Women Today

Today is International Women's Day, a yearly event that celebrates the contribution of women to society in various fields. The day also puts in focus the continuing fight for gender equality.

Philippine law likewise officially marks March 8 as National Women's Day, with the same goal of putting a spotlight on the achievements of Filipino women in all fields including science, technology, medicine, education, politics, literature and the arts, and various aspects of nation-building.

One arena that used to exclude -- but has since been breached -- by women is sports writing. Just over 40 years ago, there were only three Filipino women journalists who covered sports and one of them is Tessa Jazmines, a professor of communications at the University of the Philippines, whose spunk and love for basketball enabled her to break the gender barrier in covering sports events. 

Filipino women of course have long dominated the culinary arts although gender equality has leveled the field just within the last few decades (definitely a welcome development). Young, innovative chefs are giving traditional Filipino recipes new life. One of them is Abi Balingit (profiled here by PF contributing writer Claire Mercado Obias) whose recently published cookbook puts an interesting twist to Filipino desserts. 

We are also reposting two stories from our archives of brave Filipinas who found themselves in unusual circumstances and emerged triumphant.

Community organizer and Manila-based contributor Rochit Tañedo shares the story of Marlinda, a Lumad, unfazed by pregnancy, weather and political danger as she joined a Mindanao-to-Manila march to protest human rights violations in their indigenous communities. http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/birthing-in-the-time-of-el-nio-marlindas-story

Our publisher Mona Lisa Yuchengco wrote about how Filipinas saved a small town in Japan from natural extinction. http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/how-filipinas-saved-a-town-in-japan 

Read more stories about Filipino women in our In The Know links below.

A treat for dessert and coffee lovers and the Happy Home Cook: Abi Balingit shares her creative concoction: Sago't Gulaman Iced Coffee.

Our Video of the Week features the inimitable Apl.de.Ap, one Fil-Am we can all be proud of.

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In The Know

UP scientist, student discover gene linking breast cancer to stress, irregular body clock

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1737401/filipina-scientists-find-gene-linking-breast-cancer-to-stress-irregular-bodyclock?fbclid=IwAR1FE7oi74Tgpb4nPcBcMWX-xd3PhfAg4l3ZkO4TCSGjjVdNs3UxBmNJYA4

Mayors Joy Belmonte, Abby Binay, Honey Lacuna-Pangan and Lani Cayetano prove women can lead

https://www.tatlerasia.com/power-purpose/front-female/mayors-joy-bemonte-abby-binay-honey-lacuna-pangan-and-lani-cayetano-prove-women-can-lead

'The Mango Bride' author on finding success and movie adaptation starring Sharon Cuneta 10 years later

https://philstarlife.com/geeky/939783-marivi-soliven-the-mango-bride-book-sharon-cuneta?page=2

All-boys no more: Inside Ateneo’s transition to full co-education

https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/in-depth/inside-ateneo-de-manila-university-transition-full-co-education/?fbclid=IwAR3QAtGzAovVNheWj-O_RQMf_1R9p-hiAQyNeUGIesVpfRtut1r6Ud_Zvks

The App That’s Giving Millions Of Filipino Migrant Workers Financial Access

https://www.tatlerasia.com/gen-t/innovation/rebecca-kersch-philippines-tangapp?utm_campaign=PH_DIG_FULL20221020&utm_medium=email&utm_source=tatlerasia.com

The internet can’t get enough of young Pinoy who is full-time caregiver of his 96-yr-old lola

https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/03/04/23/this-tiktok-sensation-is-his-96-yo-lolas-caregiver?fbclid=IwAR17mD1UcMdo7AGhsOjtslTlO6y5GdOmkEAtVHMrwaKBOUv-m3B1Ux14r5k

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They Who Heal Us

At the beginning of 2020, our world was still what we had known it to be. Our daily routines were simple: work; play; love; travel; enjoy.  

Two weeks into the year, the Philippines suffered its first major tragedy, but it was localized. Taal Volcano erupted, spewing tons and tons of ashes that turned some parts of Batangas and Cavite gray, forcing large-scale evacuations and rendering farms and orchards dead. 

And then Covid-19 happened towards the end of January and, just like that, the world as we knew it was completely upended. Within a few weeks, lockdowns would be imposed in almost all countries, businesses destroyed, international travel banned, and mass deaths became the norm.

We're now on the 8th month of the pandemic and the end is nowhere in sight. In the Philippines, 80 health care groups representing 80,000 doctors and a million nurses have petitioned the government for a "timeout" to recalibrate its strategy (or the lack of it) in fighting the virus because the entire health care system is now in danger of complete collapse, its frontliners exhausted to their human limits.

