Traveling While U.S. Permanent Residents

Once upon a time, in the good old days when the rule of law was respected and immigrants were welcome to the US, green card holders (aka permanent residents) shared the same rights and benefits with naturalized US citizens, except for the right to vote.

Today, green card holders can be stopped at ports of entry and deported, just like international students with valid US visas and other legitimate visa holders. If you're worried that, despite your green card, you might not be allowed back, here's valuable guidance from immigration lawyer Lourdes Santos Tancinco. Note of interest: there's a difference between "arriving alien" and "returning resident." Remember that not all green card holders are in danger of being denied entry. But if you are, you still have rights.  

April is National Autism Acceptance Month and two FilAm behavioral analysts from Jacksonville, FL -- Irene Batario (Tita Irene) and Redner Salonga (Kuya Red) -- mark the occasion with a picture book, "Bayani and the ABCs of Me," the first children's book on autism for Filipinos. PF contributing writer Claire Mercado-Obias interviews the two on the making of this landmark book.

Grilling is as Filipino as sinigang and different regions of the Philippines have their own way of grilling food. The town of Bayambang in Pangasinan takes the practice several steps higher with its own term -- inkalot -- and by setting the Guinness World Record of the longest barbecue grill in 2014. Writer Resty Odon celebrates his town's grilling tradition and gives us a lesson on grilling lexicon in this essay which won third prize in the 2023 Doreen Gamboa Fernandez Food Writing Award. 

PF Correspondent and intrepid world traveler Rey de la Cruz marks the island nation of Malta as the 125th country he has visited. And of course he meets Filipinos there. Read his Pinoyspotting account this week. 

For our Partner post this week, Washington D.C.-based writer/activist Jon Melegrito gives an account of the 2025 Bataan Memorial Death March, now on its 36th year, in White Sands, New Mexico. Today, April 9, marks the 82nd anniversary of the Bataan Death March.

[Video of the Week] South China Sea: Escalating tensions between China and the Philippines


In The Know

Kanlaon Volcano goes on explosive eruption; remains on alert level 3
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2050842/kanlaon-volcano-goes-on-explosive-eruption-remains-on-alert-no-3 

Filipinos make history on Broadway: Lea Salonga among 7 on world stage
https://usa.inquirer.net/169480/filipinos-make-history-on-broadway-lea-salonga-among-7-on-world-stage?

Cordillera’s cultural norms push back against political dynasties
https://pcij.org/2025/03/28/cordillera-indigenous-governance-pushes-back-against-political-dynasties/?

Lea Salonga and Her Trans Son Nic Chien Redefine Family, Identity, and Acceptance
https://asianjournal.com/features/lea-salonga-and-her-trans-son-nic-chien-redefine-family-identity-and-acceptance/?


Not All Doom and Gloom

We start our Easter Week with mourning. An exemplary Filipino public servant, Jose Santiago "Chito" Sta. Romana, the current Philippine ambassador to China (previously a well-known student activist, exile and ABC News Bureau Chief in China), passed away unexpectedly in an island off Shanghai, leaving family, friends and colleagues shocked and in deep grief. [Here's Rappler's obit: https://www.rappler.com/nation/philippine-diplomat-chito-sta-romana-dies/?fbclid=IwAR0WcPcqhoA8bM3T8BqG6OgWKyOfVYDGxDWLCosxbB8ga6AMZ7nHWxB07AM

But it's not all doom and gloom. If you want comedy, ridiculousness and incredulousness all at once, check out our Election News links below to get a full taste of the Grand Philippine Circus, aka Elections 2022. You gotta read it to believe it!

There's also reason for amazement. In the current election climate, a new, never-before-seen-in-such-scale organizing strategy is sweeping many areas of the country: murals -- giant artworks painted on public walls and fences, proclaiming support for a specific candidate. Mural creation is a large-group activity, thus a great tool for motivating, inspiring and consolidating the troops (of supporters). Contributor Bella Bonner takes us behind the scenes to one such project in West Fairview, Quezon City.

