the deciding factor in my acceptance of this position.”
Corrales is scheduling a forum session sometime next month, for the Fililipino-American community to have a dialogue with the mayor and voice the Filipino community’s need priorities.
She is encouraging all Jersey City Filipino residents to give full support to the mayor who pledges to continue the legacy of making Jersey City the most progressive and responsive model city in the entire NJ State.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 NEW YORK --- Filipina-American billionaire Loida Nicolas-Lewis has urged overseas Filipinos to come together and get involved in steering the Philippine economy towards recovery.
In a press briefing in Manila, Lewis said she would be holding a convention in Cebu next year for the purpose of bringing Filipinos together and provide them a venue to share their best practices and showcase their products.
“I'm hoping that Filipinos abroad can come and help the Philippines. We should work hand in hand in rebuilding the Philippines into a strong republic and a dynamic investment hub,” Lewis said.
Tagged as the “Convention of Conventions,” this event is expected to attract at least 1,500 delegates from different countries, including the United States.
Lewis is chairman and chief executive officer of TLC Beatrice International Holdings Inc., a US-based multinational food company.
A lawyer by profession, Lewis served as an informal adviser and confidante to her late husband Reginald Lewis, TLC Beatrice’s founding chairman and chief executive officer.
Lewis assumed TLC’s leadership in February 1994, a year after her husband’s death. She immediately moved to cut costs, sell non-core and under-performing assets, reduce debt and strengthen her management team.
Since the 1970s, overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have been significant contributors to the Philippine economy and were even considered a major reason why the country did not falter too much during the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s.
As of last estimate, there are about eight million Filipinos living or working abroad.
OFW remittances have contributed much to the country’s gross national product (GNP) and foreign exchange earnings. In fact, remittances comprised, on the average, about two percent of GNP in the 80s and that has more than doubled to 4.8 percent in the 90s.
In 2002, a total of $7.2 billion were remitted, accounting for almost nine per cent of GNP.
Moreover, the dollar remittances strengthened the balance of payments situation that has been perennially beset by trade deficits.
Meanwhile, Lewis said she is not yet ready to make additional investments in the Philippines until she has put her house in order.
It would be recalled that Lewis was disqualified in the bidding for government’s 76 percent stake in Philippine National Bank (PNB) as she could not get the nod of any bank to support her bid.
“I had a naive idea of buying PNB and I’m glad I failed,” Lewis said. (MNS)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
SECAUCUS, NJ, Aug. 25, 2004 --- It was a full-house weekend for Filipinos celebrating the Philippine Fiesta on Aug. 21 and 22 at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, NJ.
Despite the heavy downpour, traffic rerouting and clogging, the Fiesta enjoyed a record turnout of visitors, participants, and exhibitors, making 2004 the best year ever for the multi-purpose summer event.
They came streaming in from all walks of life and from various points across the U.S., eager to experience the palpable joy, pride and the privilege of being a Filipino in America.
“After six years as consistently the biggest indoor gathering of Filipino-Americans in the northeastern region, the Fiesta has finally become an institution in the communal mind,” said Nanding Mendez,
Philippine Fiesta president.
Over the years, the Fiesta was not only a venue of evocative mix of festive cuisine, cultural entertainment and commerce, but also a way for Filipinos to express and sustain themselves as artists, entrepreneurs, and as intelligent consumers.
This year, the Fiesta exceeded its targeted traffic of 20,000 over the two-day course of the weekend event.
“This is an exciting business opportunity for our company,” said Eva Leon of Exquisite Home Products (EHP-Carico International), a New Jersey-based trade fair exhibitor which sponsored a raffle for a free round-trip ticket to the Philippines during the Fiesta.
“Even now, I’m already thinking about what we can do in next year’s Fiesta,” she added.
Mila Mendez, Fiesta vice president for marketing, reveals that 36 of this year’s exhibitors have already signed up for Philippine Fiesta 2005 to make sure they have the prime locations in the trade pavilion.
The biggest crowd drawers were the Santacruzan, the Ms. Philippine Fiesta beauty pageant, and the presence of Nora Aunor, the most enduring celebrity in Philippine entertainment.
For more information on how to participate in next year’s Philippine Fiesta, to be held once again at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, NJ on the weekend of August 20-21, 2005, call (212) 682-6610, email sepmgzn@aol.com or visit the Web at www.philippinefiesta.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NEW YORK --- A Filipino-American couple teaching ballroom dance will bring their students to a world-class dance competition.
 Max and Remy Floresca, who are certified dance instructors, will send on Oct. 16 a ballroom dance student delegation to participate in the 2004 World of Dancing Showcase in San Jose, California.
Since the early 1960’s in the Philippines, the couple have perfected their dance skills and taught not only the art of ballroom dance to their students but the many benefits of ballroom dancing.
“There’s no doubt that there are health, social, physical fitness and entertainment benefits of dancing,” said Max. “From salsa to tango to waltz to bolero, dancing is a great way to exercise, to burn more calories and to increase personal confidence.
It is also an excellent way to reduce stress.”
Some of the couple’s ballroom dance students include Dr. Carol Garcia-Ibay and husband Johnny, Evelyn Sineneng-Smith, JD, and Fred de Vera, and Dolly and Vic Corpuz.
Teaching ballroom dance is only Max’s second career. He is an electrical engineer for IBM.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
