Meet the Indipinos

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Filipino farm workers arrived in Bainbridge Island in Washington state almost eight decades ago to work in the strawberry farms. There they met and fell in love with indigenous women, berry pickers too. In the first year alone, there were 13 marriages. Their children have come to be known as Indipinos, a unique subset of the all-encompassing category, Filipino American. Indipinos in Bainbridge Island is the topic of PF's forthcoming webinar on January 19, which will also show in full the excellent documentary made by Gina Corpuz, herself an Indipino. You can register below.

The forthcoming Philippine elections in May is definitely the Big Story to follow this year. Former Commission on Elections (COMELEC) chief Andres Bautista ends his illuminating series on the Philippine electoral system this week with words of caution in "Practice Mental Hygiene for Philippine Democracy."

Many of us have no more tears to shed due to the constant, seemingly endless, news of people we know who died in the past two years. Here we list some of the more public figures who have succumbed not just to Covid-19 (and there are many of them), but also to co-morbidities and age. 

The early days of 2022 do not provide a respite. Already we have lost two prominent men of letters -- the literary giant F. Sionil Jose, 98, (eulogized here by his friend, Tokyo-based writer Amadio Arboleda) and renowned historian Dr. Samuel K. Tan, 88, (see link to a eulogy in our In The Know section). Another, the prominent lawyer Delfin Gonzalez, 107, who was the subject of our publisher Mona Lisa Yuchengco's video documentary 11 years ago.

For cold, wintry days, how about trying out this recipe for "Almost Binignit," binignit being the Cebuano version of the popular merienda fare, ginataan. Cebuana PR specialist Lorna Lardizabal Dietz shares her abridged version of this sweet delicacy for the Happy Home Cook.

Our Video of the Week is about the making of Kora's Filipinos doughnuts, a humungous hit among New Yorkers, thousands of whom have lined up for the shop's waiting list. Kora is owned and operated by Fil-Am baker/entrepreneur Kimberly Camara.

Read Again:

A Bookstore of Filipino Aspirations by Larry Ng

In The Know (Standard Edition)

Sulu’s Samuel Tan succumbs to COVID-19; leaves “a void no historian can fill”
https://www.mindanews.com/top-stories/2022/01/sulus-samuel-tan-succumbs-to-covid-19-leaves-a-void-no-historian-can-fill/?fbclid=IwAR2XvxjnTL1yNpLkBDhO-pisXrh_7dfy_HTRieLM1VtnoGOnZHH-bPbooCo

The First Year of COVID: Filipinos Were Among Hardest Hit, But Hidden by Data
https://www.voiceofsandiego.org/year-one-covid-19-death-toll/the-first-year-of-covid-filipinos-were-among-hardest-hit-but-hidden-by-data/ 

30 Photos of Makati During Its Early Days
https://www.esquiremag.ph/culture/lifestyle/best-makati-photos-a00297-20200524?utm_source=Facebook-Esquire&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20211227-fbnp--best-makati-photos-a00297-20200524-fbold&fbclid=IwAR2hFHcxnAYQ3jN0h74A_WIESEmW_z0AE5NfqClp0UXyD0EED9JgFQiXKbQ

IN PHOTOS: This Cubao postwar home was brilliantly transformed into a boutique cinema
https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/movies/01/30/21/in-photos-this-cubao-postwar-home-was-brilliantly-transformed-into-a-boutique-cinema?fbclid=IwAR0Y-F2nKIjVkhEOWD-8-7ndWy72SoNBRWUbiIRwgpIIl-B7anbRb9ha5cE

How this fruit vendor’s daughter rose to become IS Manila and Harvard scholar
https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/01/05/22/how-fruit-vendors-daughter-became-is-harvard-scholar

Sarap Filipino Bistro: ‘Many of the dishes are real showstoppers’ - restaurant review
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2022/jan/02/sarap-filipino-bistro-many-of-the-dishes-are-real-showstoppers---restaurant-review?fbclid=IwAR2ChFHirwsGbKfDsxYI7oR9dRaKGww7uQYo4PiCtPSpQ1rc91zNKjkIXP4

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Gemma Nemenzo

Editor, Positively Filipino

Doing Us Proud

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This week is about Filipinos who have crashed the international scene in their respective fields and have made us proud:

