MAKILALA TV soon to air across North America in partnership with KAPATID

(L-R: Makilala TV co-hosts Jen Furer, Cristina Pastor and Rachelle Ocampo)

NEW YORK - As it celebrates its fifth year, Makilala TV notched up another milestone, reaching an agreement with the Kapatid channel to distribute its program across North America.

The television talk show featuring three Filipina American (FilAm) hosts, will soon be available in Guam, Canada, and all across the U.S. Produced through the facilities of Manhattan Neighborhood Network, Makilala TV is currently being aired in three of NYC’s five boroughs, namely the Bronx, Queens, and Manhattan.

In an agreement finalized on June 7, 2018 with Pilipinas Global Network US (PGNU), the exclusive distributor of Cignal and TV5 programs, Makilala TV’s cultural, political, and lifestyle programming can be viewed alongside programs such as Aksyon News and the PBA. All shows are under the station’s Kapatid banner in North America. Through this agreement, Makilala TV is able to widen its reach and present a much bigger storytelling platform for notable FilAm leaders and organizations.

Makilala TV is a studio format program with three Filipina Americans interviewing a panel of guests on a wide variety of issues, from the provocative to the personal to self-help topics. There have been discussions on the culture of gun violence, the #Metoo movement, creating a successful business, caring for seniors, and life after divorce, just to cite a few themes.

The three hosts are women known throughout the community for their meaningful involvement, their opinions and their talent. Jen Furer is the author of the memoir “Out of Status”, is a certified personal trainer and the Scholars Chief of Advancement for Rural Kids. Rachelle Ocampo is a public health professional, works in development and communications with the Asian American community and is a board member of Roots of Health (Ugat Ng Kalusugan). Cristina Pastor is a journalist and the publisher of The FilAm community newspaper.

Makilala TV’s episode on “How to create a successful business” L-R: Cristina Pastor, Jen Furer, Amable Yalong of Y2 Collection, Rechelle Balanzat of Juliette Laundry, and Rachelle Ocampo

Makilala TV is the first Filipino program in the 25-year history of the BronxNet. It is currently the only Fil-Am programming on MNN and Queens Public Television.

“I felt that it was very compelling with high production value and would make a great addition to our multicultural channel,” said Bernardo Moronta, Traffic Manager of BronxNet. “Filipinos constitute one of the fastest-growing ethnicities in the United States, and BronxNet is proud to provide strong programming for this under-served audience.”

“PGNU is committed to broadcasting relevant content to the Filipino community. We believe that with the addition of Makilala TV to our programming line-up, we are fulfilling this commitment,” said Ernesto D. Sta. Maria, Jr. PGNU President and CEO. “We’re constantly hard at work in making sure that more Filipinos all over the world get to enjoy quality content from PGNU.”

Zenaida Mendez, the director of MNN’s El Barrio Firehouse Community Media Center, congratulated the three hosts.

“These Filipinas are excellent journalists,” she said.

20th Paaralan sa Konsulado Begins June 30 in NYC

Paaralan sa Konsulado is a joint project of the Association of Fil-Am Teachers of America (AFTA) Inc. and the Philippine Consulate General New York. This is one of AFTA's volunteer projects which started in 1998 wherein Filipino American children are taught Conversational Filipino, Philippine History and Filipino Values, Philippine dances, songs, art, and games. The classes are held for 5 Saturdays at the Philippine Center 556 5th Avenue New York, NY 10036.

For more information, send an email to afta.inc1989@gmail.com

Download registration form online at http://afta1989.org/paaralan_sa_konsulado.html

Mindanao: The Legend of Tabunaway, Mamalu, and their Descendants; Concept, Choreography and Direction by Potri Ranka Manis

New York - During their 25th anniversary year, Kinding Sindaw Heritage Foundation, Inc. will premiere Mindanao: The Legend of Tabunaway, Mamalu and Their Descendants at La MaMa E.T.C from June 21 to June 24, 2018, with concept, choreography and direction by Potri Ranka Manis. Mindanao The Legend will focus on the resilience of the indigenous peoples and the sultanates of the southern Philippines as passed through generations of oral tradition in the legend of the brothers Tabunaway and Mamalu.

