“There is something about listening to the stories of our Filipino-American elders that touches me at the soul level,” posted Fil-Am biopharma entrepreneur Lieza Marie Danan after attending last Saturday’s tribute to community manongs and manangs, sponsored by Positively Filipino. [See report by Lorna Lardizabal Dietz.]

Lieza's words speak to something deeply Filipino: our instinct to remember, to honor those who came before us, and to carry their stories forward. Wherever Filipinos may be in the world, our history travels with us—in memory, in family stories, and in the communities we build.

August is a good month for remembering. The Cry of Pugad Lawin, the founding of the Aglipayan Church, and the arrival of the Thomasites all took place in this month. Marcelo H. del Pilar and Manuel L. Quezon were born in August; and on August 21, 1983, Ninoy Aquino Jr. was assassinated, changing the course of Philippine history. [More on this date next week, but read Howie Severino's Ninoy story in this issue.]

These are the familiar milestones. But history is also found in the quieter stories—the lives of our elders, the struggles they endured, and the communities they built. To celebrate them is, in a small but important way, to celebrate ourselves.

This Week’s Stories

Honoring Our Manongs and Manangs 2026 by Lorna Lardizabal Dietz

The Only Unhappy Aquino in America by Howie Severino

A Childhood My Children Will Never Fully Know by Elena Baldwin

Adoring the Philippines from Afar by Anthony Maddela

[Read It Again]

Day Trips to Culinary Heaven by Elizabeth Ann Quirino

Mark of Four Waves by Mel Orpilla

[Video of the Week]

San Jose’s Filipino American Community

In The Know

Conrad Ricamora Hopes His New Role Will Make You Rethink Your Relationship To AI
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/conrad-ricamora-disruption-play-

Inside Kapusod, Howie Severino's Lakeside Paradise Where Thoughtful Living Takes Root
https://www.spot.ph/things-to-do/weekend-guides/howie-severino-kapusod-batangas-a5138-20260724-dyn?ref=home_wgt3-weekender_read-more

Fil-Am Jacob Batalon ties the knot as ‘Spider-Man’ shatters records
https://usa.inquirer.net/205862/fil-am-jacob-batalon-ties-the-knot-as-spider-man-shatters-records

Lorna Tolentino becomes Philippine Navy reservist
https://www.pep.ph/pepalerts/pep-troika/193316/lorna-tolentino-philippine-navy-reservist-a4118-20260807

Filipino American activist detained in the Philippines
https://asamnews.com/2026/08/08/filipino-american-activist-christina-pasion-detained-arrested/?

"Lockdown" "quarantine" "shelter-in-place" "shutdown" "recession" -- the new shared lexicons of the world are emotion-laden terms that stir a variety of reactions. And as the human race absorbs the effects of the pandemic on life as we knew it, each of us seek different ways to allay our anxieties.

Educator and policy analyst J.M. Luz ponders the problem of the class divide in the Philippines and offers suggestions on how to temper a possible social eruption in the midst of the pandemic. ["Metro Manila Lockdown: Finding Openings to Ease the Poor's No-Work-No-Pay Situation"]

From Palawan, Elise Suarez, a precocious teenager who writes a column for Palawan News, gets inspiration from a hit Korean teledrama even as she does her part in keeping the spread of the virus at bay. ["Crash Landing in Quarantine"]

In Los Angeles, PF Correspondent Anthony Maddela uses this time of lockdown to reflect on life's simple pleasures and challenges. ["A Time of Living Cautiously"]

PF contributor Patricia Araneta pays tribute to the legendary radio/TV host Leila Benitez, who passed away recently in New York. ["My Aunt and Friend, Leila Benitez"]

For Happy Home Cooks, here's PF Correspondent Rene Astudillo's "Fried Breaded Spam Musubi," a creative way of using a Filipino lockdown staple, Spam.

Don't fail to read our Partner posts this week:

Help Our Artists And Our Community

Filipino Food Movement Launches An Online Campaign, Supporting Filipino Chefs And Restaurants

And to further enhance your coronavirus knowledge, our In The Know links:

Meet the health-care workers spearheading the Philippines’s fight against coronavirus
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/world/2020/04/11/meet-health-care-workers-spearheading-philippiness-fight-against-coronavirus/?fbclid=IwAR38UtJzT6LH8XI9STe69m4g9Jav2x8WVZieSshjWSm4lMZqaL2d1nWmqqk

The Anti-Virus Warriors in My Blood
https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/specials/content/142/howie-severino-the-anti-virus-warriors-in-my-blood/?fbclid=IwAR24MWyac6rBlagMmh2OagtmVfQraV-m7mZXlESYy096K8_5tOX1G9fN4bU

Life after lockdown: An infectious diseases expert on how we could avoid a surge in COVID-19 cases
https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/04/13/20/life-after-lockdown-an-infectious-diseases-expert-on-how-we-could-avoid-a-surge-in-covid-19-cases?fbclid=IwAR3FMI8xA4093vDx6-NDDUf96AxhWLRKnDqkULKrHCvRBOurHkbyoJ-bA8A

Philippine jails are a COVID-19 time bomb
https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/investigative/257640-philippine-jails-covid-time-bomb?fbclid=IwAR2YV1guhhmSmXgivXY3OdyjnAnPKbUGGrSZrZ4hj7Founthfa8YOACLTCA

Looking Out for Your Own in the Philippines
https://www.asiasentinel.com/p/looking-out-for-your-own-in-the-philippines?fbclid=IwAR3tfXWdoWwsZ6TRno_T7d0ndFUhfBn10B7vupanzGyXWBvem5LwYhElyl4

“Kindness station” in Sorsogon allows residents to get free food, clothes, rice for free
https://virtualpinoy.com/2020/04/kindness-station-in-sorsogon-allows-residents-to-get-free-food-clothes-rice-for-free/?fbclid=IwAR0eH897zz6I8eqmwk2nbSdV3qTxnOT8LD7So0WGxMYc2cpF66uRbmYyaVg

For our Video of the Week, the families of the medical staff of St. Luke’s Medical Center in the Philippines made a tribute video for their loved ones battling on the frontlines of Covid-19.