SF Giants Filipino Heritage Night 2009

Mark your calendars for this Tuesday -- it's Filipino Heritage Night again at the AT&T Ballpark! For the second straight year, the San Francisco Giants are hosting some special Filipino activities and entertainment during their April 21st game with San Diego. This year the featured guest is boxer Manny Pacquiao, who's throwing the first pitch. Arrive early so you can take part in the pre-game Filipino Festival. You can even take home your very own Manny Pacquiao bobblehead doll!

Even though baseball is the American Pastime, it has never really caught on in Manila; the closest that Filipino baseball players have come to gaining national attention was when Zamboanga City won the 1992 Little League World Series -- but got stripped of the title after they found out that some team members were over the age limit. But apparently nowadays, baseball in the Philippines is on the rise; Baseball Philippines is on its 3rd year, they've just started a national junior league, and they're hoping to gain the MLB's support and assistance as they expand their presence in Asia. And this Filipino Heritage night is certainly a step in the right direction towards capturing Fiipino minds.

It certainly has never capture my attention -- but I might actually be lured into the AT&T stadium with the promise of a plate of pork barbecue with java rice.

Filipino Heritage Night at AT&T Ballpark

Let's play ball! The San Francisco Giants are sponsoring their first-ever Filipino Heritage Night on May 14th. For $20 you get tickets to the May 14 Giants vs. Astros game, special performances by Filipino entertainers such as the Hiyas Philippine Dance company, and a special commemorative tshirt.

I think it's great that the Giants are adding Filipinos to their annual Heritage Week series, seeing as there are so many Filipinos in the Bay Area. It's a great way to get Filipinos to celebrate their culture, as well as a great way to showcase Filipino culture to people who might otherwise not be aware of it.

My only question is, will they be selling pork barbecue and turon along with the hotdogs?

Reactions to the Glorietta Bombing

I've just learned that a suspected bomb attack in the Philippines has left eight people dead.

Pause. Eyes widen in shock. The Glorietta shopping center in Makati. That's home turf, less than half a mile from my grandmother's house. She shops at the supermarket beside it. My aunts go on shopping sprees there, my teenage cousins hang out there practically every weekend. Heck, I used to hang out there practically every weekend.

Then come the rush of questions. Is my family safe? Are my friends alright? Do I know anyone who was there?

A quick call to my mother soothes my worst fears. But my heart still sinks. How awful! I know that in the grand scale of things, 8 dead and 100 injured is , but these are people's lives we're talking about. And being so close to home makes it more personal. When they say the explosion "left a deep crater at the foot of the escalator" and had "cars outside the mall were covered in debris", I can close my eyes and picture exactly how it would look like.

Then comes a niggling little fear. We're going home for Christmas this year. I've been looking forward to strolling around that very same mall, checking out the beautiful (and cheap!) things they have for sale (and no doubt buying a lot of them), to having my kids play at the playgrounds and eat at the restaurants. Now what does this mean? Will it still be closed? Will part of it be? Is this a one-time event? Or is this just the beginning?

Then comes anger. If it was a bomb, that means someone decided to set it off. Someone didn't care that a man would soon be left without a leg, a woman without her store, a son without a mother. Stupid terrorists -- they don't care how many people's lives they mess up, just so they get their message across. Go take your fight to the people you're angry with, not the innocent ones, okay?


Bonggamom also blogs over at Finding Bonggamom and the Silicon Valley Moms Blog.

October is Filipino American Heritage Month!

there's got to be a filipino centric event happening near you. please share them with us!!

here's a couple i just found that you might or might not know about:

* The San Mateo Public Library Reading Program Series in coordination with The SF Bay Area Consortium of Filipino American National Historical Society, the Asian American Curriculum Project and T’Boli Publishing and Distribution are pleased to present a reading by local Filipino authors.

WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 6 — 2 to 3:30 PM
WHERE: San Mateo Main Library, 55 W. 3rd Ave., San Mateo
WHO: Vangie Buell, Jorge Emmanuel and Abe Ignacio, Gemma Nemenzo, Oscar Peñaranda, Marianne Villanueva, Marie Yip

Tentative Schedule of Presenters:

2:00 Intro and Program Overview — Oscar Peñaranda
2:10 The Forbidden Book— Abe Ignacio /Jorge Emmanuel
2:25 Buffalo Soldiers — Vangie Buell, author of the memoir Twenty Five Chickens and a Pig
2:35 Migrant Workers, from Stockton to Alaska — Oscar Peñaranda, author of the short story collection Seasons By the Bay
2:45 Asian Stories in the East Bay — Marie Yip, 7 Card Stud with 7 Manangs Wild
2:55 Marianne Villanueva, Mayor of the Roses: Stories and Going Home to a Landscape: Writings by Filipino Women
3:05 Gemma Nemenzo, Heart in Two Places: An Immigrant’s Journey
3:15 Q & A/ MEET THE AUTHORS AND BOOK SIGNING.


