April 03, 2024

And Along Comes 'Larry the Musical'

April 03, 2024/ Staff

A shout-out to Northern Californians: if you haven't yet, hie over to the Brava Theater in San Francisco to watch the superhit "Larry the Musical." Night after night, it gets a standing ovation from the audience, and that's quite a major statement in the [jaded] culture mecca of the San Francisco Bay Area. PF contributor and FilAm history enthusiast Elena Buensalido Mangahas, herself a theater veteran, hails the show for both its historical and theatrical significance.

April is Filipino Food Month, a celebration which started in 2018 in the Philippines and has since expanded to encompass the global Filipino diaspora, thanks to the foodie culture bearers who have elevated Filipino food to international standards. Veteran Filipino food writer Micky Fenix, who is also the president of the Food Writers Association of the Philippines, gives us a backgrounder on how this officially sanctioned (by the Philippine government) 30-day celebration and offers a path forward for future activities.

Retired FilAm professor James Sobredo attended the recent global summit on nursing held in Iloilo City where the real state of nursing as a profession in the Philippines and other countries was discussed extensively. While the worldwide appetite for hiring Filipino nurses continues unabated, working conditions are not always ideal. Filipino nurses in the US were at the forefront of the Covid-19 pandemic which resulted in a disproportionate number of fatalities among them. The big income gap between nurses in Philippine hospitals vs. those employed abroad has resulted in a nurse shortage in Philippines. How to solve this conundrum is a question for the current and future generations of Filipino health workers and policy makers.

On an entirely different note, first-time PF contributing writer Yugel Losorata profiles Ted Reyes, the multi-talented former leader/composer and lead singer of the Filipino band The Freesouls. Reyes has since moved to the US to seek a wider stage for his considerable creative abilities.

Though Women's History Month is over, we continue to honor women who played important roles in our lives. Toronto-based poet/author Patria Cabatuando-Rivera pays tribute to her unforgettable elder sister in "My Ate Nene, With Flowers in Her Hair."

Around this time every year, we commemorate the Bataan Death March which happened on April 10, 1942. Some 75,000 Filipino and American prisoners of war were made to do the arduous trek of about 65 miles. Read Again the account of Filipino veterans advocate Jon Melegrito when we joined re-enactment of the march a few years ago in New Mexico. For him, it was personal. His father was one of the survivors of that WWII tragedy. https://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/re-enacting-the-bataan-death-march-a-personal-journey

[Video of the Week] Tradisyon: Serving Accessible, Traditional Filipino Comfort Food At New York City

[Webinar] Nurse Unseen: The Role Of Filipino Nurses During The Pandemic And How They Became Victims Of Anti-Asian Hate

Anti-Asian Hate Watch

Vandalism at Chicago mosque investigated as possible hate crime
https://asamnews.com/2024/03/19/downtown-islamic-center-chicago-mosque-vandalism-hate-crime/

A man was arrested after he verbally assaulted, pepper-sprayed an Asian gas station owner because the suspect wanted to pay in all coins
https://ca.style.yahoo.com/man-arrested-verbally-assaulted-pepper-014758333.html

Anti-Asian hate attack unites community in Portland, OR
https://asamnews.com/2024/04/01/senior-citizen-concussion-attacked-with-log/

As Attacks on Asian Americans Regain Spotlight, SF Group Seeks to Soothe Community
https://www.sfpublicpress.org/as-attacks-on-asian-americans-regain-spotlight-sf-group-seeks-to-soothe-community/

Sinophobia unmasked: The racism pandemic
https://mronline.org/2024/03/25/sinophobia-unmasked-the-racism-pandemic/

Funding provided by the State of California.

In The Know

‘Tubaw-inspired’ provincial capitol building to rise in Maguindanao Norte
https://mindanews.com/top-stories/2023/08/tubaw-inspired-provincial-capitol-building-to-rise-in-maguindanao-norte/?

TIPS: What you'll need to apply for a US tourist visa
https://philstarlife.com/living/163945-tips-us-visa-application?page=2

Mall of memories: Greenbelt 1’s closure evokes fond memories
https://bilyonaryo.com/2024/04/01/mall-of-memories-greenbelt-1s-closure-evokes-fond-memories/property/?

BIZ BUZZ: PAL ready for takeoff to Seattle
https://business.inquirer.net/452746/biz-buzz-pal-ready-for-takeoff-to-seattle?

