December 13, 2023

'Tis the Season to Be Peaceful

December 13, 2023/ Staff

When the Hamas-Israel war broke out in October, the Philippine Embassy in Israel immediately went into crisis management mode, a familiar switch among diplomatic posts in unstable regions. With Filipino OFWs in almost 200 countries in the world, crisis-induced aid forms a major part of diplomatic work, as journalist Jeremaiah Opiniano writes in "PH Runs a Cycle of Crisis-Induced OFW Aid." In Israel today, the Philippine Embassy acts as guardian and succor to the almost 30,000 Filipinos in the country (about 130 in Gaza), most of whom have chosen to remain in their jobs (less than 300 have chosen repatriation) despite the threats they face as bystanders in the current war.

'Tis the season to be jolly nonetheless and what better way to celebrate than the traditional Simbang Gabi. Despite (or maybe because of) being away from the Motherland, overseas Filipinos nurture the holiday spirit, as first-time contributing writer Ronald Salazar reports from Wellington, New Zealand. Read "Simbang Gabi Abroad -- Our Faith and Our Music" because indeed, there's no taking the Filipino away from our Christmas traditions.

And what is Christmas without food? Our friend Micky Fenix, one of the leading lights in the Philippine culinary scene, takes us on a virtual tour of Iloilo City's gastronomic delights, a fitting tour d'horizon of the recently proclaimed UNESCO Creative City for Gastronomy.

Another food story to tickle your palates, "The Comforting Squidginess of Slow-Cooked Veggies" by Jeanne Jakob-Ashkenazi, a Filipino food researcher based in Valencia, Spain. This essay won the second prize in the 2022 Doreen Gamboa Fernandez Food Writing Award.

Finally, if you're lucky enough to have this Fil-Am movie showing in your area, here's a preview of "Asian Persuasion" starring KC Concepcion, Dante Basco and Paolo Montalban, among others, as directed by Jhett Tolentino.

And for our Video of the Week, it's always a treat to watch Lea Salonga. This one is particularly poignant as she sings "Payapang Daigdig" with the Tabernacle Choir. The song composed by Felipe de Leon in 1946 is a paean to peace, something the world needs badly right now.

Partner: “Remember Pearl Harbor… And The Philippines!”

Anti-Asian Hate Watch

Brutal Attack on Elderly Asian Man Is Not a Hate Crime, Says LA County Sheriff’s Department
https://ethnicmediaservices.org/stop-the-hate/brutal-attack-on-elderly-asian-man-is-not-a-hate-crime-says-la-county-sheriffs-department/

Trial to be set for killing of Vicha Ratanapakdee, who’s death sparked ‘Stop Asian Hate’
https://asamnews.com/2023/12/09/trial-to-be-set-for-killing-of-vicha-ratanapakdee-whos-death-sparked-stop-asian-hate/

Lifting the lamp for AAPI New Jerseyans, 80 years after the Chinese Exclusion Act
https://newjerseymonitor.com/2023/12/06/lifting-the-lamp-for-aapi-new-jerseyans-80-years-after-the-chinese-exclusion-act/

Hate crime surge raises alarms, adds safety concerns for minorities
https://www.losangelesblade.com/2023/12/10/hate-crime-surge-raises-alarms-adds-safety-concerns-for-minorities/

Funding provided by the State of California.

In The Know

Smaller boat in ‘Atin Ito’ convoy completes mission to Lawak
https://globalnation.inquirer.net/224180/smaller-boat-in-atin-ito-convoy-completes-mission-to-lawak

Gift-bearing convoy begins WPS voyage: ‘This is ours’
https://globalnation.inquirer.net/224001/gift-bearing-convoy-begins-wps-voyage-this-is-ours?utm_source=(direct)&utm_medium=gallery&fbclid=IwAR3TcS9QiYMchPoy3wjquvYdjCpH13rGltH4fHpy06xqHRts98T-XmtWCEc

79-year-old woman fulfills lifelong dream of visiting all 193 countries
https://nextshark.com/luisa-yu-visits-193-un-countries?fbclid=IwAR3k2btW0zJJu5rY7UoKeeGYtiPIeocdhxM75hQA3KP8gvqjHXQ_3-xnT-8

