Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

In late November and early December, Telly and I traveled to the Philippines. We traveled to our home province of Pangasinan to spend time with family and for Telly to attend her school reunion from Caboloan Community High School in Urdaneta, Pangasinan.

Tante & Telly Urban
Photo: Ceasar Lizada

We hosted Telly’s section get together (there are three sections with about 48 in each section) and the classes of 1968, 1969, 1970 and 1971 gathered for a school reunion. There were two days of events followed by the three-day town fiesta which featured Balikbayan Night, Farmers Night, Gay Night and a formal dance with a battle of the bands just as in the Lawrence Welk mold.

It was a fun time to be in the Philippines during the Christmas season. Christmas in the Philippines is always a fun time and our pasalubong list includes American products and alcohol, including our new favorite, Screwball—a peanut butter whiskey.

We’re looking forward to the New Year which always represents a new beginning and new challenges. For Telly and me, we’ll be spending a lot of time on the Big Island and I will be taking a leave of absence from my role as President and Editor of The Fil-Am Voice as I will be running for Mayor of the County of Hawai‘i.

Vince Bagoyo, Jr. will take over as Editor and President while Alfredo Evangelista continues as Assistant Editor. The rest of the Fil-Am Voice team will remain intact. We hope you will continue to read and support The Fil-Am Voice.
All of us at The Fil-Am Voice wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May all of you receive more blessings of good health and wealth in 2020!