And always, a reason to stand up and be counted. Regular contributing writer and former COMELEC head honcho Andres D. Bautista exhorts overseas Filipino voters, all 1.7 million of us, to VOTE. Philippine embassies and consulates have mailed out the ballots but if you haven't received yours, contact them. If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, make sure your name is here: https://pcgsanfrancisco.org/certified-list-of-overseas-voters-clov-2022/

If you haven't received your ballot, check your name here: List of Voters with No or Incomplete Address. If you'd had a change of address and haven't informed the Consulate, check here: List of Returned Postal Voting Packets. Email the Consulate immediately if your name is on the two lists above: ovs@pcgsanfrancisco.org. You can also go personally to Consulate on May 9 to vote.

Our lineup this week also includes a sentimental journey to the sites that forged Filipino American connections in WWII by Carol Esguerra Colborn [Read: http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/war-and-remembrance-in-the-philippines] 

And the interesting story of Johnny Valdes, the man who built Johnny Air Cargo, written by first-time PF contributor Glenna Aquino. [Read: http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/how-johnny-became-johnny-air-cargo]

Enjoy the wild ride towards a new Philippine future.

[Recipe of the Week] The Happy Home Cook: Airfried Vegetarian Crispy Pork Belly

[Video of the Week] Awit ng Pagasa


Philippine Elections 2022

Youtube Channels ‘Hijacking’ News Genre to Influence Philippine Polls
https://www.rappler.com/nation/elections/youtube-channels-hijacking-news-genre-disinformation-influence-2022-philippine-elections/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR3mWaOvTWtVY2FfEx1z6Lpw5dRM73Dqe5tJg98d4JaTvPeQaLMc0f7k5Z8#Echobox=1649996525-4

[ANALYSIS] Ping Lacson’s premature endgame
https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/newsstand-ping-lacson-premature-endgame-2022-elections/?fbclid=IwAR0RMtZxW-FVjdBYWA0KwopzoWIQtOYYsc22TRgqwUEOZIdUjVCgTIF869o

[OPINION] What have these guys been sniffing?
https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/opinion-lacson-moreno-gonzales-press-conference-what-have-these-guys-been-sniffing/?fbclid=IwAR0nrP4MBE0nT8vrQ8uz4qoSqx6VgdU5qYzkhwGNVecQ93MRuKT1JB7hg78 

Filipinos flood Twitter with ‘Leni Withdraw’ memes after lagging candidates gang up on Robredo
https://ph.news.yahoo.com/filipinos-flood-twitter-leni-withdraw-051106771.html 

How the Philippines’ brutal history is being whitewashed for voters
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/12/philippines-marcos-memory-election/

The Philippines Toppled One Marcos. Now His Son May Become President.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/13/world/asia/philippines-marcos-president-election.html?unlocked_article_code=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACEIPuomT1JKd6J17Vw1cRCfTTMQmqxCdw_PIxftm3iWka3DJDm8ZiPsSGYyMvE7WZKMkf9sy2zWDXN5HPaRqQfVoxehEelR3RhKprpaChNEIJyg-tYO0WCU2w5fJF_gewAPdU1OYeq151aHt-FWPKiSxCvmIzyV3Jw5uppBmaVmv3CEXwqzAQfp_joMtwf0rDph4TDgFYCKA7OL6SEkrYKXwZRne6QM8UuxbWyiC3oLPruJdL3gBTA7OX3h94m0j6d5DON5xPK73LxYoe8qWkqxGQyUzb9_vX8ttMtCSw7Z6srfNqgiOzN61wpg1FKZXvLDEugWqJW7Fvj6yEs9r8CKZOCGjNSo&smid=em-share

Ties that bind: 17 years ago, Leni trudged Masbate to help rural folk
https://www.rappler.com/nation/elections/17-years-ago-leni-robredo-trudged-masbate-help-rural-folk-elections-2022/?fbclid=IwAR3BJkVPvoH8RDuwTGgZuXOdWt2rjrk7x5PSi8MlHSOJqrbCJHq9e9dl09E#l1yqz8l40abgor9vn9mf

Networked propaganda: How the Marcoses are using social media to reclaim Malacañang
https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/investigative/245290-marcos-networked-propaganda-social-media/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=Social&fbclid=IwAR3W6LGxu0zS8ZlRGNWmdSs_zPSaLTz30EZI52FdFEArdxCLXLyLQ_mui18

