Basket Weaving and Home Cooking

Basket weaving in the Philippines is not just an art. It is also a means of subsistence of indigenous and rural Filipinos who sell their handwoven baskets and textiles for cash income to buy basic necessities. Former immigration lawyer turned basketry advocate Jill Stanton reports on her visit to basketry communities in the Cordilleras and Pala'wan.

A grieving daughter celebrates her late father's expertise in the kitchen and shares the recipe of his favorite quick dish. Titchie Carandang-Tiongson writes about her dad, well-known TV producer Tony Carandang in "Papa's Japanese Rice."

It has been 17 years since the cataclysmic event now immortalized as 9/11 but the magnitude of the terror remains fresh in many minds, especially those who had a close brush with death on that day. One of them is General Antonio Taguba who was in the Pentagon when the plane crashed and demolished the section he was in just a few minutes before. Read Again his account of "My Close Call on 9/11." 

As we continue to collect martial law stories and vignettes, here's another one of mine. Read Again "Creative Subversion." 

Our Happy Home Cook recipe is another one from Chef Marvin Gapultos who we featured last week. This time a complicated but surely delicious dish which will delight the Ilocanos -- Papaitan. 

Here are this week's links to stories you may have missed:

China Poised to Win Major Victory in Sea Dispute With Help of Philippine Resources Deal
https://www.wsj.com/articles/oil-and-gas-pact-poised-to-hand-china-a-victory-in-sea-dispute-1536571801?redirect=amp#click=https://t.co/iliNWX2Kc6

The Philippines' Human Rights Abuses
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2018-08-03/the-brutal-personal-costs-of-the-philippines-human-rights-abuses

Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho: 11 Year-old Boy Serves as Parent to Younger Brother
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKei-sZ0iOk

Our Video of the Week: GMA's Jessica Soho brings together young basketball talent Justine Remo and his idol, three-time NBA champion Stephen Curry in this exclusive video.


Tell Us Your Martial Law Story

We are collecting personal stories of life under Martial Law (1972-1981) in the Philippines. If you were there, you would have at least one. Did you violate curfew? Were you arrested? Was anyone in your family a political detainee or was "salvaged?" Did martial law motivate you to leave the country?  Did you benefit from it? What is your most enduring memory of that period?

In 200-600 words, join us in documenting that important era in our homeland's history. Your story counts. And if you have pictures, that would be great.

Please send to martiallawstories@gmail.com.

Gemma Nemenzo

Editor, Positively Filipino

DREAMers

The Trump administration's cancellation of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), the Obama administration's immigration program that protected young people without legal status who were brought to the country as children, triggered a firestorm of resistance and protests not only by the DREAMers (as DACA recipients are called) but also from civil society groups and immigration lawyers like Lourdes Santos Tancinco, Esq. Her exclusive piece for Positively Filipino, "What DACA Recipients Should Know Now and the Rights They Have," reassures and encourages those negatively impacted by this cruel and inhuman act of the current government. Attorney Tancinco also lists five tips on what NOT to do, now that DACA is under assault.

We are also posting, with permission, the opinion piece of Jose Antonio Vargas in the New York Times' Sunday Review entitled "'Dreamers' Put Their Trust in DACA. What Now?"

Returning to the national trauma of 16 years ago, Major General (Ret.) Antonio Taguba goes public for the first time about his extremely close call on September 11, 2001, when he was just about 75 feet away from the American Airlines Flight 77 that plowed into the Pentagon. Read his heart-stopping account of the tragedy and its aftermath.

On a lighter note, we have another Hometown story, this time about Isla de Convalescensia on the Pasig River and Parañaque. "Island in the Stream" is poet/writer Victor Peñaranda's memories of his boyhood. 

For our Happy Home Cook, we are sharing PF Correspondent John Silva's personal recipe for Adobong Antigo, which includes an ingredient that could make any cook happy.

In our In the Know links this week, we try to balance serious with levity:

War Machine: Will Goyo be the Biggest Filipino Film of All Time?
http://rogue.ph/war-goyo/

The Legend of Ma Mon Luk
http://rogue.ph/the-legend-of- mamonluk/

“Hiding and Hiding”: Undocumented Filipinx Americans Living in the Shadows
https://catapult.co/stories/ migrations-undocumented- filipinx-americans-hiding-and- hiding

Bayanihan Project gives contemporary Filipino art chance to shine http://www.abc.net.au/news/ 2017-09-09/bayanihan-project- filipino-art-gets-chance-to- shine/8843982

Our Video of the Week Miss Saigon US stars Eva Noblezada and Rachelle Ann Go perform this exclusive, reimagined version of "The Movie in My Mind."

Gemma Nemenzo

Editor, Positively Filipino

Remembering

We've seen it happen many times -- from unimaginable tragedies spring unbelievable acts of kindness.We saw it in Houston, in Paris, London, Leyte, New Orleans, even in the war-ravaged countries of the Middle East. And we can never forget how the world became one in the aftermath of the 9/11 attack in New York. On the 16th anniversary of this tragedy of tragedies, as we reel from nature's wrath and political tsunamis, we are reposting first-person accounts that will forever be etched in our hearts. Remember 9/11 with "The Anguish Lingers," G. Mayumi Querubin's interviews of Filipino families who lost loved ones.

Read Again the memories of those who were there that day: http://www.positivelyfilipino. com/magazine/9-11-day-of-days.

We continue our Hometown series with writer/author/teacher Oscar Peñaranda's compilation of heartwarming stories of his boyhood days in Barugo, Leyte and Manila, where he and the Pasig River are "old friends." Peñaranda claims his share of oddball relatives and misadventures that spice up his recollections, making this one of the most potent distillations of childhood memories we've published so far.

And for this issue of memories, Manila-based writer Menchu Aquino Sarmiento tells us about her close encounters with the most famous Filipino writer of all time in "Love, Youth and Nick Joaquin." That those chance meetings with the inimitable -- and unpredictable -- author made an indelible impact on the aspiring writer is an understatement, and you'll see why.

A fitting back-to-school dish for your children is Misua Soup, where our resident foodie Elizabeth Ann Quirino added a few of enhancements of her own to make this rendering not quite your Nanay's recipe.

And for your reading pleasure, our In the Know links:

Problem: A Massive Teacher Shortage. Solution: The Philippines https://www.nbcnews.com/politi cs/politics-news/problem- massive-teacher-shortage- solution-philippines-n793831

This Pinoy athlete had the SEA Games gold in the bag, but he happily settled for a silver.
http://www.interaksyon.com/this-pinoy-athlete-had-the-sea-games-gold-in-the-bag-but-he-happily-settled-for-a-silver-heres-why/

What it means to be a Palanca winner
https://www.rappler.com/ life-a nd-style/arts-and-culture/1808 66-carlos-palanca-memorial- awards-2017-butch-dalisay?utm_ source=facebook&utm_medium= social&utm_campaign=life-and- style

Zobel brothers share insights on surviving, thriving
http://business.inquirer.net/2 36223/zobel-brothers-share-ins ights-surviving-thriving

Last but not least, our Video of the Week: go back in time to the Philippines in 1950s through a promotional documentary by Coca-Cola.

Gemma Nemenzo

Editor, Positively Filipino