Stockton School to Be Named After 1st Fil-Am Teacher in California

Flora Arca Mata

An elementary school in Stockton, California will be named after Flora Arca Mata, the first Filipino American to graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles and served as the first Filipina and woman of color to teach at the Stockton Unified School District where she taught for 32 years (See AsAm News for story).

Filipina Receives Franco-German Rule of Law Prize

Mary Aileen D. Bacalso, former Secretary-General of the Asian Federation against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD) receives the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law from French Ambassador Nicolas Galey and German Ambassador Anke Reiffenstuel (Philippine Embassy in France/Manila Bulletin)

Mary Aileen D. Bacalso, former Secretary-General of the Asian Federation against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), a multi-awarded Filipina human rights defender who dedicated most of her life in opposing involuntary disappearance was this year’s recipient of the Franco-German Ministerial Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law (See Manila Bulletin for story).

Fil-Am Teacher to Head Anaheim Elementary School Board

Jose Paolo Magcalas and his mother Marilou Dazo (Source: AJPRESS)

Jose Paolo Magcalas, a Filipino American educator, will serve as the president of Anaheim, California’s Elementary School District Board of Education for the coming year. (See Inquirer.net for story).

Chinese Construction Firm Wins $10B PH Airport Contract

China Communications Construction Co Ltd (CCCC) and its local partner have won an auction for a $10 billion airport on the outskirts of Manila, the latest move by Chinese state firms to gain a foothold in the Philippines (See Yahoo/Reuters for story).

Pope Taps Cardinal Tagle for Key Vatican Post

Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle and Pope Francis (Source: AP)

Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle is not the first Filipino to be appointed in the Vatican office of the Propaganda Fide that oversees the spread of Catholic Faith globally (See Inquirer.net for story).

US Senate Confirms Trump-Backed Fil-Am to Federal Appeals Court

Patrick Bumatay

Over the objections of California’s Democratic senators, the Senate on Tuesday confirmed Patrick Bumatay, a conservative, openly gay Filipino American prosecutor to the Ninth Circuit Appeals Court (See Inquirer.net for story).

US Senate Committee OKs Resolution to Free De Lima, Drop Charges vs. Ressa

A US Senate panel has approved a resolution urging the Philippine government to free detained Senator Leila de Lima and drop all charges against Rappler CEO Maria Ressa (See Inquirer.net for story).

Hundreds of Filipinos Trying to Leave Crisis-Hit Lebanon

Hundreds of Filipinos, most of them female domestic workers, flocked to their embassy in Lebanon Thursday to sign up for free repatriation from the crisis-hit country (See GMA News for story).