Adobomination

If there's one dish that Filipinos can agree to disagree about, it's adobo. Each region, each family, each person has individual ways of cooking this most Filipino of dishes (no matter its origins) and each one thinks that their way is the best. It's no wonder then that the announced plan of the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to "standardize" the cooking technique for adobo and other popular Filipino dishes landed like a volcanic eruption, uniting Filipino chefs and foodies in the Philippines with their counterparts abroad in condemning the move. PF Correspondent Rene M. Astudillo collated the best reactions in "Much Ado About Adobo." 

And since we're already on the subject (and probably already craving the taste), here are reposts of four different adobo recipes for the Happy Home Cook:

The Happy Home Cook: Amboy Adobo By Chef Alvin Cailan

The Happy Home Cook: Adobong Dilaw By Lyn B. Gamboa

The Happy Home Cook: Adobong Malutong (Adobo Flakes)

The Happy Home Cook: Adobong Baka (Braised Beef In Vinegar)

Also featured in this week's issue are two performance artists -- one focused on dance, film and the written word; the other in music fusion. Though very different from each other, the two share the passion for their art and their Filipino roots. SAMMAY, the artist originally known as Samantha Peñaflor Dizon is profiled by Lisa Suguitan Melnick while Fil-Canadian bassist/composer Chris Trinidad is introduced by Virgilio A. Reyes, Jr. 

Two prominent Filipinas who have earned their places in Philippine history died on the same day this week. We pay homage to Nini Quezon Avancena and Celia Diaz Laurel, both of whom enriched our culture with their style, grace and advocacies. Here are Rappler's tributes to the two: 

https://www.rappler.com/nation/zeneida-nini-quezon-avancena-dies

https://www.rappler.com/entertainment/theater/theater-actress-celia-diaz-laurel-dies

Video of the Week: Digital Nomads

In The Know

The Philippines’ secret weapon against Chinese incursions
https://www.economist.com/asia/2021/07/10/the-philippines-secret-weapon-against-chinese-incursions?fbclid=IwAR2V4kZGMVV2EqkonpEysmANGsOdYMLTomNh82WhkcEe2gTAK-fN6NN_uy0 

The Mindanao Death March
https://www.metrocdo.com/2021/04/04/the-mindanao-death-march/?fbclid=IwAR2YrqgjYUnyfGEPGGSMjqTXLoq2f_PBs6-66a6CQDqwgYDY5Pe5ztlIT5k

‘…Manila Would Do’: Marking the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Manila
https://www.ong.ohio.gov/stories/2020/mar/20200303-37th-manila.html?fbclid=IwAR2C7wzj1qXIzf21g8V7XqZap1TU0NB8fqw8lvR4EpT9N4C6nVRzNPnneZ0

You don’t have to be a Philippine expat to appreciate the unique joys of Jollibee
https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2021/07/05/jollibee-restaurant-review/?fbclid=IwAR0cEvmFkkxFM5QG6KQJUKb3eaelD5rKR-Dp6PlVhJIQpsnpUW0xQAIM61k

[OPINION] The guilt of being born and raised Filipino, but having English as your first language
https://www.rappler.com/voices/rappler-blogs/opinion-guilt-being-born-raised-filipino-english-first-language?utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR1N5SMVKP1NuadRUN4PYK1mxhelwbFTl_yazeNyMx06kpNuTrdTp9DxSdI#Echobox=1624714628

Lou Diamond Phillips Has Worked His Whole Life to Play a Filipino-American Character

https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/a36676635/lou-diamond-phillips-interview-playing-filipino-american-characters/?fbclid=IwAR2-bG_phFBpZfNdzsiXP6ENFDrImtsJLVv2xWPWryjERmUZQYgzAqeGtFU

A Filipino Post-9/11 Secret

Guantanamo Bay, a former US naval base, has earned notoriety as the island prison for terrorists. A little known fact about Gitmo is that some 200 Filipino skilled construction workers were recruited to help construct the jail, under a contract with an American engineering firm and the Arroyo administration. PF Correspondent Myles A. Garcia digs out the story in "The Secret Post-9/11 Pinoy-'Gitmo' Connection."

On Seattle's Beacon Hill, there's a new, innovative Filipino restaurant called Musang that emerged from a pop-up and funded through crowdfunding. Its founder/chef Melissa Miranda describes the enterprise as "community driven, not chef driven." PF Correspondent Anthony Maddela, a Beacon Hill native, writes about the restaurant and its owner in the context of the neighborhood it operates in, in "Where Good Food Declares 'We've Arrived!"

