April 09, 2025

Traveling While U.S. Permanent Residents

April 09, 2025/ Staff

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/?

March 20, 2024

Women at the Forefront

March 20, 2024/ Staff

Before anything else, please join us for our webinar, "Nurse Unseen" on Thursday, April 4 at 4 pm. Filipino nurses have been at the forefront of caring not just during the pandemic but every day, in hospitals and other health settings. They are also facing dangers, including anti-Asian hate. If you are a nurse or you have a nurse in your life, this webinar is for you. You will also get to watch excerpts from an award-winning film of the same name. See below for the flyer and registration details.

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This week we are privileged to feature the series "Women Workers of 19th Century Manila" by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP). Informative and delightful, the series was posted one at a time in NHCP's Facebook page. We are consolidating the posts into two parts, the first six in this issue, and the second five next week. NHCP has retained the 19th century word spellings and has illustrated each post with old postcards, vintage images and 19th century art from acclaimed painter Jose Honorato Lozano.

More interesting, accomplished women are in our spotlight. In addition to the second installment of the Filipina Women's Network's Movers and Shakers list, we're shining the light on the women creators of a groundbreaking children's book, Dancing Hands: A Story of Friendship in Filipino Sign Language. Written originally in Filipino by Joanna Que and Charina Marquez, with illustrations by Fran Alvarez, the English version has already won two awards. Claire Mercado Obias tells us the story behind the making of the book.

A surfer who is also a film maker is the subject of PF Correspondent Anthony Maddela's story this week. Satya Sullivan, who is doing her master's in Marine Affairs in Rhode Island, has founded a nonprofit called Colorful Lineup that offers surfing clinics to girls and women of color. She has also won awards for documentary filmmaking and cinematography. Quite impressive creds for someone who is only in the US temporarily.

Here's a historical story worth reading again: We have published a substantial number of stories on Filipinos in Hawaii and the West Coast but not enough on the pioneering Filipinos in the Gulf Coast. So here's one on Filipino trappers and shrimpers in Louisiana in the early- and mid-1900s: "Life on the Bayou," by Carmelo Astilla.
https://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/life-on-the-bayou

[Video of the Week] The World’s Best Natural Free Divers

Anti-Asian Hate Watch

New Study Suggests Anti-Asian Hate And Fear Remain High In New York City
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/asian-americans-report-fear-and-hate-crimes-new-york_n_65eb7542e4b05ec1ccd9ed69

AAPI women celebrated for strength, overcoming obstacles by nonprofit in SF
https://abc7news.com/asians-are-strong-aapi-women-san-francisco-womens-history-month/14490793/

More Than 50% of Asian Americans New Yorkers Experienced Hate Crimes in 2023
https://www.bkreader.com/non-profit-community/more-than-50-of-asian-americans-new-yorkers-experienced-hate-crimes-in-2023-8412880

LAPD investigating Koreatown assault on Air Force vet as possible hate crime
https://www.aol.com/news/lapd-investigating-koreatown-assault-air-232913948.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAHDmBYRdt_NGBUJpS1gBdD5t9bDOginEkVYomlKad9Tuno7uXz4ipSFyvdC-mGwO8BaQ33thy5WcPZq65yQKCkX0WINn5S083BjL1Aoyf9zGfs9Ijm0tUz8FvhPqcndRq9jF8rGJ7OyqpZZUhhS8AhRoajx25VVMOrzqjrS7YdYF

Intolerance, xenophobia, hate speech fuelling increase in hate crimes, conflict: UNGA President
https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/other/intolerance-xenophobia-hate-speech-fuelling-increase-in-hate-crimes-conflict-unga-president/ar-BB1jYWxN

Funding provided by the State of California.

