Our Season of Grief

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When the Covid pandemic started last year and some people I knew were dying (not necessarily of Covid), I started making a list of those who passed in 2020. There were 27 of them, filling up an entire page of my notebook, most of them I knew personally, and a few I just knew from afar but who I mourned nonetheless (RBG and John Lewis, for example).

I should have anticipated that 2021 will yield a longer list, already filling up three pages, and it's just November. Seventy one people I knew said goodbye this year, one of them my only sister, whose death in late September still twists my heart out of shape.

And of course I'm not alone in grieving. Former Ambassador Virgilio A. Reyes Jr., one of Positively Filipino's most prolific contributors pays tribute below to three "Ateneo immortals" who helped shape him.

What about you, did you lose a significant person this year to the pandemic or some other reason?

Though the remaining days of 2021 may be shrouded with a patina of gray for grief, there are always rays of sunshine and inspiration. Our other new story this week on a humanitarian worker who has chosen to live his life among the displaced in Southeast Asia is one such inspiration. 

Last night's Positively Filipino webinar titled Cook with Books and featuring four wonderful cookbook authors, one of whom was PF Correspondent Elizabeth Ann Quirino who moderated the forum, was another.

Most of all, to commemorate a life well lived, we are posting as our Video of the Week CNN Philippines' 2016 tribute to one of the most inspiring women to walk this earth, Jessie Lichauco, who passed away a few days ago at 109 years old. Mrs. Lichauco was the subject of her granddaughter Sunshine Lichauco de Leon's documentary "Curiosity, Adventure and Love."

Read Again:

Possessed and Repossessed in T’Boli Country

Passing The Torch to Generation Y

Cook It Again:

The Happy Home Cook: Vegan Longganisa

In The Know (Standard Edition)

A group of teachers in the Philippines has launched an internet archive of “subversive” books.
https://lithub.com/a-group-of-teachers-in-the-philippines-have-launched-an-internet-archive-of-subversive-books/?fbclid=IwAR3Vj40K4W5HxXvglKeMJVo0hDwKsHAncJuvX3r9gatjj_Qh3xzjwXb1YIE

A New Generation of Filipino Hip-Hop Builds On a Deep Bay Area Legacy
https://www.kqed.org/arts/13905208/a-new-generation-of-filipino-hip-hop-builds-on-a-deep-bay-area-legacy?fbclid=IwAR24Lv5KpaEn0oRjrdc-bGAKh0yv-ZtulRcsTkSieYHuOOKJNtE4WwuwEj8 

Filipino martial art Balintawak Eskrima featured in Hollywood sci-fi film ‘Dune’
https://www.goodnewspilipinas.com/filipino-martial-art-balintawak-eskrima-featured-in-hollywood-sci-fi-film-dune/?fbclid=IwAR1g9Geqphf9lVZ0gK_SeGesW80HOHxhvLHAbh_1pxQwDq7-vWmo1Yj1ruk 

‘Squid Game’ Filipino actor says racist cabbage-throwing incident in South Korea left him ‘crying inside’
https://nextshark.com/squid-game-christian-lagahit-racism-south-korea/ 

How Bulakeño values built one of the country’s most enduring lechon manok brands
https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/food-drink/features/10/25/21/bulakeo-values-built-this-enduring-lechon-manok-brand?fbclid=IwAR0_a-yQIRDodbK97LIdYwbH_KrXqCVslyDbE-GJP3rAiZ07dYcd10gc4As 

LOOK! An improved Bacolod City Public Plaza is inspiring pride among locals
https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/travel/destination/04/18/21/look-an-improved-bacolod-city-public-plaza-is-inspiring-pride-among-locals?fbclid=IwAR0x_C5vRmpEjKQ_pPThh06teJxwWISi1oWw_BxG4DUK5ce-rpKu7spfQiE

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Gemma Nemenzo

Editor, Positively Filipino