From Chef Melissa comes our Happy Home Cook recipe for this week: Adobong Kangkong.

Robert Conrad, the star of two popular TV series of yesteryears, "Wild Wild West" and "Hawaiian Eye" passed away recently, prompting some sweet teenage nostalgia from PF publisher Mona Lisa Yuchengco. Read "Me and Robert Conrad" and remember. 

We begin Women's Month with profiles of outstanding Filipinas. Read Again:

Titchie Carandang-Tiongson's "The Thoroughly Modern Sofia de Veyra: https://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/the-thoroughly-modern-sofia-de-veyra

Mauro Feria Tumbocon Jr.'s "The Timeless Nora Aunor": https://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/the-timeless-nora-aunor

Robby Tantingco's "Why Women Rule Pampanga": https://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/why-women-rule-pampanga

In case you missed them, our links to interesting stories: 

9 Kickass Women in Philippine History You’ve Never Heard Of
https://filipiknow.net/extraordinary-filipinas-in-history/?fbclid=IwAR1kgD9JrGui4LraBch9r6dMyfEaYzmAXxtG6v7cMuYS9zGtQ-MtC-2FQHA

Why the Philippines is the only country where divorce is illegal
https://www.economist.com/asia/2020/02/13/why-the-philippines-is-the-only-country-where-divorce-is-illegal?fbclid=IwAR2IJKik3cDIaUwsJT-6buekYUd3deC2IalSYncgkIqtXAHM-7sgb6A4Rk0

Quezon City: The History of the Landmarks in the Homesite’s Project 1 through Kamuning Road, Tomas Morato Avenue and Don Alejandro Roces Avenue
https://lakansining.wordpress.com/2020/02/19/quezon-city-the-history-of-the-landmarks-in-the-homesites-project-1-through-kamuning-road-tomas-morato-avenue-and-don-alejandro-roces-avenue/?fbclid=IwAR1OcmKm2G9q3FMaxc1H4sJ6VF1YxuKy9ZxLUlDzNDf9ReuP1n2uEe9XsnQ

This Underpass in Makati Highlights the Story of 105 Million Filipinos
https://www.spot.ph/arts-culture/the-latest-arts-culture/81006/new-salcedo-underpass-mural-a833-20200214?utm_source=Facebook-Spot&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20200214-fbnp-artsculture-new-salcedo-underpass-mural-a833-20200214-fbfirst&fbclid=IwAR1GxHk3VzXZMv2daTWhVqGQfz6O3WRTYY-pCeQZG0ek1_MaqDGO8aLjQuk

For Video of the Week, in the thick of the coronavirus scare in Italy, a Filipino, who was mistaken for being Chinese, was assaulted.

We're Honored

We got an unexpected but very welcome surprise this week when the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) informed us that Positively Filipino won the Best Interactive Media Award - Website Category, one of six categories of the 2014 Migration and Media Awards (MAM). CFO is the very active agency that oversees the wellbeing of Filipino expats all over the world. It also honors outstanding individuals and organizations -- and media outfits -- that bring on Filipino pride. 

According to the MAM Awards Secretariat, "This year’s awardees were chosen for having raised public awareness on issues on Filipino migration, advocated the cause of Filipinos overseas, promoted a positive image of Filipinos overseas, and espoused the concepts of migration and development." We're pleased and honored for being chosen. A big thank you to CFO and MAM for recognizing our efforts, a month short of Positively Filipino's second birthday.

Another source of pride - the Filipino Food Movement (FFM) that was started in the San Francisco Bay Area by some dedicated foodies. Its Savor Filipino inaugural event brought together 22 chefs from all over the country, cooking Filipino-inspired dishes that whetted the taste buds and appetites of the big crowd that attended. Ron Quesada reports in "Not Just Another Filipino Food Festival."

And speaking of events, organizing them is the core service of Plan C Agency, a Los Angeles-based advertising and event marketing agency founded and headed by Giancarlo Pacheco. Anthony Maddela profiles this marketing expert who attributes his drive and vision to his Filipino roots.

Contributing to Pinoyspotting this week is Albert Romero who traveled to Rome and Barcelona and met some interesting Filipinos. You too can contribute your photos of close encounters with Filipinos during your travels to Pinoyspotting. Send them to submissions@positivelyfilipino.com with a short caption on how, when, where, who.

LOL with Mikey Bustos as he eavesdrop on his mother cooking adobo in our Video of the Week.

And while we can enumerate things wrong with Filipinos, there are also a lot of good things to celebrate about being Filipino. My blog this week reminds us of the good in us.