Vallejo, CA's Fil-Am Vice Mayor Gets Backing for State Senate

Dr. Rozzana Verder-Aliga (Source: Davis Vanguard)

Dr. Rozzana Verder-Aliga, Vallejo Vice Mayor and a City Councilmember since 2014, announced receiving the endorsement of Senate District 3’s current State Senator, Bill Dodd in her run for State Senate (See The Davis Vanguard for story).

Watsonville Exhibit Gets $75K Grant from Nat’l Endowment for the Arts

The National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded a prestigious $75,000 Public Humanities Projects: Exhibitions Planning grant to Watsonville Is In The Heart (WIITH).Housed in The Humanities Institute at UCSC, WIITH is a community-driven public history initiative to preserve and uplift stories of Filipino migration and labor in the city of Watsonville and the greater Pajaro Valley (See UCSC News for story).

Pinay Nabs 2nd Gold for PH In SEA Games With Shock Win in Cambodian Sport

Angel Gwen Derla

Angel Gwen Derla, 19, surprised herself in a sport she only learned a few months back, when she won the gold medal in kum bokator, the women’s bamboo shield form of the sport that originated from Cambodia, at the 32nd Southeast Asian Games at the Chroy Changvar Convention Center here Thursday night, May 4 (See Temp.com for story).

Filipino Set to Join Ranks of Youngest Int’l Lawyers

Josef Maynard Borge Erece (Source: Rappler)

Josef Maynard Borge Erece, 27, is bound to join the ranks of the youngest international lawyers today. Born in New Zealand to parents from Baguio City on October 29, 1996, Jozef was admitted to the roll of barristers and solicitors by the Supreme Court of Queensland in September 2015. He obtained his Bachelor of Laws degree at the University of Southern Queensland and a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the Queensland University of Technology earlier that year, at the age of 18 (See Rappler for story).

Four Filipinos and Fil-Ams Nominated for James Beard Awards

(Top left) Erwan Heussaff, (Top Right) Chef Aaron Verzosa (pictured here with wife and Archipelago co-founder Amber Manuguid), (Lower Left) Chef Vince Bugtong, (Lower Right) Chef Margarita Manzke (Source: Spot.ph)

The James Beard Awards 2023 nominee list includes four Filipino and Filipino-American figures with amazing contributions to the food world (See Spot.ph for story). 

US Senators Reintroduce Bill to Reunify Filipino WWII Vets and Families

US lawmakers reintroduced a bipartisan bill to speed up the visa process for children of Filipino World War II veterans. the Filipino Veterans Family Reunification Act was reintroduced by Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Representatives Ed Case (D, HI-1) and Jen Kiggans (R, VA-2) to exempt the sons and daughters of Filipino WWII veterans from numerical limitations on immigrant visas (See NextShark.com for story). 

Meet Fil-Am Vice Chair of Harvard Board of Overseers' Executive Committee

Geraldine Acuña-Sunshine (Source: harvard.edu)

Geraldine Acuña-Sunshine ’92, M.P.P. ’96, a nonprofit leader focused on healthcare delivery and biomedical research, will serve as vice chair of the Harvard University Board of Overseers’ executive committee for the 2023-24 academic year (See the Harvard Gazette for story).

UP Law Team Bags Championship in World Moot Court Competition

A team of 7 students from the UP College of Law bagged the championship trophy for the 2022-2023 Price Media Law Moot Court Competition International Rounds. Oxford University hosted the competition regarding media and ICT law. The UP Law team battled with the City University of London for the finals (See Abogado.com.ph for story).