Mindanao The Legend will bring you into the lives of Tabunaway and Mamalu, two brothers who nurtured the land through rituals that depict the cycle of life. Their colorful way of life is reflected through dance, chants, and the Kulintang gong music of the ancestral Mindanao tradition-bearers. Mountains and rainforests caught in the winds of fierce typhoons of this spirited land are brought to life through the power of scarves, apir (fans), and Silat martial arts movements. Woven into Mindanao The Legend, is the history of the Lumad and the Moro indigenous peoples who descend from Tabunaway and Mamalu. For centuries, the descendants of Tabunaway and Mamalu are repeatedly invaded and sieged by foreign forces. Yet, they remain steadfast and rise from the ashes as they uphold the undaunted spirit of their ancestors whose resilience keep them unconquered.

Mindanao The Legend will run from June 21 to June 24, 2018, at 7PM, with matinee shows on June 23-24 at 2PM for a duration of 2 hours with intermission. Watch it at the Downstairs at La Mama. Admission is $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and students, $10 first 10 tickets of each performance. For more ticket info, please go to www.lamama.org/mindanao or call (212) 352-2101.

To support the work of Kinding Sindaw, join us and other distinguished guests in the Premiere Benefit Night of Kinding Sindaw’s 2018 production, Mindanao, The Legend, on Friday, June 22, 2018, at 6:30 PM-10:00 PM, at La Mama ETC, 44 East 4th Street, New York, NY.  The Premiere Benefit Night will have a cocktail formal reception and an opportunity to bid on unique silent auction items.  To obtain tickets for the Premiere Benefit Night at $150 each, please go to http://lamama.org/mindanao/ or contact Malaika Queano at 917-817-3966 or email us at malaika@kindingsindaw.org

“Kinding Sindaw created magic,” New York TIMES  

Kinding Sindaw (Dance of Light), founded in 1992 by Potri Ranka Manis, is renowned for its indigenous-led majestic dance theater productions which recreate the living traditions of dance, music, martial arts, storytelling, and oratory of the indigenous peoples of the Philippines. Its repertoire is of the Iranun, T'boli, Maranao, Maguindanao, Yakan, Higaonon, and Tausug peoples of the southern Philippines. By asserting their arts and living traditions, the historical and contemporary stories of these peoples are brought to life.

For More information, visit: www.kindingsindaw.org.  Follow us on Facebook & Instagram: @KindingSindaw

Dr. Jose P. Rizal 157th Birth Anniversary Commemoration in New York

Filipino American Youth Join March for Human Rights & Democracy, Call on Youth to Enact Change

New York, NY - On June 3, Kabataan Alliance joined Malaya Movement’s march for human rights and democracy at the Philippine Independence Day Parade in New York City. The annual parade aims to celebrate the 120th anniversary of the independence of the Philippines from Spain.  But in a time when human rights are being violated, impunity reigns, and democracy has been stripped from us, how can we truly celebrate our independence and call ourselves free?

Kabataan Alliance joined the march to condemn Duterte’s de facto dictatorship and the vicious wars he is waging against the people and the youth. Alongside more than 400 people in Malaya’s contingent, Kabataan Alliance participated in a die-in in front of the parade organizers and Philippine government officials to symbolize the more than 20,000 deaths, including those of youth between the ages of 5 and 17, as a result of Duterte’s War on Drugs.  

Because it is easy nowadays to hide social media posts or change channels to avoid the news, we wanted make a bold statement that this is the reality of our kababayan back home in the Philippines and that they cannot turn their eyes away from that reality.

In addition to Duterte’s Drug War, over 400,000 people, including many children, have been displaced by the bombings in Marawi and ongoing martial law and heavy militarization in Mindanao. Duterte has also threatened to bomb schools for indigenous youth, accusing them of being rebel schools, while they are only being taught how to protect and sustain their lands.  

