Deja Vu in Mindanao

Martial law in Mindanao fills up all the news slots in the Philippines since President Rodrigo Duterte declared it a week ago. We focus our In The Know listings on analyses and news reports, to get you updated on what has been happening:

How A Military Raid Triggered Marawi Attacks
http://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/in-depth/171245-marawi-crisis-isis-plan-bautista

More Details Emerge on How Duterte Made Martial Law Decision
http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/05/26/1703846/more-details-emerge-how-duterte-made-martial-law-decision

Is Martial Law the Right Response to ISIS?
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/157444/martial-law-right-response-isis-threat

Why People in Mindanao don't mind Martial Law
https://lefthandedsnake.wordpress.com/2017/05/27/why-people-in-mindanao-dont-mind-martial-law/

Priest Says He and 200 Others Are Being Held Hostage in the Philippines
http://time.com/4798001/philippines-isis-militants-hostage-video/

As our Video of the Week, we feature journalist Howie Severino and the iWitness team of GMA7 network who flew to Marawi right after the martial law declaration to document the real situation in that war-torn city. Here's "Ilaw ng Marawi."

Switching to the more peaceful and enduring part of the Philippines, PF Correspondent Criselda Yabes visits Mayon Volcano for the first time and is rightfully awed. In "Volcano Lover," the well-traveled journalist realizes that "Mayon Volcano is the gorgeous lady you save for last." 

From Vancouver, Filipino artist Chito Maravilla is making waves with his eclectic art that a writer/collector describes as "Maravillaesque." PF Correspondent Rey de la Cruz reports.

Now that Memorial Day in the US has come and gone, summer barbecues are dominating family meals. PF Correspondent Elizabeth Ann Quirino has come up with a Peanut Sesame Pasta Salad that pairs well with the grilled meats and veggies that will surely be part of your summer table.

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TELL US ABOUT YOUR HOMETOWN

Who can best shine a light on that nostalgic place where a part of you still resides than you, whose childhood memories are full of the wonders of growing up in that special place? Write about your hometown and/or send us an old photograph with a description of how your hometown looks and how it makes you feel. 

Send to pfeditor@yahoo.com and we will post them so the whole world can share the wonder.

Homecomings

Weak wi-fi signal in a beautiful beach house in Ilocos Norte and an unexpected illness kept me from writing my editorial message last week, but I'm back in home turf now so no more excuses.

I admit that I still have a balikbayan hangover though from our always-too-short vacation, and with this comes the longing and nostalgia for our motherland. 

This week's new contributor, Lorenzo Paran III writes eloquently about the feeling that is all too common among Filipino expats in "You Can Go Home Again." The "home" he longs for is his childhood in the vicinity of Mount Mayon.

The longing for home assumes a bigger dimension in Ana P. Santos' touching report on Loraine, an OFW in Dubai, whose day's highlight is her regular Skype conversation with her little daughter in the Philippines. But it is not enough, she says, and Filipino expats separated from their loved ones know that only too well.

Artist Toots Magsino on the other hand returned to Manila after a stint in New York and finds that "home" is what you make of your homecoming. She has chosen to spend her time teaching art to cancer patients and her families, a commitment that has both kept her grounded and allowed her art to evolve. Serina Aidasani, herself an expat who spends a lot of time in the Philippines now, reports in "Toots Magsino's Art-Filled Life."

Filipino-Canadian comedian Mikey Bustos regales us again, this time with his video  "I Go To Palengke."

My blog this week is about the EDSA People Power Revolt 29 years ago.