* Filipina Women's Network Fifth Annual Filipina Summit in Washington, DC

Every year, the Filipina Women's Network (FWN) brings together Filipina women, corporate America's untapped source of leadership at a time when economic, social and political challenges demand new levels of talent and innovation.


The FWN Summit is held in October in celebration of Filipino Heritage Month. 2006-2007 is significant as it marks 100 years of Filipinos in the U.S. It is a most appropriate time to honor our accomplishments and contributions to American society.

FWN strives to meet this demand by providing Filipina women the knowledge and resources and by building a network of women who dare to change the landscape of the leadership in today's workplace.

Please join us in three days of compelling conversations on what it takes to lead change and initiate re-invention.

UPDATE 10/07:

October 8 to 19 - Filipino Student Exhibition at the University of San Francisco's Crossroads Gallery. It will be curated by Charleston Daulo and Nancy DiCianni. Opening reception will be on Thursday, October 11 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. For details call (415) 422-5178.


October 10 - The 3rd Annual "DV: Not in Our Community" at the Parish Hall of Mater Dolorosa Church in South San Francisco from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Survivors and advocates of domestic abuse will share their experiences and suggest ways the community can help. “Not in Our Community” aims to end domestic abuse through community education and is put on by the Kumares, Kumpares of the Filipino American Outreach Team of the Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse (CORA). Call (650) 652-0800 ext. 115.


October 11 - The Ifugao Music and Dance ensemble of Banaue performs at Sacramento State University's Union Ballroom at 7:30 p.m. in Sacramento, California. Call Kularts at (415) 239-0249 or visit www.kularts.org.


October 12 - Marco Sison live at Perlas Ng Silanganan Restaurant in Woodside, New York at 9 p.m. Admission fee is $45 at the door (dinner included). For early reservations contact (718) 779-2991; (718) 779-3272; (917) 691-2335; (201) 641-2726; (908) 229-0155.
• October 12 to 14 - The Philippine Nurses Association of America's 10th Eastern Regional Conference at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. This year's theme is "The Population We Care: Now and Beyond the 21st Century." The event will be hosted by the Philippine Nurses Association of Delaware Valley, Incorporated. Email garcia.maryjoy@gmail.com.


October 13 - "Philippine History Conference Constructing and Deconstructing Resistance in the Philippines: Centennial Legacies of Macario Sakay" at the Asian Studies Center of the Michigan State University campus in East Lansing, Michigan. Dr. Rico Jose from the University of the Philippines, Diliman will be the keynote speaker. Contact Dawn Ottevaere Nickeson at (517) 775-5263, ottevaer@msu.edu or go to www.h-net.org to learn more.


October 13 - Boston University's Filipino Student Association Fall Cultural Show at the Tsai Performance Center in Boston, Massachusetts. For ticket information call (617) 353-8725 or email tsaictr@bu.edu.


October 14 - "Soulful and Timeless" starring Martin Nievera with special guest Geneva Cruz at the Starlight Theatre, Balboa Park, San Diego, California. The show marks the singer’s 25th anniversary in Philippine showbusiness. Tickets are $37 (general admission), $47, $57 and $77. Call (619) 243-9751.


October 20 - The Filipino American Library's 7th Annual Gala at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. Maria Quiban (Role Model), FilAm Arts (Community Service) and Bank of America (Corporate Philanthropy) are among this year's awardees. Cocktails will start at 6 p.m. and dinner, along with the program, at 7 p.m. Pre-sale dinner tickets are $125 each and $150 at the door. Contact Jonathan Lorenzo at (213) 382-0488, filamlibrary@sbcglobal.net or log on to www.filipinoamericanlibrary.org and www.myspace.com/filamlibrary.


October 20 - Mrs. Philippines Coronation Ball at the Monarch Hotel in Clackamas, Oregon at 6 p.m. Tickets are $30-$35. Call Fe Aguilar at (503) 256-9936.