F. Sionil Jose, the grand old man of Philippine letters, the country's foremost chronicler of the Filipino experience, is paid homage to by author Rafaelito Sy, who writes about his recent encounter with the National Artist for Literature. ["F. Sionil Jose and a Nation's Memories"]

Cris Comerford, the White House chef of three US administrations (Bush, Obama and Trump), was recently awarded a doctorate honoris causa by her alma mater, the University of the Philippines (UP). Sonia Delen, current president of UP's alumni chapter in San Francisco, profiles Cris. ["Her Lola's Legacy: Chef Cris Comerford's Secret Sauce"]

This week is also about remembering, this one a painful episode in 1929-1930 when anti-Filipino riots broke out and ended tragically in California. Read Again Alex Fabros' "In The Heat of the Night: The Exeter and Watsonville Riots 1929-1930."

And speaking of remembering, we join the sports world in grieving the untimely death of basketball legend Kobe Bryant. Here's our Video of the Week showing him dancing the tinikling.

Our Happy Home Cook recipe this week is for Chocolate Cake from Ballesteros, Cagayan baker Dondon Catli, who we featured earlier this month.

ICYMI, stories you may have missed or want to read again:

WOMEN OF THE EASTERN CALIPHATE: Hiding in plain sight
https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/investigative/245849-women-eastern-caliphate-hiding-plain-sight-isis-part-1

WOMEN OF THE EASTERN CALIPHATE: By blood and marriage
https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/investigative/245822-women-eastern-caliphate-by-blood-marriage-isis-part-2?utm_source=Rappler+Subscribers&utm_campaign=82d6b16cbd-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_01_07_04_22_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d18b1557b8-82d6b16cbd-96223989&mc_cid=82d6b16cbd&mc_eid=0c0639d4af

'Kill Everyone Over 10' –Jacob Smith, the ‘Monster’ of the Philippine-American War
https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/jacob-h-smith-philippine-american-war-a1926-20190919-lfrm?fbclid=IwAR0G4IHMUvqfn428wobgF_nFqUGTX7L5EX2IR3G5ev4llfrtHoK57TdtC64

Reviving ancient Cordillera textiles
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1211779/reviving-ancient-cordillera-textiles?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR26HEwT8pJLsvIYCnHdeHPVRapsWcjuEv__OCLhgRx8NWXiTWcCDa9WF8w#Echobox=1578786243

 

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Gemma Nemenzo

Editor, Positively Filipino

A Writeful National Artist

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We're a few days late but we nevertheless celebrate the 90th birthday of another National Artist for Literature, F. Sionil Jose, who had a big bash at the Cultural Center befitting a Filipino of his stature. World renowned as a novelist, essayist, short story writer and columnist, Mang Frankie, as he is fondly called by friends and admirers, is also a successful entrepreneur, which puts him in a class apart from his literary peers. He owns the famous Solidaridad Bookshop in Manila, which our contributor from Australia, Larry Ng, writes about with affection in "A Bookstore of Filipino Aspirations." Complementing Larry's piece, San Francisco-based journalist Ben Pimentel writes about his dinner with the National Artist during the latter's recent visit to California. 

The current furor over the CIA's torture practices brings us back to our exclusive interview with Major General (Ret.) Antonio Taguba who was tasked by the US Army to look into allegations of torture in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, and was consequently sacked for telling the truth. Read again "The General At Ease."

As Christmas gets closer, food -- and those who cook them -- is on our minds as we anticipate the sumptuous dishes that always mark our holidays. Our food writer Elizabeth Ann Quirino profiles Yana Gilbuena, a traveling chef, in "Have Filipino Food, Will Travel." And, to whet your appetites even more, we're re-posting "Our Christmas Table," also by Elizabeth Ann, which reminds us of what we loved to eat back home.

And we take time to laugh with another compilation of Funny Signs.

For my blog this week, I thought of a cautionary tale before we all gorge ourselves with goodies this season: The Gravity of Vanity.

And our Video of the Week: Filipino Side Up, Lara Ortiz-Luis shows her American friends her Filipino side.

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Gemma Nemenzo

Editor, Positively Filipino