“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