Force Majeure & Looking Back

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We've seen the reels, read the reports, and checked on family and friends in General Santos City and neighboring provinces in southern Mindanao following the powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck a few days ago. As of this writing, at least 37 people have died, thousands have been displaced, and an estimated 10,000 residents have been left homeless. Homes, schools, and other buildings have collapsed, while coastal communities remain on alert as authorities continue to monitor the threat of tsunami-related hazards.

Filipinos are no strangers to natural disasters. Typhoons, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and floods have long been part of life in our archipelago. Yet familiarity does not lessen the pain and hardship that a calamity of this magnitude brings. Every disaster leaves families grieving, communities struggling to rebuild, and countless lives forever changed.

For Filipinos in the diaspora, this is once again a moment to unite in solidarity with our kababayans in Mindanao. We can storm the heavens with prayers, but we can also translate our concern into action by supporting relief and recovery efforts. As always, let us exercise care and diligence, ensuring that our donations and assistance reach those who truly need them rather than falling into the hands of scammers, opportunists, or corrupt officials.

Our stories this week:

Graciano Lopez Jaena, the Ilonggo patriot and leading voice of the Propaganda Movement in the years preceding Philippine independence, has long been the subject of myths, misconceptions, and historical distortions. A new and meticulously researched book by fellow Ilonggo historian Emmanuel Lerona, Graciano's Dirty Fingers, seeks to set the record straight and restore a fuller understanding of this important national figure. Canada-based writer Meyen Quigley reviews the book in “Rebuffing Graciano Lopez Jaena's ‘Dirty Fingers.’”

While attending his son's wedding in Mexico, Toronto-based economist and academic Cesar Polvorosa Jr. found himself struck by a sense of familiarity. The reason, he realized, lay in the deep cultural and historical connections between Mexico and the Philippines, forged through centuries of shared colonial experience. He reflects on those discoveries in “Finding the Philippines in Mexico.”

We also feature two articles exploring the Philippines' iconic national attire:

“The Terno: Living Silhouette of the Filipino Soul” by Zardo A. Austria traces the remarkable evolution of the terno and its enduring place in Filipino identity.

In “Barong and Filipiniana: A Foreigner's Altered Impression,” Anton Dvoryadkin recounts how initial skepticism gave way to admiration and appreciation for the elegance, history, and cultural significance of the barong tagalog and Filipiniana.

[Read It Again]

A Valiant People's Army by John L. Silva

The Saga of the Tamontaka Teduray Sisters by Eduardo C. Tadem

Filipino Terms of Endearment by Myles A. Garcia

[Video of the Week] The Philippine Heritage Collection

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Staff

If You Want to Know Who We Are

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For those of you who have just Subscribed to get this Positively Filipino newsletter in your Inbox every Wednesday, you can go to our website, positivelyfilipino.com to get the lay of the land, so to speak. PF as you know, is purely online and we've been around since 2013. Thus, we have a rich collection of Filipino diaspora stories from our impressive roster of writers. Click on Collections and Series to peruse our archives. And if you want to know who we are, here's the link: http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/editorial/ 

In addition to this week's lineup of stories, you can also check out our In Brief section http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/in-brief for quick updates on news about Filipinos worldwide. Our Community News section http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/community-news links you to events you might want to join or support.

Don't miss out on our curated In The Know links to significant stories from other publications below. The links are accessible only through this newsletter, in the same way that our chosen Video of the Week can only be accessed below. 

As always, PF strives to be the unifying thread that links us through generations, to our motherland, to Filipinos wherever they may be in the world, to our history and culture, and to each other via the vast variety of stories we have gathered and continue to collect.

Like PF contributing writer Lourdes Sobredo's kwento about her late grandpa, Perfecto delos Santos, who was one of the manongs who arrived in California in 1929 and worked the farms along with thousands of young, Filipino males who left the Philippines to seek better opportunities in the US.

From Japan, long-time resident Amadio Arboleda gives a synopsis of his book about his decades-long search for Atsuko Nambu, a gold medalist in the 100-meter relay during the Asian Games of 1954. The teenage athlete unwittingly softened the hearts of Filipinos still bitter over the Japanese occupation just a few years before.

From Washington D.C., historian Erwin Tiongson tells of his visit to the National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar Hazy Center, where he saw the Boeing P-26, a short-lived war plane that nonetheless played an important part in the WW II history of Philippine aviation.

From the Netherlands, Maya Butalid -- leftist, revolutionary, feminist, community activist -- chronicles her journey from "true believer" to one who had to leave, in her recently published memoir reviewed by our regular contributor, Patricio Abinales. 