Bringing Filipino Cuisine to New York for Nearly 30 Years
https://guide.michelin.com/us/en/article/features/michlein-guide-only-filipino-restaurant-in-new-york-purple-yam?fbclid=IwAR0m_POUi7KEY9hQwVnpvemuB1edQKKRiVDtzqStEuWPbNfy33dJUjv_cJU

For 50 years, Oriental Mart has been a home for Filipino food in Seattle
https://www.seattletimes.com/life/food-drink/seattle-chefs-celebrate-a-beacon-of-filipino-food-at-pike-place-market/?fbclid=IwAR1eEKwrj5wUTPjlXlfJ0icOiF_RgzFuc-Hx-YrQFaiDeJU-aZnFWGzcrvg

Here's How Much It Costs to Stay at Amanpulo in Palawan
https://www.esquiremag.ph/life/travel/amanpulo-rates-palawan-sa00268-20210729-src-preview-lfrm2?utm_medium=Echobox-Esquire&utm_campaign=Echobox-Ownshare&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR3WG5OvUa9WXk6hqjMBjnXN_uV-vvz1aroIJ1ucQz4DbHPwHVGFTucJfIY#Echobox=1701854157

March 30, 2022

The Worst of Times and the Best of Times

March 30, 2022/ Gemma Nemenzo

As an active journalist in the Philippines between 1983, the year Ninoy Aquino was assassinated, and 1986 when the Marcos regime was ousted by people power, I was right there when the almost daily protests were happening. Those were heady times, alternately exhilarating and scary, when yellow confetti rained daily from the usually staid buildings in Ayala Avenue, when intense political infighting and secret strategizing among rival factions within the administration were taking place, and anti-Marcos rallies were drawing bigger and bigger crowds. We felt the electricity in the air and the ground shifting; we knew that history was being made and we were not just witnesses but participants in its unfolding.

I realize now how different it is to watch events unfold from afar. Though I'm in constant touch with friends who are on the ground, it's not the same as being there and actually feeling, hearing, seeing the tension and the excitement. Worse, with the proliferation of online disinformation, I have to suspend reacting to news until I verify their veracity, which can be a damper to spontaneous enthusiasm.

This is why I'm so happy to have my friend and WOMEN (Women Writers in Media Now) colleague Rochit Tañedo write about the nitty-gritty of the recent massive Leni Robredo-Kiko Pangilinan rallies in Nueva Ecija and Tarlac. Traveling by public bus from her home in Quezon City shortly after Covid restrictions were lifted, laden with donated campaign materials, Rochit embedded herself among the volunteer organizers and the masses who thronged to the rally sites, and wrote about the "Tears and Fears and Leni-Kiko's Abonados." Not quite the same as being actually there, but close.

Read Again: Women Who Made and Wrote

She Broke My Heart and Made It Whole Again by Sylvia Mayuga

Marilou, 1955-2012 by Pablo A. Tariman

Gina Lopez: Rich Girl, Kind Heart, Woman Warrior by Paulynn Paredes Sicam

Dawn Bohulano Mabalon’s Short Life Burned Brightly by Mariel Toni Jimenez

Cook It Again: The Happy Home Cook: Vegan Arroz A La Cubana by Chef Richgail Enriquez

Video of the Week: Chefs Sandy Daza and Claude Tayag

Philippine Elections 2022

Philippine vote campaign starts amid violence, virus fears

https://news.yahoo.com/philippine-vote-campaign-starts-amid-045755679.html

‘North belongs to Filipinos’: Ilocano ‘kakampinks’ come out for Leni-Kiko

https://www.rappler.com/nation/elections/ilocano-kakampinks-come-out-robredo-pangilinan-tandem/?utm_source=piano&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=3969&pnespid=_uXNi4xN6rvE4fO0uB_1r.QV6RhOojUlwVUkHE0ws0WVEohvDU4wdLozY02Cs2TUWhI8qJuN

[Newsstand] To win, Leni Robredo needs 22 million votes

https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/newsstand-leni-robredo-needs-millions-votes-win-2022-elections/?fbclid=IwAR1R-6xl_KT5uHOMWFyYCHCYWfBQabXdi_E4ItRph80SJt5L8p_7oobCo8E

