Cooking for the Holidays

We're approaching holiday season here and with the pandemic receding (hopefully for good), what better way to prepare for Thanksgiving and Christmas than to check out recipes from the bounties of new cookbooks from Filipino chefs in various countries. Positively Filipino will be hosting a virtual gathering of cookbook authors on Tuesday, November 9 (Wednesday November 10 in the Philippines). Below are the details. To register: 

For those who missed -- or want to listen again -- to last week's webinar on the USS Telesforo Trinidad campaign, here's the link to the recording.

"Instagrammable" Cafes 

It's not only K-drama that is trending in the Philippines; 2D cafes patterned after South Korea's famous Greem Cafe is sprouting in Philippines cities. Baguio-based PF Correspondent Rene M. Astudillo brings us there.

Reading Centers to Stir Up Filipino Children's Appetite for Learning

With more than a decade of experience running a volunteer reading center for disadvantaged kids, medical technologist Ana Maria Bacudio opens a second one for Mangyan children in Baco, Mindoro. With partial funding from a California-based nonprofit, the project includes a mobile library.

An "Upsetting" Story

We've gotten many book reviews but this one is a stand-out for its raw honesty. Manila-based author George Deoso shows us what good fiction reads like.

For the Happy Home Cook

A recipe using the Cordilleran smoked meat called etag need not faze home cooks thousands of miles away from those mountain communities. Any smoked meat from the supermarket will do.

Video of the Week

Filipino Heritage Night at the Houston Rockets stadium got especially thrilling as two exceptional Fil-Am ball players — Jalen Green of (team) and Jordan Clarkson of (team) face off. 

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In The Know (Philippine Politics Edition)

A story bigger than Pharmally
https://www.bworldonline.com/a-story-bigger-than-pharmally/?fbclid=IwAR0udlLfmBUYK-2oFr454REKJ-pnPE3wn2_PBbBCl1-VJUsUXJGPs0yjeEo

Mayor Vico Sotto, Commencement Speaker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfVsxmP7CW4 

PH, laggard in critical areas, settles for FDI crumbs
https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/10/31/opinion/columns/ph-laggard-in-critical-areas-settles-for-fdi-crumbs/1820392?fbclid=IwAR1zv1nJ09C5BpkKFCVoWFO9XYc11oy8OQlsCEwGaTvAO9SJmdRfNycwRDE

Be vigilant with fact-and-fiction blended content
https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/10/31/business/sunday-business-it/be-vigilant-with-fact-and-fiction-blended-content/1820324?fbclid=IwAR2pQLyUf4FTP44S4lQcad-pZDMSgSZ20r77qEMSYajQ1lgaJFPOROi4JcM

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In The Know (Standard Edition)

How the music of Filipino youth continues to rock the regime
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2021-11-01/how-filipino-rock-transcends-the-white-norm?utm_id=41070&sfmc_id=472786

Nearly 3 decades-old FACINE is the longest-running Fil-Am film festival
https://thefilam.net/archives/34932?fbclid=IwAR1vCM46aYRfSl_ttjTuGVGtm16jgfa_w_b-fNaJJj4cyT7KBR1ottWyMrU 

In major ocean polluter Philippines, group turns plastic waste into planks
https://news.yahoo.com/major-ocean-polluter-philippines-group-043219267.html 

The last of the asinderos: a look at Bohol’s heritage “unbroken” salt
https://mb.com.ph/2021/10/24/the-last-of-the-asinderos-a-look-at-bohols-heritage-unbroken-salt/?fbclid=IwAR2FL5sKI0Mbh5pjRGB1zvegmJCGVESNbyy_rzKSiLsNGp0F6QqzBbU1yEc

A new Tate Gallery installation tells a story of martial law corruption through jewelry
https://cnnphilippines.com/life/Culture/art/2021/10/15/pio-abad-frances-wadsworth-jones-martial-law-jewelry.html?fbcd&fbclid=IwAR1MrGtXDnUZCO4ri-IRURm3yXCb-pWrgZFphtNKbwOQipYskKruQqUDBVU

