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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.
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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.
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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
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Toy Drive for Needy Kids in the Philippines
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NEW YORK --- The premier Filipino-American young professional organizations in New York City namely, Philippine New York Jaycees, FAHSI, CORE, Diverse City Theater Co., Kalusugan Coalition will be hosting the December 16, 2005 “Simbang Gabi” (Dawn Masses) that is hosted annually by the Philippine Consulate General New York at the Kalayaan Hall of the Philippine Center located at 556 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10036 to be held at 6:30 PM. The mass will be officiated by Father Joseph Marabe of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. In keeping the faith and tradition alive, the five organizations would like to request the attendees to bring toys to be donated as gifts for Christmas to needy kids in the Philippines.
The “Simbang Gabi” celebration is popularly known in the Philippines as “Misa de Aguinaldo” (Mass of Gifts) which highlights the month-long feast of the Nativity. Everyday from December 16 to 24, Christians faithfully go to their parish churches to hear the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. The masses, traditionally observed at dawn, are celebrated for nine days and said to be adapted from other nine day Filipino Harvest Rituals.
In New York City, it has been a tradition of the Philippine Consulate to co-host the “Simbang Gabi” with different Filipino-American groups from the tri-state New York-New Jersey-Connecticut area.
The Philippine New York Jaycees, comprised of young professionals whose mission is to develop leaders who will create positive change in the local and global community and in their own lives through training and networking opportunities".
Filipino American Human Services Inc., (“FAHSI”) is a community-based, non-profit organization dedicated to serving the most vulnerable segments of the Filipino community of New York—particularly youth, women, recent immigrants, and the elderly. FAHSI's vision is an empowered Filipino-American community with a strong sense of identity and commitment to citizenship participation.
Collaborative Opportunities for Raising Empowerment, Inc. (“CORE”) is a not-for-profit organization composed of a volunteer group of young Filipino professionals in the New York tri-state area. CORE's primary vision is to empower Filipino professionals as a collective body in the United States. It also seeks to provide an avenue for socio-economic involvement to build a stronger Filipino American community.
Diverse City Theater Company (“DCT”) is an independent, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) theater organization based in the world's most diverse city—New York—run by artist playwrights, directors and actors. It promotes diversity in the theater arts by developing and producing original works that explore and examine diversity issues in our national culture from a global perspective, thereby creating multiculturally fluent theater audiences as well as advocating the non-traditional casting of actors.
Kalusugan Coalition is a multi-disciplinary collaboration dedicated to creating a unified voice to improve the health of the Filipino-American community in the New York/New Jersey area through network and resource development, educational activities, research, community action and advocacy. Kalusugan Coalition has an intergenerational membership that includes Filipino artists, students, youth, immigrant advocates, community organizers, health professionals, academic researchers, and staff from Filipino and Asian American organizations.
These ground-breaking organizations are all making positive contribution to society in their respective area. They are bound by these common objectives: to foster working relations, camaraderie amongst their membership; create awareness in the community as the emerging force through unity and collaboration.
This “Simbang Gabi” event is open to all. Post-mass refreshments will be served.
Simbang Gabi: Keeping Faith and Tradition Alive.
Hosted by: Philippine New York Jaycees, FAHSI, CORE, Diverse City Theater Co., Kalusugan Coalition and the Philippine Consulate General NYC.
Venue: Philippine Consulate General NYC
Kalayaan Hall of the Philippine Center
556 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10036
December 16, 2005 at 6:30PM
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Minneapolis, MINNESOTA --- MoneyGram International recently announced a special holiday promotion for consumers receiving a MoneyGram® money transfer from anywhere in the world at any Banco de Oro branch location in the Philippines.
Anyone receiving transactions at a Banco de Oro agent location in the Philippines will have the chance to win prizes during the “Pamaskong Regalo ng MoneyGram” holiday promotion. Consumers receiving a MoneyGram money transfer will be included in the drawing for a chance at the Php 50,000 grand prize as well as other prizes including Php 10,000, 5,000 and 2,000 gift passes. The promotion runs through Dec. 31, 2005.
The drawings are only for consumers in the Philippines that receive funds at participating Banco de Oro branches. The drawing will be held at the Banco de Oro headquarters office on Jan. 13, 2006. Forty-one winners will be selected, including one winner for the top prize of Php 50,000 cash.
“MoneyGram is happy to be sponsoring this promotion with the Banco de Oro branches,” said Nelly Chang, marketing manager, Philippines. “This promotion gives families and friends the opportunity to send their loved ones in the Philippines more than cash, but also an opportunity to win additional prizes.”
MoneyGram is a leading global payment services company with approximately 84,000 money transfer agent locations in 170 countries around the world.