Marcos Jr. winning PH poll misinformation drive – analysis

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1572763/marcos-jr-winning-ph-poll-misinformation-drive-analysis#Echobox=1648073639

[OPINION] Red alert! Can we be cheated out of our May 9 vote?

https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/opinion-red-alert-can-we-be-cheated-may-9-vote/?fbclid=IwAR3_KVOfT4YiPMZmlInokNYIpyMytS-mSvu2Jlqfk4LMmpuBR8yh4ZhEAko

Leni presidency: Three possible scenarios

https://inqm.news/xpuq

If Marcos Jr. becomes president

https://opinion.inquirer.net/151481/if-marcos-jr-becomes-president

In The Know

HISTORIC PUNK VENUE ‘MABUHAY GARDENS’ BECOMING UNDERGROUND COMEDY HOTSPOT

https://brokeassstuart.com/2022/03/28/historic-punk-venue-mabuhay-gardens-becoming-underground-comedy-hotspot/?fbclid=IwAR2180iCQudQZDef-U0iQIeyoT0dZc3Oudu6pDYlsb0VFh2OvXunANf_hDU

An Indigenous basket-weaving tradition keeps a Philippine forest alive

https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/an-indigenous-basket-weaving-tradition-keeps-a-philippine-forest-alive/?fbclid=IwAR2SB4RxFl14GjAKLu78L1KZLQxxxwQKrLip7WoSQDxB745XqifDxiKHCIE

Most Beautiful Cities and Towns in the Philippines

https://www.esquiremag.ph/life/travel/most-beautiful-cities-towns-philippines-a00204-20200528-lfrm?utm_source=Facebook-Esquire&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20220314-fbnp-life-most-beautiful-cities-towns-philippines-a00204-20200528-lfrm-fbold&fbclid=IwAR3S3kaBokVkdhItla4tLAQuYCzB8Vg9Zz9_KGtOkl2rHff6iWpocKX0xWo

‘A total Pinoy fantasy’: This 600-million amusement park is the new pride of Negros

https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/travel/destination/03/14/22/this-600-m-amusement-park-is-negros-latest-pride?fbclid=IwAR2T3K5mFjhYgHjAbLGvRrE3T-E8-2vop7lo5WkuTiTAG4W_AT8LCZhQAps

This classroom-on-a-trolley on the railways of Quezon has caught the eyes of the world

https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/03/17/22/classroom-on-a-trolley-in-quezon-gets-world-attention?fbclid=IwAR1jLiFtzefO5hrZzfNt3AWnoDcPC1EWdwaPBSFI2DbmwTXifhJHT6cALdQ

It’s not the house that art built but it’s art that keeps it standing

https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/art/03/19/22/avellana-artgallery-at-25-remains-a-home-for-artists

February 16, 2022

Journeys in Place

February 16, 2022/ Gemma Nemenzo

With a force of more than 1 million ethnic Chinese living in the Philippines and over 23 million Filipinos of Chinese ancestry, our homeland can harness "people-to-people exchanges and solidarity ties" to cool down the tensions in the South China Sea, aka West Philippine Sea. This interesting though largely untested proposal is presented by UP professor Eduardo C. Tadem, who honors his Chinese roots in "Blood Could Be Thicker than Water in the South China Sea."

The pandemic lockdown in the Philippines, reportedly one of the strictest in the world, didn't faze five friends with interesting backgrounds to set free their creativity without leaving their homes. Channeling their common love of photography, the five men have come out with Journeyers, an impressive coffeetable book that our publisher, Mona Lisa Yuchengco, has been privileged to get. In "Journeyers: Five Men with Cameras Walk into the World," she give us a glimpse of the journeyers' journeys.

Speaking of journeys, now that the pandemic restrictions have been relaxed, how about visiting Romblon, a relatively untraveled province rich in natural resources and beauty, which has bred a National Artist, among other distinguished native sons. Retired Ambassador Virgilio A. Reyes, Jr. describes the province's many attractions.

There have been many stories about the Philippine Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon, but here's first-hand testimony about how good a tango dancer he was, from the famous Arthur Murray himself. History buff Erwin R. Tiongson of the Philippines on the Potomac project digs up this fascinating historical vignette in "MLQ Loved Tripping the Light Fantastic at Arthur Murray’s."