March 27, 2024

More Extraordinary Women

March 27, 2024/ Staff

One of our favorite places to converge at when we're in Metro Manila is Cibo (pronounced chee-bo), a restaurant in the Shangri-la Plaza mall in Mandaluyong. Not only is the mall a convenient meeting point when coming from various places in the traffic-choked metropolis, the restaurant itself is right smack in the middle of the second floor lobby, the better to eat, chat and people-watch at the same time. Its most important draw, of course, is the food. Cibo is an Italian restaurant, but it's not the checkered-tablecloth kind of Italian that leaves you burping and bloated the rest of your day. Cibo dishes are light and healthy and satisfying -- crafted undoubtedly by a gourmet chef. And that's Margarita Fores, a wiz in both the kitchen and business, an exemplary Filipina as profiled by PF Correspondent Criselda Yabes.

This is our last issue for March, Women's History Month 2024, and like our other issues this month, it's chock-full of stories about Filipinas who have made indelible marks not just in the Philippines but in other countries where they have settled. The last installment of "Filipina Movers and Shakers" shows the reach and expanse of the sisterhood of Pinay achievers while the second (and final) part of the National Historical Commission's "Women Workers of 19th Century Manila" provides a historical perspective of women's work in the Philippines.

In San Francisco, a recent gathering of Fil-Am women viewed a rough cut of a forthcoming documentary, "Manilatown Manang," which answers the oft-asked question, "But Where Are the Manangs?" The Manilatown Heritage Foundation film directed by Caroline Cabading honors two generations of Filipina women activists in San Francisco's Manilatown who worked side-by-side with their male comrades in defending the I-Hotel. PF contributor Lorna Lardizabal-Dietz reports on the event.

We couldn't resist adding a bit of spice and snark in this issue and Myles A. Garcia's "Gina, Imelda, Manda and the Tasadays" serves up just the right amount to close the curtain on PF's Women's History Month 2024 coverage.

For those whose submissions didn't make it this month, fret not. For us, every month is women's month. The celebration never ceases.

And if you haven't yet, register to join our webinar, Nurse Unseen, on Thursday, April 4. See flyer below for details and sign up here: https://bit.ly//nurseunseenzoom

[Video of the Week] Manila Visita Iglesia 2024

Anti-Asian Hate Watch

A woman is accused of attacking an Asian American elder in S.F. The case has inflamed city politics
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/shoving-hearing-thea-hopkins-jenkins-peskin-

A man got probation after stabbing a 94-year-old woman. It’s another reckoning for S.F.’s AAPI community
https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/stabbing-probation-protest-19362275.php?

Protesters rally against probation in stabbing of 94 year old
https://asamnews.com/2024/03/22/justice-leniency-rehabilitation-sentencing/

Asian-American lawmakers decry bill to ban agents of hostile countries from buying Georgia farmland
https://georgiarecorder.com/2024/03/21/asian-american-lawmakers-decry-bill-to-ban-agents-of-hostile-countries-from-buying-georgia-farmland/

Buddhists Bring Karmic Healing to Antioch, California
https://www.buddhistdoor.net/news/buddhists-bring-karmic-healing-to-antioch-california/

Property crimes can now be hate crimes
https://www.goldendalesentinel.com/news/property-crimes-can-now-be-hate-crimes/article_34c0b4ea-e6cb-11ee-9473-278629ac12ef.html

Funding provided by the State of California.

In The Know

Review: In ‘Larry the Musical,’ Filipinos fight to make labor leader a household name
https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/larry-itliong-musical-sf-filipinos-19365243.php

Scorching schools: How heat worsens conditions of poor students in PH
https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/563065/scorching-schools-how-heat-worsens-conditions-of-poor-students-in-ph?utm_source=(direct)&utm_medium=gallery

US Ambassador MaryKay Carlson shares her life, home, and why she loves the Philippines
https://www.tatlerasia.com/power-purpose/front-female/us-ambassador-marykay-carlson?

A frustrated community demands the PVUSD school board bring back an ethnic studies consultant
https://www.montereycountyweekly.com/news/local_news/a-frustrated-community-demands-the-pvusd-school-board-bring-back-an-ethnic-studies-consultant/article_7da1425a-e6ea-11ee-a319-97d64aaa50c0.html

From humble beginnings to big dreams: Injap Sia helps sari-sari stores level up, 200 converted into mini-marts
https://bilyonaryo.com/2024/03/22/from-humble-beginnings-to-big-dreams-injap-sia-helps-sari-sari-stores-level-up-200-converted-into-mini-marts/property/

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."