A hallmark in the celebration of the Asian American Pacific Islanders Heritage in the month of May is the significant increase in the New York State Fiscal Year budget for 2023-2024 of $30 million to AAPI communities.

Assemblymember Steven Raga, the first Filipino American elected official in New York state, said that this increase of $10M from last year’s allocation is a major victory for Filipinos and the broader AAPI communities.

Young people in the US have been dying at unprecedented increasing rates over the last few years due to suicide, homicide, drug overdoses, and car accidents.  The access to guns has primarily been seen as playing a major role in youth deaths.

Dr. Steven H. Woolf, MD, MPH, a professor of Family Medicine and Population Health at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine said that the number of children who were killed by guns has risen by 50 percent over the past two years. The staggering rate has undermined the US’s advancements in pediatric research that has curbed child morbidity and mortality.

“This is very unusual,” he said.

Muzaffar Chishti, director of Migration Policy Institute at the New York University School of Law said that there is a need for a flexible immigration policy to address the overflow of immigrants at the borders.

Citing New Jersey as an example, Congress needs to craft a policy that matches US need for labor and expertise with the surge of migrants.

At a media forum by the Center for Cooperative Media of the Montclair State University in New Jersey, Chishti said this flexible policy will respond to what he calls a crisis at the borders. The overflow of immigrants has now seeped into the interiors of the US, and bleeding states of their budgets.

To celebrate Women’s Month, the Women’s Federation for World Peace NJ accorded a film director, journalist, climate and disability activist, and a cultural worker its first HerStory Awards, each had deep experiences of transcending pain and embracing leadership.

I was honored to be alongside author and film director Ritu Chopra; climate reality and disability activist Priscilla Garces; Kamlu Gulrajani of the Seva Kendra Indian cultural organization; Estrella Cash of Cash Financial Resources; and one nonprofit, Josephine’s Place: A space for women which was represented by its executive director Sheila Casey.  

Thirty-five-year-old Domiko Ugarte, scion of the prominent Alegrado family in Cebu, walks the talk - that his family’s employees are the ‘it’ in their expanding Bluewater Maribago Hotel and Resort in Mactan island.  “It’s really the employees that make the place. Our edge is Filipino service. We take pride in that,” Ugarte said in our conversation.

FilAms do the catwalk in New York to raise funds for cancer warriors through the nonprofit FilAm Cancer Care, featuring the MUSA creations of fashion designer Carl Andrada. The FACC Walk for a Cause raised $1000 for 10 beneficiaries under the artistic direction of Buboi Asuncion.

So gently written, the novel 'Storm across my cherished bamboo bridge' (Austin MacCauley Publishers, 2022, 215 pages) is unputtable down as it emerges victorious against the harrowing brutality of murder, betrayal, and survival.

It's author Gene del Carmen's debut as a novelist. And oh my, I was touched by its transformational and relational value as a narrative of an immigrant family.

Years after the MoMA and Film Society of Lincoln Center chose Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros/The Flowering of Maximo Oliveros as its opening night presentation for the annual New Directors/New Films exhibition, Auraeus Solito's Pagdadalaga will make a rare return appearance in a New York theater on Friday, December 9, at 7:30PM. The film showing is free with proof of vaccination required.

First Filipino woman powerlifting champ in the Olympics Hidilyn Diaz visits New York and gears up for pre-qualifying training for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Although American politicians are quick to politicize immigration issues, the Franciscan friars have remained true to its vocation to take care of the needy. They took the initiative to solicit for jackets, strollers, clothes, and food for the immigrants.

I had an inspiring conversation with Fr. Julian Jagudilla, OFM, about this. He is the director of the Migrant Center at Church of St. Francis of Assisi Church.

Jagudilla sympathized with popular sentiment against ‘crossing the borders’ and jumping the immigration process. But as part of the church, how can you close your doors from the neediest and most vulnerable people when they are right at your doorstep? he asked.

Awesome at 10 is a curated collection of stories and essays about the Filipino American communities. It is all about surviving and thriving of FilAm immigrants and new generations. It speaks of our struggles and inspiration and fun. Makes for a good gift, actually. So please get your copy for history’s keeping and as a way to sustain OSM!’s awesome life as a local news and multimedia platform. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Merly’s World digital show - it is about self-healing and Earth regeneration doables. “It is not rocket science. It is lifestyle change,” says host Merly Barrete Barlaan.

FilAm Steven Raga announced his candidacy for Assembly Dist. 30 in Woodside, Elmhurst, and Maspeth, the country’s most diverse neighborhood. Local community leaders endorse his bid. “It is about time we elect a Pinoy to an elective post,” said NYS Sen. John Liu.

New York City Immigration lawyer Licelle Cobrador, Esq. pens about the long wait for sibling petitions. Is it worth it?

“Installing Marcos into power is a shame globally. Why vote for someone who stole billions of money from the Filipino people? We start with good leaders to improve lives.” Tess Abutanmo dela Cruz, RN, Leader

Branding on positive journalism, Awesome at 10 is a community mirror on the mainstreaming of the Philippine pancit, lechon, lumpia and Filipiniana – and delves deep on human trafficking, racism, domestic violence, and the sweet victory of hard work.

There will be a second edition to this hardbound, 224-page book soon.