Filipina Soul

Here’s a nostalgic place to tour when in Los Angeles, California…
Filipinotown, an actual district of Los Angeles, and located between Westlake and Echo Park. It was created by a resolution proposed by city council member Eric Garcetti on August 2, 2002. It’s historically one of the few places where Filipinos first settled in America and currently has one of the highest concentrations of Filipino Americans in Southern California.

What does Filipinotown offer?
There is this “Gintong Kasaysayan, Gintong Pamana” mural (above) at the Beverly Union Park created by Eliseo Art Silva. A lengthy 145’ x 25’, it depicts both history and culture …read more

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Kudos to our Laguna cops!
Our able and peace-enforcing Laguna cops are now disabled-friendly. A first of its kind in the Philippine National Police (PNP), members of Laguna’s police units went through a five-day sign language course to help them better communicate with crime victims and witnesses who are speech and hearing-impaired.

“I was talking with board member Paras one day when our topic centered on the need for our local policemen to be armed with sign language capabilities in dealing with speech and hearing-impaired victims and witnesses of crimes. So that’s where the project took off,” PNP chief Director General Avelino …read more

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An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.9 was felt in areas of the Philippines on Tuesday, November 27. Details below:

Magnitude 5.9
Date-Time Tuesday, November 27, 2007 at 04:27:00 UTC
Tuesday, November 27, 2007 at 12:27:00 PM at epicenter
Location 16.088°N, 119.862°E
Depth 45.3 km (28.1 miles) set by location program
Region LUZON, PHILIPPINES
Distances
50 km (30 miles) W of Dagupan, Luzon, Philippines
90 km (55 miles) WSW of Baguio, Luzon, Philippines
125 km (80 miles) NW of Angeles, Luzon, Philippines
200 km (125 miles) NW of MANILA, Philippines

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties (source).
via USGS
Tags: Philippine earthquake, Philippines

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Hooray to the RP shooting team for winning the country’s first silver medals in the 24th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Bangkok.
The men’s trap team composed of Jethro Dionisio, Erwin Ang and Carlos Carag bagged the silver medal after a faltering start Tuesday. Their triumph was closely followed by a bronze-medal feat by Emerito Concepcion in the 10m air rifle event.
The SEA Games officially opens on December 6, 2007 but the shootfest (shooting, skeet and trap) have begun. (See full schedule here). Actually, the games have yet to open but already Thailand has 11 medals, Singapore has 9 (5 of …read more

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Welcome three new b5media blogs at our Travel and Culture Channel!
Discover the beautiful greater Vancouver with The Vancouver Traveler, written by Ken Dunlop. And check out the natural beauty of Barkley Sound, British Columbia. Wish I had that for my backyard…
Heather Takacs brings the Big Apple to us with The New York City Traveler. Tonight, the Rockefeller Center Tree lights up midtown Manhattan, to welcome the Christmas season!
Wanna taste more of the Mile High City, check out Alicia and Shawn Marie at The Denver Traveler. This is definitely Broncos Country, with the orange and blue all over Denver these days.
Our …read more

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The winners of this year’s FAMAS Awards, as listed in Mukamo Philippines, are:

Best Actress – Judy Ann Santos
Best Picture – Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo
Best Director – Jose Javier Reyes
Best Theme Song – Hawak Kamay by Yeng Constantino
Best Supporting Actress – Gina Pareno
Best Actor – Cesar Montano for the film Ligalig
Best Supporting Actor – Allen Dizon for the film Twilight Dancers
Posthumous Award – Ramon Zamora
Jose Perez Memorial Awards – Ernie Pecho, showbiz reporter
Fernando Poe, Jr award – Rudy Fernandez
Lifetime Achievement awards – director Celso Ad Castillo and Gloria Sevilla
Golden Artist Award – Jolina Magdangal
Grand Award – German Moreno

Inspite of some technical difficulties …read more

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* Typhoon Mina pounds Isabela (source)
* Philippines attracts English-eager Koreans (source)
* Banco de Oro prices landmark Philippine bond (source)
* Reyes lone Filipino to reach Final 8 of All Japan pool (source)
Tags: Philippines, Philippine news

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The Philippine oral history is not just full of riddles (bugtong). We also have a rich tradition of proverbs and sayings (salawikain). Here are just a few of them. I’ve tried my best to translate these into English, but I feel that I haven’t captured the exact sense of the some of the proverbs. If you have a better translation, please feel free to help us out.
* Ang isip ay parang itak, Sa hasa tumatalas. (The mind is like a knife, it is honed by sharpening.)
* Kuwarta na, naging bato pa. (It was already money, but it became a stone.)
* …read more

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I’m going to take a short break from blogging, for the Thanksgiving weekend (unless some awesome news happens. ).
Happy Thanksgiving!

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Of the major U.S. holidays, Thanksgiving is one of the more meaningful days to celebrate with family and loved ones. It’s a big event in the USA, and more people travel this week than any other holiday, except for Christmas, to be with the people they love.
The origins of Thanksgiving, of course, are very much rooted in the American history. Traditionally, the holiday is celebrated at the conclusion of the harvest season. The first thanksgiving service in December 4, 1619 was held by English settlers in honor arriving safely on the shores of a new land. Two years later, Pilgrims …read more

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