We'll Be Watching

And so it went.

A campaign that was founded on lies ("golden age," the ownership of gold, the promise of distributing gold when it wins, a non-existent Oxford diploma, etc.), fueled by lies (the $203 billion tax debt is still being negotiated, when in reality the Supreme Court has declared it final and executable, among others) and sustained by lies has won.

And a Pink Movement has risen. How this new force will be harnessed is still to be determined, but it will. The proverbial genie is already out of the bottle and there is no putting it back in. 

It will be interesting times, the next six years. Unlike the father's, the son's administration will have hundreds of thousands of watchdogs that will be alert to its doings. We anticipate civilian unrest, much like the early '70s with its First Quarter Storm. We also anticipate repressive measures to quell this unrest because the son is bound to follow the father's playbook without the benefit of the father's diabolic brilliance. And therein lies the lethal brew, this mediocrity and hubris.

PF, like all legitimate media outlets, will watch, document, fact-check and share the stories that we know are real and true.  We will be part of the movement to correct the historical distortions that have proliferated online and have twisted the minds of many.


This Week’s Stories

What Now, Philippines? by Ernesto M. Hilario

Food-Tripping In Manila (And Nearby) by Mona Lisa Yuchengco

Hardheaded Woman by Patria Cabatuando-Rivera

[Webinar Video] Hate And "No Dogs"

[Cook it Again] The Happy Home Cook: Paella De Adobo By Señor Anastacio De Alba by Elizabeth Ann Quirino

{Video of the Week] Last Week Tonight: Philippine Elections



In The Know

Which Country Issued the Most Schengen Visas to Filipinos?
https://www.esquiremag.ph/life/travel/which-country-issued-schengen-visa-filipinos-a2274-20181210?utm_source=Facebook-Esquire&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20220510-fbnp-life-which-country-issued-schengen-visa-filipinos-a2274-20181210-fbold&fbclid=IwAR17dUD6YEG2jsDTWDIAGK5PDu_Ki1lXO172Ia-XU2MCCevh2Of1hnUDLss

Toro y Moi opens up, embraces Filipino heritage: ‘No more acting or putting on that sad boy image’
https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/music/toro-y-moi-shows-love-for-filipino-heritage-on-mahal?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headlines&utm_campaign=sfc_datebook&sid=53bb0669fdd5ac0b52000049

From IG to LA: How this Filipina home baker opened her first store in the US
https://www.rappler.com/life-and-style/food-drinks/how-filipina-pajama-baker-opened-first-store-united-states/?utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR1RhY-D8-OzAJGN4um5TwMfGI5fL87ktNXMIIQZf65hUNH_JKDOK1e_YPo#Echobox=1650957610

The Best Schools for Business Management in the Philippines 
https://www.esquiremag.ph/culture/lifestyle/best-business-management-schools-philippine-a2749-20220428-src-candy-lfrm?utm_source=Facebook-Esquire&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20220428-fbnp-culture-best-business-management-schools-philippine-a2749-20220428-src-candy-lfrm-fbfirst&fbclid=IwAR0gQfMUOXj6HGTlD90cg3DDUWKzI4G36mzVb3lehayB4_XiGxVxJdJnz_s

10 Metro Manila Roads, Then and Now
https://www.esquiremag.ph/culture/lifestyle/photos-10-metro-manila-roads-then-and-now-a1729-20190812-src-spot-lfrm?utm_source=Facebook-Esquire&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20220430-fbnp-culture-photos-10-metro-manila-roads-then-and-now-a1729-20190812-src-spot-lfrm-fbold&fbclid=IwAR0Bi_36XA7ZhiM64aoWBMYS5Qe8xejaZWpf62t5wQeEHSTP14cT4R4ds0w

Filipino-made Card Games to Know
https://www.tatlerasia.com/culture/others/pinoy-boardgames-to-know?utm_campaign=PH_DIG_FULL20220501&utm_medium=email&utm_source=tatlerasia.com

How to buy a guitar? You need to feel it in person, says this Cebu guitar maker
https://www.rappler.com/life-and-style/travel/alegre-guitar-factory-lapu-lapu-city-cebu/?utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR25KETR7bSMQcAi4dHXF3fVidyx9UB1qlv_fY4SylNPZu6a9JjUDq8UauM#Echobox=1651538493

The Culinary Capitals of the Philippines: Food Writer Ige Ramos’ Guide to Cavite
https://www.tatlerasia.com/dining/journeys/ige-ramos-food-guide-to-cavite?utm_campaign=PH_DIN_FULL20220505&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter


Life Choices

At certain points in our lifetime, we will come upon a crossroad (or several) that will force us to make a choice. Should I or shouldn't I? Do I get off the fence and risk a burning or do I stay put and risk irrelevance, or worse, regret?

