Mothers All

No words can adequately express a mother's sorrow over a child's death, but two years after her son, Robby, was fatally shot, journalist/author Pati Navalta Poblete has channeled her grief into a book, A Better Place: A Memoir of Peace in the Face of Tragedy. Cathy Sanchez Babao, one of very few professional grief counselors in Manila, writes a review. The remarkable Pati has also founded the Robby Poblete Foundation, dedicated to buying back guns, which are then dismantled and the materials transformed into art pieces by Bay Area artists.

Another heart-rending story is our Video of the Week, "My Mother's Heart," featuring veteran (and retired) Fil-Am broadcast news reporter Lloyd La Cuesta's meeting with Sierra Jamieson Grande, a woman seeking information about her late mother, whom Lloyd interviewed in 1984 before and after her heart transplant. 

Switching now to our homeland, PF Correspondent Criselda Yabes visited the heritage town of Vigan, Ilocos Sur and takes us with her in "Vestigial Vigan."

With the British Royal Wedding coming up, PF Correspondent and world wanderer Rey de la Cruz spotted some Filipinos in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Be In The Know with our collection of links this week:

She Was the Enemy of Philippine President Duterte and Her Fellow Judges Just Sacked Her
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/05/11/she-was-the-enemy-of-philippine-president-duterte-and-her-fellow-judges-just-sacked-her/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.4d463a4c59ec

Butchered rhino unearthed in Philippines suggests the origin of ‘hobbits’
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/human-origins-hobbit-philippines-rhino-south-east-asia-flores-a8335241.html

Chinese Money Triggers a Dizzying Rally in Manila Property
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-03/in-china-s-new-gambling-hot-spot-property-prices-are-on-a-tear

Overlooked No More: Leticia Ramos Shahani, A Philippine Women's Rights Pioneer
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/05/09/obituaries/overlooked-leticia-ramos-shahani.html

Our Happy Home Cook recipe, Rene Astudillo's Chilled, Fresh Sayote Fruit Salad.

Gemma Nemenzo

Editor, Positively Filipino