The US is not doing any better. The country is on top of the list in covid infections in the entire world and every day, records are broken for new cases. Toiling at the forefront, side by side with the doctors and other health care workers are the 150,000-strong Filipino nurses scattered in most states but mainly in California and New York, where they make up about 20 percent of the labor force caring for coronavirus patients. Do a Google search and you'll see many reports on how Fil-Am nurses have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. Watch our Video of the Week -- a CBS news report by Fil-Am journalist Elaine Quijano on precisely this topic. 

Our story this week on Zenei Cortez, the president of the California Nurses Association and co-president of National Nurses United, the US' largest nurses' union, is both a call to action and a tribute to these heroes of the moment, many of whom are our kababayans. PF Correspondent Cherie Querol Moreno reports.

Writer and long-time activist Bonifacio P. Ilagan gives us a capsule post-mortem on the real state of the nation, following President Duterte's address last July 27. 

And, if you haven't yet, register for Positively Filipino's webinar on "Immigrants in the Time of Racial Unrest, the Pandemic and Trump" featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Jose Antonio Vargas and veteran immigration lawyer Lourdes Tancinco. The webinar happens on Monday August 10, 6pm PST/ 9pm EST (Tuesday 9 am Manila time). Here's the link: bit.ly/ImmigrantsRacialUnrest.

Stories This Week

A Compassionate Healer And Fierce Fighter For Fellow RNs By Cherie M. Querol Moreno

The State Of The Nation In A Day By Bonifacio P. Ilagan

Master Watercolorist Josė Honorato Lozano—The Sequel By Myles A. Garcia

Architect With A Personal Touch By Rafaelito Sy 

Read Again:
Murder Most Foul By Alex Fabros, Jr. 

The Happy Home Cook: Instant Pot Beef Caldereta By Elizabeth Ann Quirino

Video of the Week: Asian Americans report increased discrimination, even as some work on the front lines of pandemic

[PARTNER] Watch It Again: Philippine International Aid’s Giving Hope to the Children 2020 Online Fundraiser

In the Know

Philippine capital returning to lockdown as virus surges
https://news.yahoo.com/philippine-capital-returning-lockdown-virus-055713263.html

Meet the Bay Area rapper working on a COVID vaccine
https://www.sfgate.com/sf-culture/article/Bay-Area-rapper-COVID-vaccine-Ruby-Ibarra-15450383.php?fbclid=IwAR1A8QZEyXedtt9yNbRqhh3zl_08lP16KKVnxNbotvvZp_YOYMEZ6UoWpMU

Why Filipinx Americans Should Be In Solidarity With Black Lives Matter: Lessons From American History
https://www.facebook.com/notes/filipino-american-national-historical-society-fanhs/why-filipinx-americans-should-be-in-solidarity-with-black-lives-matter-lessons-f/10158420594771602/

On Adobo and Anxiety
https://www.southernfoodways.org/on-adobo-and-anxiety/

Amy Schumer just shared her Emmy nomination with her nanny who is from the Philippines
https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/07/30/20/amy-schumer-just-shared-her-emmy-nomination-with-her-nanny-who-is-from-the-philippines?fbclid=IwAR112EuPUsXXD2R31DL-KcyItX07l6euegi5MUvMAF1Rd-alBgsNFV2nktk

Honoring our Teachers

I consider teaching the noblest of professions, and teachers -- especially those in Philippine public schools who have to trek miles, endure low wages and overcome a serious lack of supplies -- as real heroes. This week we are featuring the recipients of the first "Guro to Pangulo" awardees of the President Elpidio Quirino Foundation. These ten teachers have been recognized for their dedication and commitment to their profession. They were chosen from public schools named after the second president of the Philippine republic, who was himself a public school teacher before he became a politician and statesman. Positively Filipino Correspondent Elizabeth Ann Quirino, whose husband is a presidential nephew, reports.

From Cotabato City, fashion designer Pepe Quitco talks about his passion for inaul, the handwoven fabric native to Maguindanao, and showcases his creations that display its beauty and versatility. Serina Aidasani focuses on this talented couturier who has chosen to remain in his home city while creating fabulous clothes.

In President Obama's last State of the Union address last night, he underscored American leadership in the international fight against the ebola epidemic in Africa. Dr. Jorge Emmanuel, a Filipino American environmental scientist, was at the forefront of developing a process of eliminating contaminated Ebola-treatment waste, a necessary step in stopping the spread of the deadly virus. Read Again this exclusive and compelling report of Dr. Emmanuel, "My Battle with Ebola."

Our Video of the Week: popular musician Apl.de.Ap pitches for the Philippines as great travel destination in this new video from the Department of Tourism.

And our Happy Home Cook recipe is Binacol na Manok, chicken stewed in coconut water, a popular Ilonggo dish.