The Philippine elections on May 9, 2022 is one such crossroad that calls on every Filipino to do his/her part in forging a better direction for the country. How to do it when one is far away? Former COMELEC chief Andy Bautista offers guidance in "How Overseas Filipino Voters Can Wield Clout in May ’22 Polls." 

[To help you make your decision, check out the links we post below in the Philippine Elections 2022 section. And if you want to verify your registration to vote, here's our Partner post from the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco.]

Around this time 36 years ago, our homeland confronted the motherlode of crossroads with the People Power revolt (aka EDSA '86) which led to the ouster of a dictator and a different political path for the country. No one who was there during that three-day uprising, like first-time PF contributor Ed Garcia, can forget what they did to help history along. Read his "On the Eve of Insurrection" and another EDSA story in “Read Again” below.

On a personal level, the choice one makes when in a crossroad can alter the course of one's life. 

A young lawyer's summer job in a country district attorney's office changed his career path. Now Pelayo A. Llamas is slated to become the Superior Court Judge in Alameda County, California (he's running unopposed).

A third-generation Fil-Am in Seattle chose to parlay her environmental science degree into actual farming, and now, Ari de Leña supplies Filipino produce to restaurants, civic organizations and households in the area.

And a college student in the activist '70s, forced to endure a painful breakup, decided to focus on her career dreams and raise a family in Australia. Almost half a century later, she faced another crossroad when her teenage love returned and promised to stay.

Read Again

77 Hours: The Behind-The-Scenes At The 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution by Gemma Nemenzo

The Battle Of Manila, WWII by James Scott

This year is the 77th anniversary of the month-long (February 3-March 3, 1945) battle to liberate Manila from the Japanese in WWII. Here's how it happened.

Recipe of the Week: Pan-Seared Halibut Fillet

Video of the Week: Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo by Doctor Influencers for Leni



In The Know

The Philippines Has the World's Second Highest Number of Female Inventors
https://www.esquiremag.ph/politics/news/philippines-has-second-highest-number-of-female-inventors-a833-sa00171-20220222-src-spot?utm_source=Facebook-Esquire&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20220222-fbnp-politics-philippines-has-second-highest-number-of-female-inventors-a833-sa00171-20220222-src-spot-fbfirst&fbclid=IwAR1HXYQ_8IGD3tGkl0Qe3T0gPvjsjdzKDfVVc7cnDj87qCy1nO5HJPTM-84

‘The Fabulous Filipino Brothers’: Dante Basco on How His Return to the Philippines Helped Tell His Story

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/fabulous-filipino-brothers-dante-basco-000941075.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=ma

Roderick Hall: Obituary
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/sfgate/name/roderick-hall-obituary?id=33037918

Jollibee debuts in Scotland with stores in Edinburgh and Glasgow
https://www.goodnewspilipinas.com/jollibee-debuts-in-scotland-with-stores-in-edinburgh-and-glasgow/?fbclid=IwAR2zQBYsBA3hDPe1KnPt6QBL7X5wfDygT53E_THmoYtWHazjy-CYfzHqP7s

This is the place to order Filipino home cooking in Toronto
https://www.thestar.com/life/food_wine/2022/02/10/this-is-the-place-to-order-filipino-home-cooking-from-in-toronto.html?fbclid=IwAR0mLE6RyYvK2in6d93Gt6KrcEDbx8LqiJZ23-UopZHAaS_lfv2FJdyPjcc 

A Dose of History: The Glory Days of Philippine Society Before World War II
https://www.tatlerasia.com/culture/arts/the-glory-days-of-philippine-society-before-world-war-ii?fbclid=IwAR0bqbvGM6qRVozSEXr74j-wvG4qw2q9LIhtlIjRVrpbSY9rATjF-t5svbY

Filipino settlers’ descendants in Louisiana show ancestral pride in new HBO Max series
https://usa.inquirer.net/92703/filipino-settlers-descendants-in-louisiana-show-ancestral-pride-in-new-hbo-max-series?fbclid=IwAR1bHS5do3MjpGKF43QQMcFnvF9XNP4cj8WUdgOjamhkC1ONJltqnvt6Ptw

Harana Market: Woodstock’s Asian Grocery-Deli Offers Filipino Flavors To The Catskills
https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2022/02/18/harana-market-the-dig/?fbclid=IwAR3FT-Vh5vBlyqKaZJH3BvZxFctjDUzBHrB6RUzHNGw9lLzwppyMkPAb5zc


Gemma Nemenzo

Editor, Positively Filipino

Carnivals Come and Gone

Filipinos are in for a rough-and-tumbly three months with the official beginning of the election campaign yesterday, February 8, until its culmination on May 9. Before the mud-slinging and the muddling go full gear, here's a clear-eyed sum-up by our Manila correspondent Ernesto M. Hilario of what's at stake in this, arguably the most important election of this era. 