Flavors of Beijing: Filipino cuisine finds a home in the Chinese capital
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-10-29/Filipino-cuisine-finds-a-home-in-the-Chinese-capital-14KFTaUWlNu/index.html?fbclid=IwAR2z9TLgZfFbUVdnmBa950KZnj5GQOw6l7nppk_GgYjApWUYOg4mgHn410A

Remembering the Thrill of Reading ‘True Philippine Ghost Stories’
https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxdewn/true-philippine-ghost-stories-book-series-nostalgia?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Lit%20Hub%20Daily%3A%20October%2028%2C%202021&utm_term=lithub_master_list&fbclid=IwAR3YwyjwX3e6jIxwtUncwUvGXXPWqY5BbYAC0pDILO_F1FxGyoFpwK6PHGU

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There Will Always Be Spring and Women's History Month

This week marks the beginning of Women's History Month and one full year of the Covid-19 crisis. Women's History Month is a recurring celebration, and PF wholeheartedly supports the spirit and intent of singling out a month dedicated to honoring women who came before us and the women who are right now making history.

But for the love of god,  let's hope this will be the only year we will commemorate a pandemic anniversary. Will it be too much to ask that Covid-19 be just a bad dream by this time next year? While the vaccines have shown us the proverbial light at the end of a long, dark tunnel, apparently it will take another year  before the activities we have indulged in before Covid, like international travel, will be safe. That is if we humans behave ourselves and follow the protocols. And if the variants turn out to be conquerable after all. Two big ifs.

Meanwhile, let's default to our usual coping routines and await with relish the brighter morning sun, the blooming  flowers, the warmer temps and the longer days. As sure as the hours tick by, spring will soon be upon us. It never fails. 

A Heads-up: Next Wednesday, March 10, Positively Filipino will host a webinar on the incidents of hate against Asian Americans and what we Filipino Americans can do about it. Watch out for announcements on the details. 

Our Stories This Week

On The 50th Year Of Philippine Studies At City College Of San Francisco: Is There Reason To Celebrate?
By Lisa Suguitan Melnick

How The US Derailed Philippine History In 1986 By Walden Bello

A Century-Old Saga: Holy Spirit College On Mendiola Street To Close In 2022
By Virgilio A. Reyes, Jr.

Finding A Lifetime Partner In Ten Lessons By Carolina Esguerra Colborn

Read Again

Lotis Key Kabigting on her need to go home: http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/2013/5/going-home

Contributor Carleen Sacris writes about Filipina astrophysicist Dr. Reina Reyes: http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/seeing-stars-with-reina-reyes

Cook It Again

The Happy Home Cook: Pesang Salmon (Filipino Fish Stew in Genger Broth with Tomatoes and Spinach) http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/pesang-salmon-filipino-fish-stew-in-ginger-broth-with-tomatoes-spinach

[Video of the Week] Cost of Living in the Philippines

In The Know

John ’79 and Susan Ocampo Make Game-Changing Donation to Innovation at Santa Clara
https://www.scu.edu/news-and-events/feature-stories/2021/stories/john-79-and-susan-ocampo-make-game-changing-donation-to-innovation-at-santa-clara-.html

Vico Sotto: From The Ateneo Classroom To The World
https://www.onenews.ph/vico-sotto-from-the-ateneo-classroom-to-the-world?fbclid=IwAR3hO0N4NplSJre_I3nMmQTfSHXayExZESDyvEfMZS7DxCl5I5mdTX57Tyc

Kids in the Philippines have not left their homes for a year
https://www.economist.com/asia/2021/02/18/kids-in-the-philippines-have-not-left-their-homes-for-a-year?fbclid=IwAR2f4ysQ-qHrne9dGjRS-KPAnDEwkLjLb3S6aDC97uc2S5q4z5D9YA-uJeE

Jordanian art scene’s rising star has Pinoy roots; loves adobo, too
https://dailybread.news.blog/2021/02/18/jordanian-art-scenes-rising-star-has-pinoy-roots-loves-adobo-too/?fbclid=IwAR3OzJr_zCGJ7qQygFw6xXS5Lcudf4X4nbF-eSj8J5ig5UDbza6_uzOi1RU

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TONIGHT! REGISTER AT http://bit.ly/anopendoormovie

Facing the Challenge

With coronavirus news and missives swirling relentlessly and dire economic prognostications triggering panic attacks, we wonder how our entrepreneurial kababayans are faring. PF contributing writer Jennifer Fergesen checks in on Filipino food businesses in Europe and reports their situation in "Filipino Restaurateurs in Europe Grapple with Pandemic."

