Filipino Achievers

Myrna Venida-Abot


Topped the Court Interpreter Exams. Congratulations from DPS-Class 67!

Read more congratulatory messages below at the Comments section.











Noelle Wenceslao, Carina Dayundon, and Janet Belarmino
Filipina mountaineers who made history last May 16, 2007 by becoming the first ASEAN women to reach the summit of Mt. Everest. They are also the first women mountaineers to succeed in traversing the treacherous summit, ascending from Everest's north side from Tibet, and descending on the south side at Nepal.


Joseph Henares
A home-schooled Fil-Am boy finished in the top five in the Scripps National Spelling Bee Championship Finals in Washington DC last May 31, 2007. He is the son of John and Jean Henares, both Math degree holders from the University of the Philippines. Three years ago, in 2004, Joseph already won $10,000 in the Back to school edition of the popular TV game show, Jeopardy.

Here are the words that the four finalists who did not win the grand prize misspelled. Joseph misspelled ‘aniseikonia’ (a visual defect); the others missed “oberek” (a Polish dance, Men, you did a Polish dance in elementary!); “cyanophycean’ (a kind of algae); and “coryza” (medical word). The winner hit it when he aced “serrefine” a noun describing small forceps. All these words sound Greek to me - never heard.

Allan Pineda,

more popularly known as apl.de.ap of the three time Grammy Award-winning quarter, the Black Eyed Peas.

The 32 year old rock star was an abandoned Amerasian child, who eventually made it to the US with the help of a charitable foundation and sponsor. It was the Pearl S. Buck Foundation that found a sponsor for Pineda, since he was 2 and a half yrs old. When he was 14 years old, his sponsor – California-based-lawyer Joe Ben Hedgens took him to LA and supported his studies there.

As a young boy, Allan worked in a farming village in Sapang Bato, just outside the iron fence of Clark. At 5 yrs old, he was helping pack yams in sacks or repack charcoal in small plastic bags and deliver them to the Pampanga market in Angeles City.

Now Pineda plays life coach to Amerisians in the Phils. He was here this week to meet and give advice to the Fil Amerisians. He will be holding a concert in the Philippines this December to raise funds for projects that would help the Amerisians in Pampanga.

RP Film gets standing ovation in Cannes

Foster Child, a film on the state of foster care in the Phils., received a standing ovation during its world premiere at the prestigious Cannes International Film Festival in France. It tells the story of a slum dweller who is hired as a foster mother by a local Foster Care Facility to provide temporary home and care to abandoned babies pending their formal adoption. Cherry Pie Picache played the lead role with Brillante Mendoza as the director.

Kailanman, Nasaan man, Ang Galing talaga ng PINOY!