The Worst of Times and the Best of Times

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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. 

Other Stories This Week:

This Filipino American Life by Juanita Tamayo Lott

Conrad Ricamora: Niceville’s Nicest Actor by Anthony Maddela

Why ‘White is Beautiful’ Among Filipinos? by Rey E. de la Cruz, Penelope V. Flores and Deiia R. Barcelona

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

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

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Gemma Nemenzo

Editor, Positively Filipino

Angsty August

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The death of a highly esteemed environmentalist and philanthropist coupled with the possible release of a triple life sentenced criminal made for an unsettled August week in the Philippines.

Many mourned the passing of Gina Lopez, the nemesis of miners and other ecological criminals. Veteran journalist Paulynn P. Sicam paid tribute to this complicated and committed earth warrior in “Gina Lopez: Rich Girl, Kind Heart, Woman Warrior.”

August won't end without commemorating the assassination of another outstanding Filipino, Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., and our publisher Mona Lisa Yuchengco shares with us her speech for the occasion, delivered at the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco (“Ninoy Changed My Life”).

And speaking of that earth-shaking assassination, one of those who were prominently mentioned in the investigations that followed was the late Arthur Custodio, then an Air Force colonel, who brought in the late Rolando Galman to take part in the crime of the century. Our Canada-based contributor Albert J. Lesaca writes about his infamous high school classmate in “Memories Are Made of This – My Friend, Arthur Custodio.”

Ahh, Coron. When things go awry, we imagine ourselves in this slice of Palawan paradise, although as PF contributor Willie Vergara writes in “Coron, Once Is Not Enough,” paradise could be too optimistic a word. 

For our Happy Home Cook, here's a Read Again recipe from our resident foodie Elizabeth Ann Quirino, that has been part of my meal menu for quite a while now (read: easy and delicious): Pesang Salmon aka Filipino fish stew.

Our In The Know links that you shouldn't miss:

The Uncounted Dead of Duterte's Drug War
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/08/philippines-dead-rodrigo-duterte-drug-war/595978/?fbclid=IwAR3L29HpKIJsFNqNhdDx67NM4Pu9q3cP1sQjPBPm2evhz7yybooA1R5Zvp4

This impressive collection of Philippine religious imagery finally sees the light of day
https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/art/05/01/19/the-intramuros-collection-of-religious-imagery-finally-sees-the-light-of-day?fbclid=IwAR19xhrUxYpHB6wiP5GnRw4kZ-Ozd_giGp_Fvi9ZJtNvqx0dcaHZTYHO4jc

‘Brutalist’ martial law museum to rise in UP Diliman 
https://www.philstar.com/nation/2019/08/25/1946123/brutalist-martial-law-museum-rise-diliman?fbclid=IwAR0_0hwM4TdbCVUCHEbjl9kEGIlyWerTj0iHC84MPGDF1g9WFWz3WnGGPNU

My Grandfather, A Killer 
https://www.npr.org/2019/08/18/749810572/my-grandfather-a-killer?te=1&nl=california-today&emc=edit_ca_20190820?campaign_id=49&instance_id=11769&segment_id=16314&user_id=a6813a01d20d50942afadad6c6f1e549&regi_id=47563992

For Video of the Week, GMA Public Affairs’ I-Witness features a documentary on the estuaries of Manila.

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Gemma Nemenzo

Editor, Positively Filipino

It's About Time

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A video that went viral of a transgender woman being prevented from using the women's restroom in a Quezon City mall has renewed calls for the passage of a Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Expression (SOGIE) legislation that will protect the LGBT community from being discriminated against. As usual, the voices for or against are strident and loud, as PF Correspondent Rene M. Astudillo reports in "A Transgender Restroom Incident and Filipino LGBT Rights."

In far-away Vienna, Filipina IT veteran Malou Soto Reininger commits her time and skills to the Philippine-Austria Cultural and Educational Society (PACES), an organization that provides scholarships to deserving Filipino students in the fields of science, technology, education and mathematics, aka STEM. Hawaii-based PF contributor Pepi Nieva profiles Reininger in "From Vienna, an Angel for Filipino Science Scholars."

August, or more specifically August 21, is a historically tragic day for our homeland. Two heinous crimes were committed on this day that upended the course of Philippine history. The August 21, 1971 Plaza Miranda bombing that almost decimated the entire leadership of the then-Liberal Party led to the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus by President Marcos, which eventually led to the proclamation of martial law. In 1983, August 21 was the day Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. was assassinated in the airport tarmac, a tragedy of enormous proportions that triggered massive protests against the Marcos administration and, three years later, led to its downfall. Read Again our stories on those two monumental events:

Gregg Jones' "The Ghosts of Plaza Miranda" 

Ken Kashiwahara's "Ninoy's Final Journey" 

On a more positive note, August is also the month we honor our homeland's Commonwealth president, Manuel L. Quezon. So here's another Read Again:

Ambeth R. Ocampo's "Quezon Saved Jews from the Holocaust" 

For the Happy Home Cook, here's Elizabeth Ann Quirino's Instant Pot Pata Tim recipe, guaranteed to be worth the calories.

Our In the Know links this week: 

Gina Lopez, Who Led Crackdown on Mines in the Philippines, Dies at 65
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/19/obituaries/gina-lopez-philippines-dies.html?fbclid=IwAR1MV-1GeJlvmOnuvMnF-DPUlWut4Y8FIDOO73EDM7p-xem2E2YcrTo5KHc

The Vigilante President
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/philippines/2019-08-12/vigilante-president?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_cta&utm_campaign=cta_share_buttons&fbclid=IwAR15L81WXDBJZ0GA1V5NNrphbjrf6hvyDKNJzrltqex30gPZdd3ihnw_NZw

Penguin Classics’ Pinay publisher puts the spotlight on PH literature
https://news.abs-cbn.com/life/07/29/19/penguin-classics-pinay-publisher-puts-the-spotlight-on-ph-literature?fbclid=IwAR3ZSdOt2nYt-IyZbTvUc_KgNeP0CyFIcA5QSAvbz83Fj1vGP3oI50nLdPo

Mayor Vico Sotto: 'The Rules of the Game Are Clear, But We Need People to Push the System a Bit'
https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/profiles/mayor-vico-sotto-the-rules-of-the-game-are-clear-but-we-need-people-to-push-the-system-a-bit-a2212-20190722-lfrm2?ref=home_featured_big

Jia Tolentino on the ‘Unlivable Hell’ of the Web and Other Millennial Conundrums
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/04/books/review/jia-tolentino-trick-mirror.html?te=1&nl=books&emc=edit_bk_20190816?campaign_id=69&instance_id=11703&segment_id=16236&user_id=a6813a01d20d50942afadad6c6f1e549&regi_id=47563992

For video of the week, KPIX SF Bay Area reports on the renaming of a Mountain View school after Pulitzer Prize winner and immigration reform activist Jose Antonio Vargas.