April 23, 2025

Goodbyes at Easter

April 23, 2025/ Staff

Just as we were still mourning the unexpected death of Asia’s Queen of Songs, Pilita Corrales, we were shocked by the news that the Philippines’ only superstar, Nora Aunor, died. Nora is Pilita’s balae: Nora’s daughter Lotlot was the long-time partner of Pilita’s son Monching Gutierrez, and the two big stars of the entertainment industry shared three grandchildren.

And as we were still witnessing the pomp and circumstance of National Artist Nora’s funeral (watch our Video of the Week), we got the news that Pope Francis who many Filipino Catholics idolized, passed away. At the end of the same day, another death – Hajji Alejandro, one of the biggest singing sensations of the ‘70s. In the US, 82-year-old Patrick Adiarte who as a young boy played the role of the crown prince in the much beloved musical, The King and I, passed a few days earlier. (PF Correspondent Myles Garcia updated his feature on him, link below).

All this sadness happened within two weeks of the Easter season. It’s as if we don’t have enough stress and sorrow already as we watch the world as we know it implode before our eyes.

But we plodded on, searching for silver linings.

Like pride in our kababayans who have been elected or appointed to important government positions in their adopted countries. PF’s list, compiled by our publisher Mona Lisa Yuchengco, is proof that Filipinos are a positive force wherever they may be.

Like wonderment in the beautiful bonsai creations of ex-ad industry executive Angelito Pangilinan, who is not just a bonsai enthusiast but also an acknowledged advocate of the art.

The glut of empty condo units in metropolitan Manila at present, however, is a mixed bag. While the oversupply may mean prices may go down for the moneyed intending to buy units, there is also the glaring inequity issue, as Manila-based PF Correspondent Rene Astudillo points out.

Despite the contradictions in our realities, we hope you enjoy this issue.

Read Again:

We’re on a Pope Mobile By Nitz Almazora

The Manila Boy Who Would Be King By Myles A. Garcia

Pope Francis and My Brother By Gemma Nemenzo

In The Know

People Gather to Mourn and Honor Pope Francis
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/world/europe/pope-francis-photos-mourning-reaction.html?

Hajji Alejandro, OPM legend and balladeer, dead at 70
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSSg0DjX6uk

A Canadian Company Says It’s Fighting Pollution in the Philippines. Is It Cashing In Instead?
https://thewalrus.ca/plastic-credits/?lid=tyznz7alkt1s

Alexandra Eala: The reality of travel and difficulty of securing visas with a Philippine passport
https://www.tennis.com/baseline/articles/alexandra-eala-the-reality-of-travel-and-difficulty-of-securing-visas-with-a-philippine-passport?

Why the ICC should consider Sara in next round of arrests
https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/why-icc-should-consider-sara-next-round-arrests/?

Clark County Commission establishes 'Filipino Town' cultural district
https://news3lv.com/news/local/clark-county-commission-establishes-filipino-town-cultural-district?

Joel Lamangan and Ricky Lee to honor Nora Aunor with biopic
https://tribune.net.ph/2025/04/20/joel-lamangan-and-ricky-lee-to-honor-nora-aunor-with-biopic

July 03, 2024

Love and Hate

July 03, 2024/ Staff

When we were in elementary school in the '50s, Philippine Independence Day was celebrated on July 4th, the same day as the US. We also sang the American national anthem after we sang "Land of the Morning," the Philippine national anthem in English. It was just a little over a decade after WWII ended and the Americans were still hailed as our saviors.

When the Macapagal administration (1961-1965) changed the date of Independence Day to June 12, the date in 1898 when our ancestors declared our independence from Spain, it triggered an examination of US-Philippine relations, quietly and sporadically at the onset, then evolving into strident anti-Americanism during the Vietnam War and the student protest movement in the early '70s. Martial law suppressed the stridency and the alliance between the US government and the Filipino people continued. Just like any relationship, it went through the peaks and valleys of love and hate.

In a nutshell:

Love: when the US opened its doors to large-scale immigration of Filipino professionals and their families, leading to the emergence of a 5-million-strong Fil-Am community;

Love: when the US supported and enabled the exile of Marcos in 1986;

Hate: the US bases in Clark and Subic were closed down by Philippine Senate fiat in the early '90s;

Hate: President Rodrigo Duterte's very public anti-American pronouncements that accompanied his pivot to China;

Love: President Bongbong Marcos' current embrace of the Mutual Defense Treaty with the US against Chinese aggression in the West Philippine Sea.

