On October 2, 2008, Natalie Coughlin (pronounced “cog-lin”), a Filipina American Olympic swimmer who had won six medals in the Beijing Olympics, including a gold and two silvers (yes, being a quarter-Filipina makes one an American of Filipina ancestry!) was honored with the Achievement Award for Sports and Entertainment during the prestigious 11th Filipinas Magazine Achievement Awards at the South San Francisco Conference Center, South San Francisco, California. The award was sponsored by Anheuser-Busch Companies and presented by Jim Cho, Senior Manager, Community Relations.

Although I regret not being able to join my sister, Noemi Dado, in her Missouri countryside adventures since, as a member of the Filipinas Magazine family, I had to be present at this awards event, meeting Natalie Coughlin for the first time made up for the loss of cherished family time.

My assignment was simple: pin a corsage on every awardee. However, when Natalie arrived from the ABS-CBNi studios where she had done a TV interview, if you look at the pretty silk blouse she was wearing, there was no way I could pin a corsage without destroying the fabric. If you haven’t met her yet, let me assure you that Natalie Coughlin is VERY tall! Just like any celebrity, Natalie had her fair share of fans during that night. I gave up trying to have a souvenir photo with her although she posed with us for the Filipinas Magazine staffers’ annual group picture.

There were some friends who told me that they had never heard Natalie Coughlin talk about her Filipina heritage during her interviews. What I replied was, “Whether Natalie felt that mentioning her Filipina heritage was appropriate or not, that is her call. We need to respect her decision. After all, if you listen closely to her, Natalie chooses to talk about her passion: swimming. What is important is that she acknowledged her Filipino heritage by showing up at the awards event. Her presence indicates that she does accept the Filipina in her. Maybe this is the right time for Natalie to rediscover some of her ancestral roots, where her grandmother came from.”

Here is the Balitang America segment Natalie Coughlin appeared in that afternoon on October 2, 2008.

I found another video of Natalie Coughlin being interviewed by late night talk show host, Jay Leno.

(more…)

I’ve been waiting for the appropriate time to share these creative works with Filipinas worldwide. Preparing for FilipinaImages.com’s first anniversary on August 5, 2008 felt right. Our contributors — brave and inspiring human beings that they are — have indeed showcased a kaleidoscopic diversity of Filipina Images through its simple SEO campaign. Once in a great while, award-winning creatives such as Roger Pe unleash provocative, compelling messages through their advertising creations. Roger, who I had met when he was the Executive Creative Director of DDB Philippines, working with the organizers of the Third Global Filipino Networking Convention (he developed the Public Service Announcements for print and TV which resulted in a phenomenal increase of local convention attendees’ registrations), is the 2007 winner of the London International Advertising Award Silver Trophy.

Roger wrote me and explained, “Thousands of Filipinas are sold overseas through/by Mail-Order-Bride syndicates. We helped curb this activity through an awareness campaign – for victims to speak up so that activities of people operating to traffic Filipinas can be checked and minimized.”

Let’s take a look at Roger Pe’s award-winning ad:

“Stamp” ad by Roger Pe (Campaign against Filipina Mail-Order-Brides,Teodora) DDB Philippines
2002 Bronze World Medal Winner, New York Festivals

Check out this year’s winner:

“Duct Tape” by DM9 JS Manila (Gabriela)
2008 Cannes Media Bronze winner

Let’s take a closer look at Roger’s ad:

And let’s see what the “call to action” is:

A picture indeed says a million words.

I’m enclosing snippets from the article about the “Duct Tape” ad wherein I highlighted certain portions.

Gabriela ad campaign wins bronze at Cannes
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:34:00 06/20/2008

CANNES, FRANCE—DM9 JaymeSyfu, a Manila ad agency affiliated with the DDB network of communications companies, was awarded on Tuesday the Bronze Media Lion at the Cannes International Advertising Festival.

The first Cannes Media Lion won by a Philippine ad agency at the weeklong festival was for DM9 JaymeSyfu’s “Duct Tape” campaign for Gabriela Philippines, a women’s group opposing women abuse.

