It's Raining Ash, But Plague of Locusts Not Likely.

As if we haven't had enough anxieties -- and it's just 15 days into 2020 -- Taal volcano, the second most active in the Philippines, spewed out ash and sulfuric smoke 9 miles or so into the atmosphere, showering Batangas, Cavite, Laguna and parts of Metro Manila and Bulacan with deadly volcanic particulates. We dare not ask what's next in these disquieting times.

But let's not fret too much because there are some reasons to celebrate. One of them is the emergence of several groups of ice hockey teams that are working towards representing the Philippines in Winter Olympics. Huh? An ice hockey team from a tropical country? PF Correspondent Myles Garcia gives us a rundown on these audacious Pinoy and Pinay athletes in "Pinoys' Ice Rink Wishes and Bobsled Dreams."

In Ballesteros, Cagayan, a local musician named Dondon Catli dares to become the town's baker par excellence and a bakeshop named Don Catli de Ballesteros was born. Famous for his wedding cakes, Catli also doubles as organist for various bands in the area. Merlita Usita Campañano, a Ballesteros native, writes about her kabayan.

From Manila, cultural columnist Pablo Tariman fondly remembers his friend, the late iconic director of many award-winning films, Marilou Diaz Abaya in "Marilou, 1955-2012."

For the Happy Home Cook, an Ilocano comfort food with a modern twist: Inabraw na Hipon at Gulay from our resident food expert, Elizabeth Ann Quirino.

Here's a collection of stories worth reading from other publications:

In Taal’s Shadow: Dangers and Blessings
https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/specials/content/129/howie-severino-dangers-and-blessings-in-taal-volcano-s-shadow/?utm_source=GMANews&utm_medium=Twitter&fbclid=IwAR0L_j3lw7krgWIXXs1vXnUhQJpRszRbkXvtm0Y3wZ76GgA2e-RnGezxBQ4

Military report confirms spying risks in deal with China-backed telco
https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/in-depth/247306-military-report-confirms-spying-risks-deal-china-backed-telco-part-1?fbclid=IwAR3vzT2TgINeVK0J8LpZbyJUAW9Zdv5nI_pKFXfnSn9j-KBSav7HoHIyvM0

Young, and Accomplished, This Filipino Pastry Chef Is Making Waves Globally
https://hbrascend.org/topics/young-accomplished-and-entrepreneurial-this-filipino-pastry-chef-is-making-waves-internationally/?utm_source=Facebook_website&medium=website_share&fbclid=IwAR13zjL2ERmfwhtQGHxOjRFX_cd1KXfD-c3dIjt1TV4Fl5hs5mDYvfNjJY4

‘Giving Back’: Wife shares a tycoon’s life with Alzheimer’s
https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/354511/giving-back-wife-shares-a-tycoons-life-with-alzheimers/?fbclid=IwAR1H41yOFKBJ-gSbt2UdXB5JImP228Gsyj2e34a6HoqTWC4dW8uA9BNOko8

Column: Here’s how HiFi, or Historic Filipinotown, got its name
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-01-06/filipinotown-cool-enclaves?fbclid=IwAR0K_bbmXdDdjkeAyc9mTtuOKI2PmhYNXz36YgFvLAYU--hT3VkuzyviD9w

Our Video of the Week, an informative documentary on Taal volcano's surprise explosion in 1965.

Olympics, Protests and Plastics

Nine days from today, the Winter Olympic Games will begin in PyeongChang, South Korea. To get us hyped on this once-every-four-years spectacle, Olympic historian and PF Correspondent Myles A. Garcia tells us about his visits to two Olympic Museums: the official museum of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), appropriately called The Olympic Museum (TOM) in Lausanne, Switzerland; and the Museu Olympic i de L’Esport - Joan Antoni Samaranch (MOLE-JAS) in Barcelona, Spain. Both museums offer Olympic enthusiasts collections to behold but Myles was invited to the bowels of TOM to see some prized mementoes. Read his story and be awed.

Going back in history, 48 years ago this month, Manila erupted with massive student demonstrations against the Marcos government and US imperialism, a tectonic period that is now immortalized as the First Quarter Storm. Author/poet/essayist Ed Maranan, who participated actively and later, along with thousand others, paid the price for his activism, recalls those heady, disruptive days in "Postcript: My Life Before and After the First Quarter Storm."

With 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic created since the early 1950's, plastic pollution has become an extremely serious environmental disaster that is threatening the planet. In this piece from the international nonprofit Break Free From Plastic, the severity of the problem is discussed and more importantly, the biggest corporate polluters are identified. Some of them are brands we grew up with.

Here's another crazy collection of In The Know links for your reading pleasure:

Social Media Devumi Under Fire for Selling Fake Followers to the Stars 
https://www.rappler.com/technology/news/194700-social-media-devumi-under-fire-selling-fake-followers-stars

Duterte to Build a $1 Billion New City for Thousands of Workers
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-29/duterte-to-build-a-1-billion-new-city-for-thousands-of-workers?cmpid=socialflow-facebook-asia&utm_content=asia&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social

Women Journalists Standing Up to Bullies is a Filipino Tradition
http://usa.inquirer.net/9785/women-journalists-standing-bullies-filipino-tradition

Opinion: Rappler Should Stop Misleading Everyone
http://opinion.inquirer.net/110628/rappler-stop-misleading-everyone

For those who may have issues with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), California State Representative Rob Bonta presents a checklist of your rights. Even if you are not a US citizen, you have rights, he emphasizes. 

The Happy Home Cook recipe of the week: Red Snapper Delight from Chef Niel Salvatera of Kusina de Manila.

And because Bruno Mars is in the news for sweeping the 2018 Grammy awards, let's witness his Filipino side with a video of the first visit of his mother, uncles and grandmother to the land of their birth, in time for Bruno Mars first concert in Manila.