It's About Time

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.

Pride Amidst the Sorrow

Summer has arrived in the western hemisphere and with it come the fragrance of flowers, the aroma of barbecues and the piercing heat of high temps. June is also Gay Pride Month and this year, the traditionally raucous and colorful celebrations are tempered by the senseless tragedy in Orlando, Florida. We join the world in mourning the dead and in celebrating love, as Broadway stars, including Filipino American Joey Llana (currently playing the King of Siam in “The King and I”), gather to passionately sing the Burt Bacharach hit, "What the World Needs Now Is Love."

Wife-and-wife team Lisa Dazols and Jenni Chang has come out with a documentary on the "supergays" who are leading the charge for LGBT rights worldwide. Contributor Manzel Delacruz writes about the making of "Out and Around," which was filmed with the help of the beloved singer Pilita Corrales, in the Philippines.

A recent live event on Facebook organized by Manila Valley founder and CEO Chris Peralta brought together startup CEOs from the Philippines and some Silicon Valley stalwarts to talk about the future of the Philippines’ high tech sector. Contributor Harvey I. Barkin reports on how our homeland can play a big role in evolving the Internet of Things, as discussed during the event.

If summer means gardening, our regular contributor Lotis Key regales us with her story on how she "accidentally" joined the hordes of budding horticulturists in "In My DNA."

From Paris, Watch Again the interview by blogger Randy Diaz and Joyce Ibardolasa of Chef Aaron Isip who won the coveted Trophee Espoir from Gault and Millan last year.

Our Happy Home Cook recipe this week, La Paz Batchoy, Iloilo's soup delicacy, from Rene Astudillo.