To dramatize the maltreatment of women, the campaign used duct tape to hold up posters of women which made it appear that the women in the posters were either gagged or blindfolded. The ad calls on abused women to speak up.

(more…)

It was a Saturday morning. A Filipina American of Chinese ancestry was busy handing out window signs and fliers in front of Safeway (Supermarket) on Mission Street, deep in the heart of the Excelsior District in San Francisco, California, one of the areas that encompasses District 11. Recipients were not immediately aware that the face on the fliers and window signs was also the face of the same person handing them out. Many were quite surprised to chat directly with a candidate for political office right in the heart of their neighborhood.

“Goodness, this is you? May I have your autograph?” was a common comment.

The Filipina laughed and responded: “You should give me your autograph instead. You’re more important than I am.”

The first time Myrna Lim ran for Board of Supervisors in the year 2000, all she had was her gutsy attitude in getting things done. Sometimes quite irreverent and always passionate, she debunked some of the traditional Filipino community leaders’ ideas of what a politician should look like and behave.

Here’s a comment from a Filipino gay businessman: “You should dress up like Diane Feinstein.”

Myrna jokingly responded, “Are you kidding? Diane Feinstein would kill to look like me.”

Only Myrna Lim can say this and get away with it!

I’ve walked through this Mission Street corridor at least three times with Myrna Lim in the last eight years. I really wanted an “up close and personal” experience with someone who was determined to find out what her district’s needs were so she could become a more effective legislator. Although my feet hurt, I was happy to see old friends as we visited business after business after business… and I also got a realistic sense of the frustrations and shattered hopes of these small business owners because of unreasonable anti-small business policies imposed by the local government.

Myrna Lim did me a favor. I was forced to reach out of my comfort zone (since I’m usually a “virtual” or on-line personality) and hit the streets to get a taste and feel of what residents and citizens of District 11 in San Francisco were thinking, talking, and protesting about. Myrna, I’ve observed, embodies representation of District 11’s multi-racial neighborhoods: Chinese, African-American, Filipino, Irish, Italian, and Latino. Spiritual sustenance is also a strong component in this District, represented by Epiphany Church, Corpus Christi Church, and St. Emydius Church.

Now, it’s 2008. Elections are coming up in November! So, if you have relatives and friends in zipcode 94112 (Excelsior, Ingleside, Outer Mission, Crocker Amazon, and Oceanview), let them know that a Filipina American is running for political office, Myrna Lim for District 11 Supervisor — and that it’s time for Filipinos in San Francisco to be represented. There are 67,000 Filipinos in San Francisco. Help her out! Myrna is fiercely loyal and dedicated, especially to the people who believe in her. She will win. She can do this. And we will be proudly Filipina!

This video showcases the Filipina American that will make it to a much-coveted legislative position (Board of Supervisors) in the City and County of San Francisco. WHEN (I’m optimistic) Myrna Lim wins, she will open the doors to opportunities for more minorities and women — opportunites only available to the old boys and old girls networks. Listen to her speak! And check out the documentaries she produced (as an independent TV producer for Channel 29 and Channel 76, San Francisco Public Broadcasting) at her campaign website, MyrnaLim.com.

(more…)

At my DiabetesLifeNotes.BlogSpot.com personal blog, I talked about finally connecting with Nona D. Andaya-Castillo, a Filipina Breastfeeding Advocate/International Board Certified Lactation Consultant and a practising vegetarian these past 17 years, who asked me to check out the “Diet for A New America.”

Our conversation also touched upon some “whistle blowers” regarding Formula Milk made by Wyeth that is supposed to be recalled in the Philippines. I got the impression from my chat with Nona that birth statistics regarding the contaminated milk have not yet been disclosed, especially the inference about the increased percentage of new-born infants who contracted meningitis. This definitely needs more investigative work — so whoever reads this and is interested can certainly contact Nona.

Continue reading the complete blog posting at my RadiantView.com.

Here is a portion of the UNICEF-Philippines’-produced documentary, Formula for Disaster, found in my blog posting:

Formula for Disaster (Part 1 of 5)