The Banatao Family Filipino American Education Fund will award five scholarships of $5,000 to qualified incoming freshman enrolled at four-year colleges or universities. Each scholarship is renewable for a total of four years on the basis of satisfactory academic performance in a full-time undergraduate program. Awards are for undergraduate study only. Background: – Number of [...]
Archive for the ‘Awards & Recognition’ Category
Banatao Family Filipino American College Scholarship Application 2011
February 5th, 2011 by Fil-Am Ako
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Matthew Libatique Nominated for his Achievement in Cinematography for Black Swan
January 25th, 2011 by Fil-Am Ako
This year’s Oscar nominations are looking great, especially with news of another Filipino-American up for a nomination. It was announced that Matthew Libatique got a nomination for his work on the critically acclaimed film Black Swan. I’ll definitely be tuning in for the Oscars this year. For those who aren’t familiar with Matthew Libatique, he is an American cinematographer [...]
Hailee Steinfield Nominated for Best Actress
January 25th, 2011 by Fil-Am Ako
The nominations for the 2011 Oscars was announced today and apparently Philippines’ entry for ‘Noy’ did not make it into the best foreign language category, but the good news is that rising Fil-Am Hollywood star Hailee Steinfield got nominated for best actress. I recently found out that Steinfield had some Filipino blood from her mother’s side [...]
A Filipina is Ford’s Supermodel of the World 2011
January 23rd, 2011 by Fil-Am Ako
I recently read on The Filipino-American that Danica Magpantay won the Ford Supermodel of the World 2011. Danica, 17 a University of the Philippines Fine Arts student is the the daughter of Supermodel Milagros “Lala” Flores now make up artist. Winning this competition, Danica took home a $250,000 contract with Ford Models. The 5’9” beauty [...]
Dr. A. Gabriel Esteban, An Inspirational Filipino-American Leader in Education
January 20th, 2011 by Fil-Am Ako
This month, I saw nothing but sad and unfortunate news that led me to believe that 2011 was off to a bad start. That is why it was great to see news that Seton Hall University last Tuesday appointed its interim president to be its new leader. In naming the new president, A. Gabriel Esteban, the [...]
The Face of Filipino Resilience
November 16th, 2010 by Fil-Am Ako
People can’t get enough of Pacquiao and his big win against Margarito this past weekend. Pacquiao did what his camp, and especially his trainer, Freddie Roach, said he would. He methodically sliced apart a man who had five inches on him in height, six inches of reach and 16 pounds by fight time. I could [...]
Fil-Am History Month: Dr. Connie Mariano, the White House Doctor
October 31st, 2010 by Fil-Am Ako
With Fil-Am History Month coming to a close, I wanted to feature a Filipina-American who I feel has made a difference in the community. Eleanor Concepcion “Connie” Mariano is a Filipino-American physician and former flag officer in the United States Navy. She is the first Filipino-American and graduate of the Uniformed Services University of Medicine to reach the rank of Rear [...]
Meet Simon “J.J.” Racaza, Department of Homeland Security Agent and Top Shot Contestant
October 20th, 2010 by Fil-Am Ako
This past summer, I was recommend by someone to watch History Channel’s Top Shot that featured a Filipino-American contestant by the name of Simon “J.J.” Racaza. After watching an episode of Top Shot, it was obvious that this Fil-Am contestant was dominating and had a chance to make it far in the competition. Racaza also [...]
The Carlos Bulosan Story: A Memorial Tribute 55 Years Later
October 15th, 2010 by Fil-Am Ako
For many Filipino-Americans like myself, we could only dream of learning about a Filipino as great as Carlos Bulosan in our U.S. classrooms. Carlos Bulosan accomplished so much for Filipino and a minority during his time. He was a novelist and poet best-known for the semi-autobiographical America Is in the Heart. One of his short stories [...]
October is Fil-Am History Month
October 1st, 2010 by Fil-Am Ako
On November 2, 2009 the US Congress passed House Resolution 780 which recognizes the celebration of Filipino American History Month in October. This was really a momentous occasion because President Clinton proclaimed a Filipino American History month in the early 90s but was never passed by Congress. For all you avid readers, many of you know [...]
Pinay Wins HK Songfest
September 9th, 2010 by Fil-Am Ako
This news comes as a pleasant surprise after the unfortunate events of the hostage-taking in Manila. A 16-year-old Pinay bested over 2,400 singing contestants to win the grand prize in “Star Factor,” the Hong Kong equivalent of “American Idol.” Margaret Marie Necio Ortega, in an elimination that ran from May to July, won first place for the [...]
Open Doors: Monument in Israel Honoring Filipinos
August 29th, 2010 by Fil-Am Ako
Here’s a little known fact that you won’t get from Hollywood or a Steven Spielberg flick. Did you know that the Philippines played a role in saving hundreds of Jews from the gas chambers and mass graves of the Holocaust? In 1939, two years before World War II reached the Pacific, the Commonwealth government under President [...]
Obama names Fil-Am as Associate Judge of DC
August 27th, 2010 by Fil-Am Ako
President Barack Obama has nominated Fil-Am Maria Elizabeth (Maribeth) Raffinan to be an Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. “Throughout her career Maribeth Raffinan has shown a commitment to justice and public service,” said President Obama in a statement released last month. “I am proud to nominate her to serve [...]
Venus Raj Takes on Miss Universe 2010 and then Falls Short
August 23rd, 2010 by Fil-Am Ako
Maria Venus Bayonito Raj (born July 7, 1988) is one of the three reigning 2010 Binibining Pilipinas winners. Upon separation of her parents, Maria Venus Raj was taken to Bato, Camarines Sur in Bicol, Philippines as an infant and was registered by an aunt as Philippine-born to Roman Catholic parents—a Filipino mother and an Indian father. It was her mother, [...]
J.J. Racaza’s Last Shot
August 18th, 2010 by Fil-Am Ako
Did any of you catch the last episode of Top Shot on Sunday August 15th? If you did, you know that Fil-Am contestant J.J. was one of the final three contestants on the History Channel reality show. Although, the show didn’t end with the results I wanted, J.J. proved to be a worthy contestant and [...]