MoneyGram has been in business since 1940. Its international money transfer service allows consumers to safely send money around the world in as little as 10 minutes (subject to agent availability and hours of operation).
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NEW YORK --- Queens, New York City’s borough with the largest concentration of Filipino migrants, will be the site of the 5th annual Sumisigaw Filipino Youth Festival.
The cultural and arts festival be held on Friday, December 9th at the Philippine Forum Community Center in Elmhurst.
The festival, a rarity of its kind in New York City, will be packed with workshops on Philippine history, martial arts, and spoken word. It will also feature cultural performances from energy-charged Filipino youth artists from the New York and New Jersey areas.
Performances include the Philippine Forum community youth members, Likas Dance Troupe of the State Univewrsity of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook, Filipino bands Kanang Kamay and Kadena, spoken word artist Manny Palatuban, and many others.
Julia Camagong, co-executive director of Philippine Forum, one of the primary sponsors of of the event, said Sumisigaw highlights “a significant involvement from Filipino youth in Queens, particularly high school-aged immigrant youth.”
“As new immigrants in New York, we find these youth to be one of the most underserved in the community. Most of them come from low-income families and do not have the opportunity to participate in cultural endeavors or showcase their talents. They are full of energy and enthusiasm,” Camagong added.
Sumisigaw, which means “shout out loud” or “anguished cry”, in essence, is an effort to make their voices heard.
This year’s Sumusigaw is also co-sponsored by the Filipino youth organization Anakbayan-New York/New Jersey and the Pilipino United Student Organization (PUSO) of State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook in Long Island.
Philippine Forum is a community organization founded in 1996 servicing primarily low-income Filipino workers, youth, and immigrant families living in New York City. Two of its major programs are the Carlos Bulosan Heritage Center and Library and the Philippine Forum Youth Committee, instrumental in spearheading this year’s festival.
Sumisigaw 2005 will be held at the Philippine Forum Community Center, located on 54-05 Seabury Street Elmhurst, NY 11373. Workshops start at 4pm while performances will begin at 6pm.
Closest trains are the Queens-bound V/G/R to Grand Street in Elmhurst. For more information, contact Philippine Forum at 718-565-8862.
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Chicago, ILLINOIS --- Former Manila Bulletin photojournalist and visual artist Jose “Pinggot” Vinluan Zulueta will present his third one-man 11-day art show, entitled Aotearoa Series, starting on Dec. 19, 2005, at 6 p.m. at the Philippine Center, 556 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, New York, New York. An invitational cocktail reception will be held at the opening of the exhibit.
Now based in Auckland, New Zealand, Mr. Zulueta is going to present a collection of paintings on canvas, rendered in oil and acrylic. They will consist of the artist’s most recent works after his September 2002 exhibit, entitled “Asinta (Target): Images and Imageries.”
His latest exhibit titled, Aotearoa, which means “Land of the Long White Cloud,” is New Zealand’s indigenous name. New Zealand is now the artist’s residence since January, 2003.
In a press release, emailed to this reporter, Zulueta said, his recent “paintings were inspired by my impressions and reflections and experiences abroad.” These artworks chronicle the artist’s emotional journey, culminating in hope and a resolve to overcome. These works have served as the artist’s “refuge” and “sanctuary.”
Commenting on his works, Philippine National Artist for Literature, Virgilio Almario, said, “At first glance, this series of Jose Vinluan Zulueta is a terrible discourse on the annihilated self. Man’s contorted and sometimes mutilated body perhaps best expresses Zulueta’s own sentiments as a migrant Filipino artist. Yet his humanity as a Filipino also seems to urge him into providing spaces for dreams - some literal wings of hope for a future redemption. Zulueta still fervently wishes for man’s ultimate salvation from history of violent and violated existence.”
Zulueta’s works have been roundly reviewed by noted Philippine literary writers and journalists in his two previous exhibits. Among them were Pambansang Makata ng Filipinas Teo Antonio, SEAWrite Awardee Roberto Anonuevo, Poet and Critic Rebecca Anonuevo, Editor Ariel Dim. Borlongan, Performance Artist Vim Nadera, Poet Marne Kilates, Art Critic Gino Dormiendo, Art Curator Susan de Guzman, Philippine Star’s Juaniyo Arcellana, Manila Times’ Dexter Osorio, ABS-CBN’s Leah Salterio, Tempo Entertainment Editor and Panorama Writer Nestor Cuartero, and Manila Bulletin’s Ivy Liza Mendoza and Shirley Matias-Pizarro. Their commentaries will form part of his exhibit.
A native of Paniqui, Tarlac in the Philippines, Zulueta, 34, was a graduate of the College of Architecture and Fine Arts of the University of Santo Tomas. He was a former staff artist of the university organ, The Varsitarian.
The exhibit runs from Dec. 19 to 30 this year.
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