Right now, we can still afford to indulge in some merry nostalgia with a look back on the spectacles of yesteryear - the Philippines International Fair of 1953 in Manila, a massive undertaking that, of course, generated controversy and obstacles. Surprisingly, not much information about the event has survived the onslaught of decades, as PF Correspondent/Internet sleuth Myles A. Garcia discovered. That's why this painstakingly researched story that he has put together is valuable today.

Another spectacle that has gone away with not much of a bang is the annual carnival of Cebu which introduced a long line of Cebuano beauties as carnival queens. Cecilia M. Brainard, whose mother was once a carnival queen, was able to gather bits and pieces of information on these celebrated beauties in her story this week. 

And since it's Valentine's week, let's enjoy again some historical romances from our archives:

Historian Ambeth R. Ocampo's "Romances in History" 
http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/romances-in-history

Penelope V. Flores' "Rizal's Great Loves" 
http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/2013/6/rizals-great-loves

Titchie Carandang-Tiongson and Erwin R. Tiongson's "The Untold Story of Nina Thomas" 
http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/the-untold-story-of-nina-thomas

And my story on "The Poet and the Women He Loved" 
http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/2013/2/the-poet-and-the-women-he-loved

Our Video of the Week is a heartwarming coverage of how a Fil-Am who was just sworn in as a US citizen was honored by the students of the elementary school where he works.

Don't fail to read the election stories whose links we have compiled in our special section, Philippine Elections 2022.

[Cook It Again] Vegan Filipino Spaghetti by Chef Richgail Enriquez


Philippine Elections 2022

Interview no-show and the Marcos myths
https://www.bworldonline.com/interview-no-show-and-the-marcos-myths/ 

Characteristics in Candidates Running for National Positions Should Possess
https://www.facebook.com/democracywatchph/posts/299961952165129

A generation that’s losing sleep over Marcos Jr.
https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/analysis-generation-losing-sleep-ferdinand-bongbong-marcos-jr/?fbclid=IwAR2nzXkVAIrvN5BD2-TP--Kz8_OFwstZstMVOpHAbsDUB5DCgXc_9Ff9gIk

The ‘golden age’ I remember
https://opinion.inquirer.net/149457/the-golden-age-i-remember?fbclid=IwAR2VnWQl4bRZBrSuVbI4T7DP6YsDIw_sH48pGzdj0vci2cnpkBXgiTaiiQY

Hindsight No.4: Denial and Dissonance
https://penmanila.ph/2022/02/07/hindsight-no-4-denial-and-dissonance/?fbclid=IwAR1dCjP1gmZR0tbF2CbDMlXRd2GUXhpnjwYSLOQlIjVyzrLTCBxThyePEqc


In The Know

Philippine Congress Allows Full Foreign Ownership in Telco, Rail
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/philippine-congress-allows-full-foreign-013456660.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=ma

FBI releases ‘Wanted’ poster for Quiboloy
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1550293/fbi-releases-wanted-poster-for-quiboloy?fbclid=IwAR3M4AAGgILK249-QOPyO200GRXuAn95YjKB5XZXse7Q7MooY9G2-IBtk3U

FAST FACTS: Who is Filipino Winter Olympian Asa Miller?
https://www.rappler.com/sports/things-to-know-asa-miller/?fbclid=IwAR1MvYp6vgr7l4XLeZyLjdSR7vJU1iWLDx2WddWjrlJE9r28V0SnSDalUgk

Our Progressive Past
gmanetwork.com/news/specials/content/206/our-progressive-past/?fbclid=IwAR2mlav8t9Di-Mp2jqDH2-9nWlpOwhnZzhLp_SP7Albihawy8R5GetqUek0

Kidlat Tahimik’s Subversive Retelling of the Philippines’ Colonial History
https://hyperallergic.com/694716/kidlat-tahimiks-subversive-retelling-of-the-philippines-colonial-history/ 

Digital artist reimagines Madrigal sisters from Disney film ‘Encanto’ as Filipinas
https://news.yahoo.com/digital-artist-reimagines-madrigal-sisters-234144264.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=ma

F. Sionil Jose's Solidaridad book store to continue operations
https://news.abs-cbn.com/life/02/04/22/f-sionil-joses-solidaridad-to-continue-operations?fbclid=IwAR2SUAmcHE9XMZlRpb6PBgvh65d8oazPmr_HT-o3zYpssiWPsT5o_nc5WW8 

When an icon turns 90: Celebrating Auntie Dorothy
https://iexaminer.org/when-an-icon-turns-90-celebrating-auntie-dorothy/?fbclid=IwAR3fF2Wqg0zC1lcThsfh_E3BT2pVAgML4T3UlUAQBKj3Cro-RWoDolM45oI 

With superheroes and puppets, Philippines boosts child COVID-19 vaccination drive
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/superheroes-and-puppets-philippines-boosts-child-covid-19-vaccination-drive-2484456


Gemma Nemenzo

Editor, Positively Filipino