In The Know

Filipino Women 'Virtually Control' the Local Economy Through Sari-Sari Stores, Study Finds
https://www.esquiremag.ph/money/industry/filipino-women-local-economy-sari-sari-stores-a00304-20230327?utm_medium=Echobox-Esquire&utm_campaign=Echobox-Ownshare&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR15KBZ8mUzpqjE-yBG4iLP8ldYe1H9TdsmxzGXpystqLagenY7WSzbB0t4#Echobox=1709726534

The Most Reliable Banks in the Philippines, According to a Report
https://www.esquiremag.ph/money/industry/most-reliable-banks-philippines-a00289-20240219?utm_medium=Echobox-Esquire&utm_campaign=Echobox-Ownshare&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR35fy3M_p4_hZqVa7rDSObV-W9zcSta7yGRKjCQmmL3ut5J_5TroW3AWMk#Echobox=1709969234

UP geologists discover possible gas hydrates in Manila Trench
https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/scitech/science/900398/up-geologists-discover-possible-gas-hydrates-in-manila-trench/story/?top_picks&order=9

Filipinos in Lebanon cautioned as Israel strikes Hezbollah sites
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1220737

Fraudsters sentenced for operating ‘large-scale’ marriage ruse to get green cards for 600 migrants
https://nypost.com/2024/03/13/us-news/fraudsters-caught-running-marriage-fraud-agency-for-migrants/

On Centre Stage: Lea Salonga looks back at her iconic roles and shares why self-care matters
https://www.tatlerasia.com/style/beauty/lea-salonga-iconic-roles-why-self-care-matters?utm_source=tatlerasia.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PH_DIG_ALLTHEWORLDSASTAGE_FULL20240315

January 10, 2024

Losses and Gains

January 10, 2024/ Staff

Positively Filipino begins its week on Wednesdays in the US (Thursdays in the Philippines). This is the day we come out with our new issue.

We begin this second week of January 2024 by remembering distinguished Filipinos who passed on in 2023, not just in the Philippines but in another countries as well. This edition of "In Memoriam," compiled by our publisher Mona Lisa Yuchengco, includes four caregivers who lost their lives in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. There are 113 names that include statesmen, civil servants, artists, writers, diplomats, performers, business people, health workers and OFWs -- Filipinos who all contributed, in their own way, to the enrichment of our heritage. May they all rest in peace.

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Visual arts in the Philippines is alive and well, what with such giants as Jose "Bogie" Tence Ruiz, whose art falls under the "social realism" genre but whose more than a half century of creation has produced a body of work so vast that it defies categorization. The ever-productive Bogie recently compiled his works into a giant of a book called Litanya, from which PF contributing writer Isabel Rodrigo draws information and inspiration for her story this week, "The Relevant and Irreverent Jose Tence Ruiz."

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In the performing arts, Lea Salonga is the biggest Filipino marquee star of the moment. But years before her shining, a number of Filipinas have gained a foothold on Broadway and Hollywood, playing roles that may not have made them big stars but which nonetheless paved the way for Lea and other Fil-Am performing artists. PF Correspondent Myles A. Garcia honors these women pioneers in "Before Lea Salonga, Filipinos Who Made It to Broadway and US Films."

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If you lived in Manila in the '70s, chances are you have an Our Tribe thingy tucked somewhere in your memory or in your closet. This leather goods store whose bags, wallets, sandals, and keychains (among others) are known to last beyond a lifetime, is still going strong despite some setback years. Our Manila-based contributing writer Bella Bonner talked to the Manalang-Tayag owners on how their tribe managed to thrive for more than 50 years in "How Leather Goods Brand ‘Our Tribe’ Increased."

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Hope springs eternal as the current Philippine government last November opened negotiation lines with the alleged leaders of the Left insurgency, one of the longest lasting on earth. The road to peace is of course laden with obstacles and controversies. Previous administrations have tried but failed to even get close to an agreement to end the fighting; will the Marcos II administration fare better? Retired Judge Soliman M. Santos Jr., a human rights lawyer, underscores the need for both parties to "address the fratricidal war’s human costs and the need to repair the tattered social fabric."