Tomorrow, July 4, is another Filipino-American Friendship Day. Perhaps it's time for a reexamination to hold the historic relationship of the two countries on an even keel -- an alliance of equals now, not as colonized and colonizer or master and subject.

Stories This Week

Unsung Heroes Of A Secret Mission by John L. Silva

Play Plunges Actor Alexandra Hellquist In Unresolved Debate by Anthony Maddela

She’s A Farmer And She’s Okay by Ian Layugan

Carlos ‘Totong’ Francisco II: Art On His Own Terms by Primo Pacis

Bologna And Milan: Random Encounters by Criselda Yabes

Read Again:

When Hilario Met Sally: The Fight Against Anti-Miscegenation Laws

A Reunion of Strangers

Historical Memories Are Made of These

[Partner] Attorney General Bonta Releases 2023 Hate Crime Report, Highlights Continued Efforts To Combat Hate

[Video of the Week] How Did Philippine Art Connect Us Globally?

In The Know

‘It’s not all about the medals’: Olympian Margielyn Didal and her skateboarding journey
https://www.tatlerasia.com/lifestyle/sports/olympian-margielyn-didal-skateboarding-journey?

Philippine villagers smear mud on their bodies to show devotion to St. John the Baptist
https://apnews.com/article/philippines-bibiclat-mud-people-festival-john

Bini’s Charm and The Road To P-Pop Stardom
https://coverstory.ph/bini/

Years Later, Philippines Reckons With Duterte’s Brutal Drug War
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/29/world/asia/philippines-drug-war-duterte-justice.html?

Anti-American Hate Watch

Family members of woman pushed into S.F. BART train say death is shocking culmination of their worst fears
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/woman-shoved-bart-train-homeless-arrest-

Healing Anti-Asian Racism – The HOPE Framework
https://siliconeer.com/current/healing-anti-asian-racism-hope-framework/

Asian American History is US History, So Why Don’t Schools Teach It?
https://ethnicmediaservices.org/stop-the-hate/asian-american-history-is-us-history-so-why-dont-schools-teach-it/

Bachelorette Jenn Tran speaks out against racist comments
https://asamnews.com/2024/07/01/jenn-tran-bachelorette-racism/

Cops hunt creep who hurled racist insult at Asian man before bashing him with thermos
https://www.nydailynews.com/2024/06/29/cops-hunt-creep-who-hurled-racist-insult-at-asian-man-before-bashing-him-with-thermos/

Funding provided by the State of California.

April 17, 2024

Treasuring Mindanao

April 17, 2024/ Staff

For most of us who came of age in the 20th century in Manila and surrounding provinces, Mindanao has always been a frontier land -- remote, unknowable, somewhat scary. And violent. Our elementary and high school teachers glossed over Mindanao, foreign governments warned against visiting. What a shame!

In the last few decades, as Mindanao enjoyed relative peace, both domestic and foreign tourists have discovered the richness of the Philippines' second largest island -- its indigenous cultures, its natural beauty, its biodiversity, the wealth of opportunities it offers to water sports, and many other attractions that we missed out on when we were mired in prejudices against Mindanao.

In this issue, we have put together stories about Mindanao, with the hope that the lingering biases that may still inhabit readers' minds will finally be laid to rest.

• A Muslim Mindanaoan visits Tawi-tawi, the Philippines' southernmost province, and finds kinship.

• A Fil-Am cultural worker and his group is hosted by cultural groups in Cotabato for an unforgettable cultural immersion.

• A Manila-based community activist does a whirlwind tour of Zamboanga and discovers treasures.

From our archives, enjoy reading:

• A travel writer's visit to Sarangani, the district that Manny Pacquiao used to represent in Congress:
https://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/discovering-pacquiaos-sarangani

• A Mindanaoan academic debunks the myth that our Moro kababayans are prone to violence: Why Our Moro Brothers and Sisters Will Never Turn Fundamentalist — Positively Filipino | Online Magazine for Filipinos in the Diaspora

Also in this issue, our Earth Day offering on how an entrepreneurial couple has committed to the global environmental sustainability effort by setting up a sustainable, organic farm in Coron, Palawan.

And our Fil-Am compatriot, Rob Bonta, who is California's incumbent Attorney General, talks about the challenges in convicting hate crimes.

[Video of the Week] Chef Rex De Guzman