Threatened by any form of criticism, Duterte has also cracked down on activists and community leaders through political killings and illegal arrests -- including the arrest and imprisonment of Myles Albasin, the secretary general of youth organization Anakbayan Cebu.

As Filipino youth and students in the United States, we have an important role to play in fighting dictatorship.  We are inspired by the young Filipino activists in the U.S. during the 1970s and 1980s who took to the streets and protested the Marcos dictatorship and contributed to his ousting.  We see that our motherland is now under another dictatorship that we must resist.

Kabataan Alliance calls upon other Filipino youth in the United States to take part in the fight against tyranny and the killings.  As the inheritors of the future, we must participate in the movement for genuine democracy and uphold human rights in the Philippines.  We must be the change that Duterte has failed to be.

Kabataan Alliance will be joining Malaya Movement’s next action, the People’s State of the Nation Address (SONA ng BAYAN) on July 23, 2018 at 6:00PM outside the Philippine Consulate in NYC.

Janelle Panganiban Graduates Summa Cum Laude at NYU; A Member of the Gaddang Indigenous People, from the Philippines

Summa Cum Laude. Janelle Panganiban waves the Philippine flag during her graduation in New York on 18 May 2018

New York -- Janelle Micaela S. Panganiban graduated summa cum laude recently with three majors: Global Public Health, Public Policy, Sociology (Honors) from New York University. She is a member of the Gaddang indigenous group from Isabela.

During her graduation, the 20-year old Panganiban was the recipient of the prestigious Alexander L. Shluger Award for Excellence in Sociology. This is awarded to a senior student who has majored in sociology and has excelled in his or her study of this subject. She was a consistent Dean's Lister and a Founders Day Awardee of her graduating class.

With her achievements, Panganiban said that, "As a Filipino, I feel like I have the obligation to bring all of these back to the Philippines and at the same time, as a descendant of the Gaddangs, I find myself impassioned for indigenous resurgence as a step to combat the long and embedded history of colonization."

Janelle is joined by her proud parents Rep. Jose T. Panganiban, Jr. and Mayor Lourdes S. Panganiban.

Asked what her secret to academic excellence is, she said, "Academic success is the time when I read a book that confronted my perspectives or when my professor and classmates challenged my opinions and debated with me. In other words, I achieved academic excellence by constantly questioning the norm and expanding my mindset. This is what I’ve learned to love and enjoy."

And her advice to Filipino students? "Remain curious, step out of your comfort zone, and engage in conversation. In our world that’s growing more and more divided, I still have hope that we can find ways to transcend our differences."

"Never forget that you are a Filipino—huwag kalilimutan ang pinanggalingan. Saan mang bahagi ng mundo tayo makarating, ang Pilipinas pa rin sana ang ating balikan. Mangarap nang hindi lang para sa sarili, kung hindi na rin para sa bayan," she added.

Janelle Panganiban is the daughter Representative Jose T. Panganiban, Jr. of ANAC-IP Party list and Mayor Lourdes S. Panganiban of Angadangan, Isabela.

Consul Arman Talbo (left) and Cultural Officer Olive Magpile (right), congratulate Janelle after her graduation.

Panganiban will be one of the awardees during the 6th annual Philippine Graduation (PGRAD) on Saturday, 9 June 2018 at the Philippine Center. PGRAD is a flagship project of the Philippine Consulate General in New York, in cooperation with Pilipino American Unity for Progress (UniPro).

Another Filipina, 21-year old Lara Andrea Montales likewise recently graduated summa cum laude from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in BS Economics major in Finance and Business Analytics.

Montales was the valedictorian in grade school at Colegio San Agustin-Makati and she graduated with honors at Philippine Science High School before enrolling in Wharton School, number 1 in Forbes 2017 Best Business Schools in the US. 

Philippine American Friendship Parade and Festival in Jersey City on June 24

Join the Philippine American Friendship Day event on Sunday, June 24, 2018 from 11:00am to 6:00pm.

Come and meet Kim Chiu at the grand parade on West Side Ave., Jersey City.

Watch an exciting cultural program at Lincoln Park and enjoy Filipino food at the Festival!

"Tara na at manood tayo!"

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