Networked Propaganda: How the Marcoses are rewriting history
https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/investigative/245402-networked-propaganda-marcoses-rewriting-history/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=Social&fbclid=IwAR3wGgA-dkNfl4Zhezg_EuuRU8NGVBGLvnolcXcxNn1tm9HDckuwSRkS5WE

Networked propaganda: False narratives from the Marcos arsenal
https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/investigative/245540-networked-propaganda-false-narratives-from-the-marcos-arsenal/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=Social&fbclid=IwAR244VmzBQ8adan_AvWqa4NNSXzUxoSwlu7FnV2eYnzgvkl3AILpKpT6D5Y

Citizen engagement against the surveys
https://opinion.inquirer.net/152120/citizen-engagement-against-the-surveys?fbclid=IwAR0vaTxCjCW0CtlBv05x2k5F6tsQWuCHl3DfcUibnQ2w12y6m0jcnQEEPi8#ixzz7Qfmzcryi

The twists and turns of the presidential election
https://opinion.inquirer.net/152085/the-twists-and-turns-of-the-presidential-election 

[OPINION] Thoughts on the saying ‘The best man for the job is a woman’
https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/opinion-best-man-for-job-is-woman/?fbclid=IwAR2VzjfMC31Xci7fFUZEa5yfmu7V4wF2O3Gh1RSLcH5ayM6wEFiyWOiAG50


In The Know

Lost History: How Czech Fighters Defended Bataan During World War 2
https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/czech-fighters-defended-bataan-world-war-2-a00289-20200903-lfrm?utm_source=Facebook-Esquire&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20220419-fbnp-long-reads-czech-fighters-defended-bataan-world-war-2-a00289-20200903-lfrm-fbold&fbclid=IwAR38Z5ZNrSzZvIC8wxs_0qDSbUnUP4V-eTYnpdrsfPYw61QCEuuI7f4EbY0

Read the Philippines' Most Banned Books in This 'Secret' Digital Archive
https://www.esquiremag.ph/culture/books-and-art/read-the-world-s-most-banned-books-in-this-secret-digital-archive-a2746-20220418?utm_source=Facebook-Esquire&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20220418-fbnp-culture-read-the-world-s-most-banned-books-in-this-secret-digital-archive-a2746-20220418-fbold&fbclid=IwAR36eZa4LFLW3jJ5SODo2QWumF2eduIdJyXi-DpGuXSoE0QONQibvf8oA0Y

The "Women of Impact" 2022 List: Filipinas Who Have Made Their Mark
https://www.tatlerasia.com/power-purpose/others/the-women-of-impact-2022-list-filipinas-who-have-made-their-mark 

What brought about the Filipino’s love affair with rice, according to a food historian
https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/food-drink/features/04/07/22/a-filipino-food-historian-on-why-we-eat-what-we-eat?fbclid=IwAR1tof19EE2A1EVqHb7chtUN-fxhHHjkZoxyoJRXez5TinxNNxwUpfo8uhQ

Slater Young set the record straight on who really built this PHP30-billion Cebu bridge, and people are loving it
https://ph.news.yahoo.com/slater-young-set-record-straight-073758169.html

This Filipino Circumnavigated the World for P240,000 and No Visas

https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/filipino-circumnavigated-world-regin-reyno-a00293-20200312-lfrm2?utm_source=Facebook-EsquireMoney&utm_medium=Siteshare&utm_campaign=20220406-fbnp-long-reads-filipino-circumnavigated-world-regin-reyno-a00293-20200312-lfrm2-fbold&fbclid=IwAR2BJ8w8ivt0NS-giydnnEbckKUn2pn1vc9YP18yc9QSwkdGTGu5FkPOFbQ

Pioneering Filipina Filmmakers
https://www.goldenglobes.com/articles/pioneering-filipina-filmmakers?fbclid=iwar3mjp4zu8tjymaehvodklul4o3ezq8_gqyj6ef1pe_tljjndait31bzun8

Artworks by PH children with autism showcased in NY | TFC News New York, USA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3R07fgMVCM