And for those who missed last week's webinar on the "HANAPEPE Massacre Mystery 1924," here's the link to the recording. 

There is never a dearth of interesting, heartwarming and provocative stories from Filipinos, and if you have one, we encourage you to write and share. 

More This Week

[Cook It Again] The Happy Home Cook: Sizzling Sisig

[Video of the Week] The Rocky Fellers “Little Darlin’”

In The Know

Pucker Up for Filipino Vinegar

https://www.globalcarinderia.com/articles/pucker-up-for-filipino-vinegar/?fbclid=IwAR3UFV4VXEYYgCr7Gurco8OPg1AnB30gGJSvKaKi31rbuNWBjiW1bPCyDwQ

Ateneo debuts in THE World rankings as top PH school, places in 351-400 bracket

https://www.ateneo.edu/news/2022/10/12/ateneo-2023-the-world-university-rankings?fbclid=IwAR07fMcoiUdDShfpvQ8IXNGhSvddxOPEBRuHcXQ8pPlQDI2FPE6y0Rv4C7g

Welcome to Dollywood: Meet the Scene-Stealer of the Year’s Most Outrageous Film

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/10/awards-insider-dolly-de-leon-triangle-of-sadness-interview?fbclid=IwAR1g6Jqn0MUaAxDbxtiow-ip34C27J1k4xABBkXIqS97viL1xUoxrKWrfhs

Global Shipbuilder Austal Launches Its Largest Ferry Ever, And It's Made in the Philippines

https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/austal-largest-ferry-philippines-a00203-20221007?utm_source=Facebook-Esquire&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20220907-fbnp-long-reads-austal-largest-ferry-philippines-a00203-20221007-fbfirst&fbclid=IwAR1xGhf5vpPU52GP9Ht9ZCu7cBTVECR9OiqdssRKAYqH9cJXHtAamQybJ60

How L.A.'s Little Manila Disappeared Without a Trace

https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/los-angeles-little-manila?fbclid=IwAR1eeZd6zz2SDrvYHSDf5KXMpVA9m0lLp4TdljndUrCqoxol0RunX72tJSc

How a Teacher in Davao Finally Met Her Japanese Father Three Decades After WWII

https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/half-japanese-teacher-davao-finally-meets-father-a2328-20220922-lfrm3?utm_source=Facebook-Esquire&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20221009-fbnp-long-reads-half-japanese-teacher-davao-finally-meets-father-a2328-20220922-lfrm3-fbold&fbclid=IwAR2YAcdSQeSBkxeuFktICVWm8HWG4vp38hZMBfqcKHVYB0632WY7QCx3vZI

Rights group: 59 lawyers slain in 6 years in Philippines

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/rights-group-59-lawyers-slain-years-philippines-91547288

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Staff

Heroes, Food and Special Women

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Memorial Day in the US has come and gone, but honoring our war veterans knows no deadlines. We are posting an article from Ben de Guzman, first published in Huffington Post.

Filipino cuisine seems to be gaining a foothold in the United Kingdom as British Filipino chefs, eager to celebrate their roots and put some British twists to their culinary creations, set up pop-ups and even regular restaurants to promote and share their food. One of them is Rex de Guzman, aka Le Happy Chef, who is profiled here by culinary journalist Jacqueline Lauri.

In the US, the Quesada family of Ramar Food International is one of the primary proponents of the Filipino Food Movement. Read Again the story of how the family business, the biggest Filipino frozen food manufacturer and distributor in the Western hemisphere, came about in "Healthy, Fancy, Trendy: Quesada Trio Bring Filipino Tastes Mainstream."

Meanwhile, renowned author and academic Luis H. Francia writes about two awesome women who have published notable books: Gemma Cruz Araneta (yes, the first Filipina Miss International) and his late sister, Sr. Myrna H. Francia of the ICM congregation. Gemma's Hanoi Diary is a historical account of her and her then-husband's visit to North Vietnam at the height of the Vietnam War. Sister Myrna, whom her brother describes as not really a "goody goody" person, shocked everyone including her family when she decided to become a nun. She wrote The Party's Over: A Nun for Modern Times before she passed away. Both books are still commercially available and definitely worth reading.

Our Happy Home Cook feature this week: Le Happy Chef's recipe of his Anglicized version of our beloved sisig.

In our Video of the Week, Kristiane Hill shot an 8 mm film during her travels to Manila and Asia around the end of 1920's till early 1930's. Her grandson, Kim Skaarup, uploaded the video.

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Gemma Nemenzo

Editor, Positively Filipino