Once In A Lifetime

The Filipina actor Cherie Gil was a once-in-a-lifetime talent that graced Philippine movies and television for almost five decades. She belonged to showbiz royalty with her parents Eddie Mesa and Rosemarie Gil, her brothers Michael de Mesa and Mark Gil, and a big bunch of nephews and nieces who are likewise making their mark in the entertainment industry. Cherie's demise announced on August 5 led to a deluge of tributes, one of them from her friend, PF contributor Pablo Tariman. ["Cherie Gil, A Beautiful Soul"]

Five years ago, a distinguished Filipino was flying to New York via Vancouver when he suffered a heart attack. When the airline crew called for a physician among the passengers, a Filipino doctor and his wife, also a doctor, rushed to resuscitate him, but it was too late. The distinguished gentleman was Washington SyCip, 96 years old, an icon in the business community. The doctor who tried to save him was Blas Bermudez who wrote about the heartbreaking experience on his Facebook post, which we are reposting here. ["Last Flight Home"]

Filipinos of a certain age crooned and swooned to The Association's big hits like "Never My Love," "Cherish," "Windy," and "Along Comes Mary." What we didn't know then was that a Filipino-Hawaiian was a big part of that cherished pop group and in fact became the group's leader in 1984. Larry Ramos was a Bridge Generation Fil-Am worth extolling and Peter Jamero, another Bridge Generation stalwart, does so. ["Along Comes Larry"]

 If you haven't yet, go and watch Easter Sunday, the movie starring a delightful cast of Filipino Americans led by Jo Koy. One of them is Rodney To, who plays Tito Arthur. PF Correspondent Anthony Maddela profiles this real-life professor of dramatic arts at the University of Southern California. ["Rodney To is More Than Just Jo Koy's Uncle in Easter Sunday"]

Hometowns was one of our popular series that collected personal nostalgia stories about places in the Philippines that defined one's character and memories. Here's one of those narratives about the tiny island of Cuyo, where writer Noni Mendoza grew up and continues to yearn for. ["My Island in the Sun"]

[Read It Again]

The yo-yo is not a Filipino invention but a Filipino, Pedro Edralin Flores, got the first commercial trademark for the toy in the US: http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/pedro-and-the-yo-yo-man-and-myth

The beauty of indigenous Filipino tattoos is on full display in this story:

http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/mark-of-four-waves

{Cook It Again] The Happy Home Cook: Marinated Baby Back Ribs 

[Video of the Week] Little Girl Does T’boli Dance

[Partner] Sinehan sa Konsulado 2022 - As part of the Sinehan sa Konsulado 2022, Positively Filipino presents a special screening of Mona Lisa Yuchengco’s MARILOU DIAZ-ABAYA: FILMMAKER ON A VOYAGE. The film will be available VOD (video-on-demand) for FREE from 12 noon August 19 to 12 noon August 25 PST on this access link: https://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/marilou-diaz-abaya-filmmaker-on-a-voyage



Three Women

Three women, three very different lives. 

Manila-based contributor Rochit I. Tañedo draws on her valuable experience in community organizing to give us a glimpse of the challenging life of T'boli women of Lake Sebu, South Cotabato.

Food expert and PF Correspondent Elizabeth Ann Quirino focuses on Liza Agbanlog, a Vancouver-based food blogger turned cookbook author who shares with us her own recipe for Sinigang na Isda sa Miso, our Happy Home Cook feature of the week. 

From New York, PF Correspondent Serina Aidasani profiles visual artist and poet Monica Ong, who explores her Chinese, Filipino and American lineage through her art and poetry.

Our In The Know links this week:

Can Imelda Erase History Again?
https://www.asiasentinel.com/politics/can-imelda-marcos-erase-history-again/?fbclid=IwAR1LSMkmDFqDN-1iMlmI_5VJp8MPMzSVfvKMIpcATOdyNeosu25VGu4vhTY

Rewriting history in the Philippines and the fight for the truth
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-46185620/rewriting-history-in-the-philippines-and-the-fight-for-the-truth?fbclid=IwAR3R5cG-ITv9luNzJKz9UWOHh6b2JZCxngH2WQs3gOD7Blf_odu8hw4ZKKM

Bells of Balangiga: Why they matter
https://news.abs-cbn.com/focus/11/13/18/bells-of-balangiga-why-they-matter?fbclid=IwAR3E-6_JIU6h4ErWwS6TDSV00rv9jaLlthIyr64kycGwqEeu5CWC_LR9pwA

Painting to Live: The Remarkable Story of 90-Year-Old Filipina Artist Araceli Dans
https://lifestyleasia.onemega.com/painting-to-live-the-remarkable-story-of-90-year-old-filipina-artist-araceli-dans/?fbclid=IwAR1dbatsmXtZbVd5TRtC58JqfNGaBINuDaE3SLjjFcpCvdnhNsE9-yJHfHA

For video of the week, Youtube comedian Jeppy Paraiso shares the Thanksgiving cheer.

Gemma Nemenzo

Editor, Positively Filipino

Lakes, Indigenous Art and the Beatles

A warm welcome to those who are getting this weekly newsletter the first time.

Positively Filipino has been publishing exclusively online since January 2013 and since then, has 500 or so stories on the myriad aspects of Filipino history, culture and politics to its name. If you click this link, you'll have access not only to the new stories we have this week but also to our archives, categorized according to general topics and through the authors' names. Just scroll down to the categories on the right side of the page. Everything is clickable so you can go straight to an author's work or the category you want to read.

Don't forget to check out our Global Briefs also for capsule reports on the goings-on in Filipino communities and Filipinos in different parts of the world.

This week, we feature the incredible art and culture of the T'boli people of Cotabato, one of the Philippines' indigenous tribes that should make us all proud, if only we know more about them. Patricia Araneta traveled to Lake Sebu in T'boli-land and wrote a compelling report, "T'boli: It's Better to Weave Than Leave," that includes pictures that showcase the exquisite work of the T'boli women weavers.

In Baguio City, the art of the Ifugao carvers take center stage as the Philippine Bamboo Foundation Inc. promotes the native product as a source of livelihood and as a means to protect the environment. Baguio-based writer Desiree Caluza explains in "You Take A Stick of Bamboo."

For writers in the midst of crafting a novel or a nonfiction book, nothing is more welcome than a respite from the demands of daily existence to be able to focus exclusively on writing. Maria Carmen Sarmiento, a Manila-based author, was able to do just that when she was chosen to spend a month in Bellagio, Italy by the banks of beautiful Lake Como. She tells us about how it was to write and interact with  an elite group of writers from all over the world in "My Month By the Lake."

Our recipe this week in The Happy Home Cook: Slow-cooked Sirloin Pepper Steak over Rice from Rene Astudillo, also known as the creator of The Adobo Chronicles.

For our Video of the Week, a group of Filipino fans seeks to reverse the Beatles' bad memories of Manila with "Postcards for Ringo"

Gemma Nemenzo

Editor, Positively Filipino