From Loss and Grief to Vindication and Elation

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Our emotions swerved from sadness to elation this past week, as we mourn two colleagues and celebrated a long-awaited vindication.

Philippine journalism had just lost two highly regarded thought leaders -- Conrad de Quiros and Rina Jimenez-David, both popular columnists of the Philippine Daily Inquirer until they fell ill (Conrad of a stroke in 2014 and Rina of a serious renal ailment not too long ago). Conrad's "There's the Rub" column served as an early morning jolt of pointed commentary written in luxurious prose for 23 years. Rina's "At Large" was a consistent beacon for women's rights and human rights for 33 years. [To read more, go to our In The Know links below, which includes a touching personal tribute to Conrad by veteran journalist Jo-Ann Maglipon.]

The release on bail of former Justice Secretary and former senator Leila de Lima on Monday was such a happy relief. She stayed in prison for 6 years, 8 months and 21 days on obviously trumped up charges, after she started investigating the drug war deaths in Davao City then under the helm of Mayor - later President -- Rodrigo Duterte. The evidence and testimonies presented in court were so ridiculous that those who were the so-called "star witnesses" eventually recanted their testimonies, revealing they were coerced by higher powers in government to utter the lies. "It's vindication," declared Sen Leila (Sen for senator, as her supporters refer to her) as she wept, talked to her 91-year-old mother in Bicol on the phone for the first time since her incarceration, and thanked those who were her pillars, all on live TV. She was even gracious to her tormentor/enemy Duterte ("God forgive him, God bless him"). Of her three cases, two have already been dismissed and the last one awaits a verdict. [Again, for more details, see our In The Know links below]. 

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Anti-Asian Hate continues to rear its ugly head in unlikely places, such as the Wing Luke Museum in Seattle, where an obviously disturbed, 76-year-old man took a sledgehammer and broke the museum's glass windows while shouting racial epithets. PF Correspondent and Seattle-bred Anthony Maddela explores the issue of anti-Asian hate and its ramifications on a Pacific Rim city and on national policy.

From Ethnic Media Services, an eye-opener on school bullying as a civil rights issue.

Another Pacific Rim city -- San Francisco -- takes center stage this week as it hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit. Still reeling from the combined impact of the pandemic (and its economic blight), rampant drug addiction, and homelessness, the beautiful City by the Bay hopes the international summit to be attended by top officials from 21 countries will be the start of the rehabilitation of its downtown. PF Correspondent Myles A. Garcia gives us a situationer.

We hope you enjoy the rest of our issue featuring amazing women: Vangie Buell, a Bridge Generation stalwart, still going strong as a musician and activist at 91; Jacqueline Chio-Lauri, a UK-based Filipina whose recently released book We Cook Filipino compiles healthy recipes from Filipino chefs in different countries. And then there's "Moral" - the late acclaimed director Marilou Diaz-Abaya's movie on four Filipinas navigating the realities of the '80s in the Philippines, the recent re-showing (in San Francisco) of which elicited a commentary by Michael Gonzalez.

[Video of the Week] Anjelah Johnson

Anti-Asian Hate Watch

Why Asian Americans should care about what happens at APEC
https://asamnews.com/2023/11/11/asian-american-issues-apec-impact-effect/

Ethnic hate intensify in spillover of ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict
https://pnewstoday.com/ethnic-hate-intensify-in-spillover-of-ongoing-israel-hamas-conflict/

CAIR-LA got 300% more reports of Islamophobia last month
https://asamnews.com/2023/11/12/islamophobia-anti-palestinian-hate-massively-spike-due-to-israel-hamas-war/

Funding provided by the State of California.

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Staff

Unforgettable

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In 1932, a Filipino woman named Cecilia Villano Navarro, the wife of an ailing Filipino farmworker, was buried alive by some members of her Northern California Filipino community. Her alleged crime: adultery, although the details are murky at best. What followed next was a sensational court trial that pitted Filipinos against Filipinos, Filipinos vis a vis the US system of justice, and whispered tales of supernatural appearances. On July 29 (July 30 in the Philippines), a Positively Filipino webinar titled "A Murder Most Foul" deconstructs this lurid tragedy, taking off from the documentary film "The Celine Archive" by Celine Parrenas Shimizu. Please see details in the e-flyer below, as well as the link to register for the event.

In 1960, a young American woman sailed to the Philippines on a freighter from New York to begin a new life as a wife and mother. Patricia Kearney Encarnacion, a first-timer to Asia, was alternately filled with wide-eyed wonder and shock at what she saw and experienced in her first months in a country so different from her own. She wrote detailed letters to her family vividly describing how it was to see carabaos outside her window, riding a bus to Quiapo and eating at least five meals a day. 

In 1980, a London- and US-educated Filipina debuted as director of a Filipino movie, one of a few women able to pierce the then-male dominated Philippine movie industry. In the decades that followed until her death in 2012, Marilou Diaz-Abaya made some monumental movies that will forever be remembered. This year, she was posthumously named National Artist for Cinema. Her friend Pablo A. Tariman pays her tribute.

This year, our country and the world are confronted with challenges to collective memory as powerful forces connive to revise history. CoverStory.ph editor Rosario A. Garcellano quotes sociologist/columnist Randy David's words ("The battle for memory never ceases") as she correlates the past Marcos administration with the present, so we will not forget.

Here's something to make you smile: A Filipina nurse in the UK risked her marathon record to help a runner reach the finish line. It was all in a day's work for Harrieth Kay Amores.

Partner Posts

{Partner] AAJA And AAJA-Asia Condemn Maria Ressa's Appeal Denial

[Partner] Kababayan Reminded To Remain Vigilant When In New York City

For the Happy Home Cook, here's one recipe we can make over and over again: The Happy Home Cook: Buko Fruit Salad

[Video of the Week] 4 Ways to Make Filipino Halo-Halo

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Staff