At less than five feet and weighing less than 100 pounds, 10-year old Isla Diesmos is a big star in Brazilian jiu jitsu, a martial art, both in Canada and the U.S.

The girl next door is a young scientist. Her name is Ann Makosinski, who, for the last five years, has not only come up with two energy-saving inventions but also started a company called Makotronics Enterprises with her father.

It is one thing to have a war hero in your family and another to be one yourself.

After heading the New Democratic Party (NDP) of Manitoba for more than a year, Flor Marcelino recently passed on the baton to a new leader.

It marked the culmination of yet another chapter in the career of the Philippine-born politician, who came to Winnipeg with her family in 1982.

The coastal town of Ragay in the province of Camarines Sur in the Philippines is one of those places you pass by on the way to a major city like Naga in Bicol. However small and unheard of, Ragay produced Dr. Jesse Ronquillo, a multi-awarded scientist currently at the forefront of developing an Aquaculture Technician diploma program funded by the B.C. provincial government.

Toronto’s own Pinoy Boy, social media sensation Mikey Bustos came home to enjoy some time off after the viral success of his Despacito parody, titled, I Wear Speedos.

Even as a young boy growing up in Manila, Michael had an inquisitive mind. He was full of questions often catching his parents and teachers off guard and grappling for answers to such questions as “How does one know what the real time is?”

Newly minted Lt. Colonel Joseph Nonato, commanding general of the Royal Regiment of Canada is the latest source of pride of the Canadian Filipino community.

 Last June, Nonato officially took the reins of the Canadian Army’s primary reserve regiment, one of the oldest army regiments in the Canadian Forces, which traces its roots to 1862. The Royal Regiment of Canada counts the Prince of Wales as honourary colonel-in-chief.

In an event organized by the Asian Canadian and Asian Migration studies Dialogues at UBC, one speaker’s words resonated with me deeply.

My parents were born in the Philippines and immigrated to Canada in the 1970s.  My sisters and I were born in Winnipeg, Manitoba and were raised in Vancouver, BC.  We were lucky enough to spend a lot of time in the Philippines as we grew up.  We were exposed to Filipino ways of living first hand.