At the Top of Their Game

Two exceptional Filipinos who are outstanding in their respective fields headline our issue this week.

Maria Ronson (nee Nimfa Fallarme) is the Associated Press' (AP) vice president for sales in Asia and was just awarded the Oliver S. Gramling Achievement Award, AP's highest honor, for professional excellence. Cherie Querol Moreno writes about her.

Our other headliner is Officer Angel Lozano of the San Francisco Police Department who was also a US Marine. Manzel Delacruz recounts his exploits and achievements in "This Cop Is an Angel."

Architect and environmental planner Nathaniel "Dinky" von Einsiedel waxes nostalgic over the neighborhood where he grew up -- Area One in the University of the Philippines campus of the '50s and '60s. It was a safe, integrated, kid-friendly community, which should be a model for all newly sprung suburban communities, he contends in "Growing Up in UP's Area 1, A Model Neighborhood."

A different kind of community -- the farm workers community in Delano, California -- is the setting of Patty Enrado's compelling first novel, A Village in the Fields. Elaine Elinson reviews this book which, she says, picks up where America Is In the Heart by Carlos Bulosan leaves off. Quite a strong endorsement since Bulosan's masterpiece is a classic. Enrado focuses on the lives of Filipino manongs who initiated and sustained the Grape Strike that started in 1965 and lasted for several years.

Our Happy Home Cook recipe as we move closer to Christmas: Lenguas De Gato by Positively Filipino Correspondent Elizabeth Ann Quirino.

Our Video of the Week: 11 Signs You're At A Filipino Party from BuzzFeedYellow