Mystery and Second Chances

The famously mysterious Iglesia ni Cristo, which claims a membership of two million in more than 100 countries, had its innards diced and dissected recently as scandalous allegations of family feuds, heavy-duty corruption and even violence within the leadership ranks exploded in the public eye. As the real story is still unfolding, we're posting veteran journalist Maria Ceres Doyo's column in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, "'Deep Throat' Shakes Up Iglesia ni Cristo," which provides some behind-the-scene details on the biggest story that ever exposed the 100-year-old religious and political powerhouse.

A happier big story that happened last weekend was the victory of Filipino Australian golfer, Jason Day, in the Canadian Open. This is the second PGA title that Day has won this year, catapulting him to number four in the world golf rankings. Watch him do his winning stroke in our Video of the Week.

The senior celebrity world in the Philippines was all agog last year over the wedding of Boots Anson-Roa to Francisco "King" Rodrigo, the second marriage for the two. Now, a year later, the two lovebirds share intimate details of their joyful union, with writer Cathy Sanchez Babao in "That's Amore." The Boots-King story is proof that there is no statute of limitations on loving and grabbing a second chance at happiness.

In the second installment of Watch Out World, This Is a Filipino (WOW), contributing writer Elizabeth Ann Quirino profiles Ryan D. Aguas, a Fordham University graduate who is introducing vertical farming, also known as aquaponics, to Filipino farmers.

And Pinoyspotting this week follows world traveler Rey de la Cruz as he stops over at the Hong Kong airport and meets Filipinos who were also transiting to their destinations in various parts of the world.

For the Happy Home Cook, we have Goldilocks' Black Forest Cake recipe.

Close Encounters of the Pinoy Kind

With millions of our kababayans living, working and enjoying life all over the world, what are the chances that you'll meet some in your travels? Definitely much much more likely than not meeting one at all (which happened to us in Rio de Janeiro, but then we didn't stay long enough).

We've introduced a new section called Pinoyspotting, and that's where we put photos of your encounters with interesting Filipinos you've met while you were on vacation, on assignment, on work travel, whatever. See our guidelines in this week's Pinoyspotting feature from Rey de la Cruz.

Another section we'd like to point you to is In Brief, daily capsule reports about Filipinos all over the globe -- a perfect way to stay in touch with the diaspora without spending too much time scrolling down or searching the news sites. Checking out Global Briefs regularly fits right into your busy schedule.

Meanwhile, in The Magazine, we have a variety of offerings for you this week: virtual sleuth Myles Garcia regales us with his research on "The 'Oldest' Filipino Film?" and our art director Raymond Virata reports on celebrated chef Tim Luym's creations in "Tofu With Love.”

Another celebrated Filipino, Major General Antonio Taguba (Ret.), shares with us his op-ed, "Why I Called Out the US Military on Torture," first published by the New York Times.

We are as sad as everyone else with the death of Robin Williams, and our publisher, Mona Lisa Yuchengco, writes a heartfelt tribute. We have also picked up the video tribute of Filipino American actor Dante Basco, who worked with Williams in “Hook” and the statement of Marsha Garces, Williams' second wife who he once jokingly described as “Finnipino.”

And from one of our partner organizations, the New America Media, an informative piece that any smart phone user should read, "Can You Trust That App?"

My blog post this week: “Good Night My Friend.”