Author and balikbayan traveler Cecilia Manguerra-Brainard tells her story of how the virus trailed her in the early days of contagion when she traveled from the Philippines to LA in "CORONAVIRUS: The Beginning." 

When the going gets tough, the tough gets going. This popular adage aptly describes the plight of the Alcantara sisters of Paco, Manila, whose privileged life was abruptly cut short with the advent of WWII. Ambassador (Ret.) Virgilio A. Reyes, Jr. lovingly tells the story of his grandmother, mother and aunts who survived a situation so much worse than what Covid-19 has created now, in "How Linda and Her Sisters Survived the War."

Other than the pandemic, the most important issue in the US right now is the Census 2020. We urge all Filipinos in the US to stand up and be counted (by filling out the form either online or on paper). The future of your families, the communities you live in and the communities you belong to depend on your participation. To know why it is imperative, Read Again "What Fil-Ams Should Know About the 2020 Census" by Cherie Querol Moreno.

What does battling an epidemic entail? Read Again Dr. Jorge Emmanuel's riveting story of the work he did as a World Health Organization (WHO) consultant in Monrovia, Liberia during the 2014 ebola crisis in "My Battle with Ebola." 

Our Happy Home Cook recipe this week is for the ultimate Filipino comfort soup, Chicken Tinola with a new way of serving it.

Here are links for your reading enjoyment:

Philippines: Covid-19 will devastate the poor
https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/philippines-covid-19-will-devastate-poor?fbclid=IwAR2KC_ucEtO9XCHZ1O1KcJqcsx6AHprBzk4z71h2MtGqNiWlXDOgY0APz7w

How this first Filipino COVID-19 patient battled the virus for 15 days and won
https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/03/23/20/how-this-first-filipino-covid-19-patient-battled-the-virus-for-15-days-and-won?fbclid=IwAR2TUJMc-Q0R9hr3hEyb0PHRlpcnoCxkgrId25yAAT9FsONmdJVxadoEBOA

Metro Manila’s Most Vulnerable in the Time of COVID-19
https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/specials/content/138/rick-rocamora-metro-manila-s-most-vulnerable-amid-covid-19/?fbclid=IwAR1VSaphXXP7N6tjqmy2dFmc_7mowQpOYYC0oGshZOPVznRHw7iLy2dS5fY

10 Things We Wish Pasig City Could Give the Entire Country
https://www.spot.ph/newsfeatures/the-latest-news-features/81448/pasig-enhanced-quarantine-a4362-20200318?utm_source=Facebook-Spot&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20200317-fbnp-newsfeatures-pasig-enhanced-quarantine-a4362-20200318-fbfirst&fbclid=IwAR1535XR4Lf0zGIZpsfgYHZSSOtKwN3BOOH5gbpJ3tPbugZ5pgabjsZoapc

'Bayanihan, Musikahan': Ryan Cayabyab, Filipino artists launch FB Live concert series amid coronavirus crisis
https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/03/18/20/bayanihan-musikahan-ryan-cayabyab-filipinos-artists-launch-fb-live-concert-series-amid-coronavirus-crisis?fbclid=IwAR10yBiZd1SYUcKB26hgccSjWiM77LMS0XGt8RSe2wYan363U5fNtAASd_0

Cutting Our Travel Short And Trying To Get Home During The Coronavirus Pandemic
https://www.travelawaits.com/2493076/cutting-our-travel-short-and-trying-to-get-home-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic/?pv=related_list&fbclid=IwAR0-AmsVUrXlUzydOyvKjp-uAbe3sDmib0rwIyniwbN0jz3l1eX1Dd8OEZg

For Videos of the Week, the Filipino Voter Empowerment Project created these public service announcements to remind Filipino Americans to be counted in the US Census. In the second episode, three of the actors, Lily De Ocampo, Jurshia Felipe, and Jamie Sophia Tubal, are also nurses in real life. They took time out to volunteer for this project before the coronavirus breakout and are now serving on the front lines of the Covid-19 crisis.