Welcome to Brown Nation! As you can probably see, we really do have pride in our culture, so if you got anything to show us about the Filipino Culture that you think we might be interested in posting, then feel free to send it over to:BrownNationCulture@yahoo.com
This small-town Hawai‘i girl may be one of Hollywood’s up-and-coming glam girls, but she remains rooted in her faith and her love of the ocean. Sonya Balmores was born on Kauai in 1986, the second daughter to a Filipino father and an Irish/American- Indian mother named Malana. Sonya, who first began modeling at age 13, came to the public’s attention in May 2004 when she was crowned Miss Hawaii Teen USA (she later was runner-up in the nationally televised Miss Teen USA pageant to Miss Louisiana Shelley Hennig). This was Hawaii’s highest placement in the pageant since Kelly Hu won in 1985. “Even when I get glammed up, I still radiate that essence of surfer in me,” says Sonya Balmores.
Brandon “The Truth” Vera (born in Norfolk, Virginia) is a Filipino-American mixed martial arts fighter, currently fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship as a light-heavyweight contender. He currently resides in San Diego, California with his wife Kerry (kickboxer), who was featured on the second season of Oxygen’s Fight Girls.
Vera is the son of a Filipino father, Ernesto, and an Italian-American mother, Amelia. He grew up in a family with seven boys and three girls. He comes from a wrestling background and says he gets his fighting blood more from his Filipino father’s side than his Italian mother, has a few tricks up his sleeve to keep things lively. Brandon speaks Filipino very well and although he was born and raised in the US, he keeps close tabs on his Filipino roots. He often shares his tattoo on his back (inked in the ancient Filipino writing system called Alibata/Baybayin) with the media and his fans. Clockwise, it reads mundo (earth), hangin (wind), apoy (fire), and tubig (water). Those four are the elements of Mother Nature. Brandon claimed that he went surfing one day and sought to conquer the waves. The waves brought him down and gave Brandon a profound respect for Mother Nature.
Edito “Peso” Alcala surfed his way to a victory during the recently concluded Billabong Cloud 9 Invitational held on September 27, 2008 at General Luna, Siargao Island. His win over defending champion Wade Goodall (Aus) is only the second time a Filipino has won the international event in Siargao, the first being back in the late 90s by Rodolfo “Osot” Alcala.The international competition held at Cloud 9, is among the most prestigious in Asia and is watched closely by surfers around the world. It attracts high profile professional surfers from Australia, Israel, Japan, Hawaii and France among others.
It was a dream come true according to Edito because he never expected that he would get a second wave perfectly in time after Goodall’s 17.77 point score. However, he did earn a total of 18.16 points thereby taking first place. He also added that through fervent prayers, an unbelievable divine intervention set in. As he was narrating the victorious story before the media, Edito said that he was ardently praying that he would hit a perfect trick and would excellently get out of the barrel with a tight two-minutes left. To his amazement, as well as to the crowd watching before him, Alcala made it with a standing-ovation performance. He knew he made a good turn when it barreled all the way down the reef and people couldn’t help themselves but to shout joyfully after he flicked off the wave. Alcala, merrily went home with pride and surfed away with $7,500 (USD).
Jason Day, the product of a Filipino mother and an Australian father won his first Nationwide Tour event in July 2007 at the Legend Financial Group Classic, becoming the youngest man to win on any of the PGA Tour’s three tours.The win jumped him to eighth on the Nationwide Tour’s money list. He ended up finishing 5th on the money list to earn his PGA Tour card for 2008. Jason Day credits his competitive nature to his mother, Dening, who has pushed Jason to achieve his ultimate dream. Day’s goal is to become the No. 1 player in the world, which he emphatically reiterated to The Australian newspaper last winter. “I’m sure I can take him down,” he said of Woods.
Gold medalistUS swimmer Natalie Coughlin (Center), silver medalist Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry (Left) and bronze medal winner US swimmer Margaret Hoelzer (Right) (Photo by: TIMOTHY CLARY/AFP/Getty Images)
Viewers who have been tuning into the 2008 Olympics in Beijing may be interested in knowing that U.S. gold medal winner Natalie Coughlin’s maternal grandmother is from the Philippines.
Coughlin, who won gold in the 100m backstroke, is of Filipino and Irish heritage and lives in California. She also won two bronze medals in the 4 x 200m freestyle relay and the women’s 200-meter individual medley.
At the 2004 Olympic games in Athens, Coughlin won five gold medals, becoming only the third U.S. female athlete to do so at a single Olympics.
Here’s a list of sites that we here at Brown Nation think you should know about. These are quick links to spots on the web that relate to culture, music, and arts, as well as a listing of random sites that we like.
