A Living Archive of Fil-Am Achievement

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History is not preserved by monuments alone. It endures because people choose to remember, to tell stories, and to honor lives that have shaped a community. That is what the annual Building Communities: A Tribute to our Manongs and Manangs, created by Mona Lisa Yuchengco, have accomplished year after year. Through Positively Filipino, the event is more than an awards program; it is a living archive of Filipino American achievement. The honorees come from different generations and walks of life, yet together they reveal a larger truth—that our history has been written by soldiers and teachers, scientists and physicians, artists and writers, entrepreneurs, public servants, and community advocates whose contributions have too often remained outside the pages of mainstream history. By bringing these lives into the light, the manong and manang honors affirm that every story preserved strengthens the story of us all.

This year's gathering is another opportunity to celebrate not only twelve distinguished individuals but also the enduring legacy of a community whose contributions continue to shape America. The honorees did more than achieve personal success; they widened the path for those who followed, opened doors once closed to Filipinos, built institutions, preserved our heritage, and enriched the fields they served. In honoring them, Positively Filipino honors our collective journey. 

We invite our readers to join us for this special occasion—to listen, to affirm, and to become part of a celebration that reminds us that history is a living inheritance, carried forward every time a name is spoken, a life is remembered, and a community comes together in gratitude and pride.

This Week’s Stories 

When the Youngest Manong Becomes the Elder by Alex S. Fabros, Jr.

Trans Man and Trans Woman Tie Knot in PH Catholic Church by Rene Astudillo

‘Subsaharan Mindanao’ to the World by Elaine Joy Edaya Degale

He Danced Before He Knew Why by Lani Domaloy

[Read It Again]

My Close Call on 9/11 by Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba (Ret.)

Why the F in ‘Filipino’ and How Did It Get There? by Marne Kilates

[Video of the Week]

Why is America defending a shipwreck?

In The Know

'Most exciting player' Eala shows 'Filipino heart' to make history
https://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/articles/cjwx9y96x90o

Nearly 10 months in ICE custody, a photojournalist’s case tests the limits of protected speech
https://www.therebelyellow.com/p/nearly-10-months-in-ice-custody-a?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

‘Little Manila is in the heart. 209:’ How a Stockton community preserved the stories of the Filipino migrants who built it
https://stocktonia.org/news/community/2026/07/30/little-manila-is-in-the-heart-209-how-a-stockton-community-preserved-the-stories-of-the-filipino-migrants-who-built-it/

[OPINION] Pax Silica and the Philippines: Will we build the future or simply build it for others?

https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/opinion-pax-silica-will-philippines-build-future-or-for-others/?

'I feel like I dug my own grave': The workers caught in the AI transition
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgr7nxve05go

5 Library Cafes to Visit Around Metro Manila
https://www.preview.ph/culture/food/library-cafes-manila-a6887-

Laperal, Not the Haunted Baguio Mansion
https://tribune.net.ph/2026/07/24/laperal-not-the-haunted-baguio-mansion

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Staff

A Meaningful Journey

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Toronto-based intrepid traveler/chronicler/photographer Odette Foronda invites us to experience (not just see) Auschwitz, 70 kilometers from Krakow, Poland and site of the most notorious Nazi concentration camp in WWII. It's not going to be a joyful journey but a meaningful one, an important history lesson in fact, considering current US and world realities. Through her words and photos, Odette poses a challenge: learn and understand what happened in Auschwitz and disprove what she quotes a wise man as saying, that "The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history."

FilAm artist and picture book illustrator Niña Mata has come up with a children's book called Girls to the Front, featuring 40 Asian American women from various generations who became prominent in their chosen fields. Of the 40, seven are Filipinas. Find out who they are from Claire Mercado-Obias' review, "Let's Hear It for the Girls."

She may not look Filipino but multi-awarded theater and film actress Sunita Mukhi is as Filipino as sinigang and tinikling. Born and bred in the Philippines, educated in St. Scholastica and La Salle, Sunita, now a US citizen, goes home (to Manila) whenever she has the time because family and friends are there waiting for her. Rogelio Constantino Medina profiles this totally Filipino performer.

Our Video of the Week: to commemorate the 9th anniversary of the arbitral ruling on the West Philippine Sea, a concert at sea was organized by Akbayan. 

Read Again: 

How Filipinos Got Their Surnames by Penélope V. Flores
Quezon Saved Jews from the Holocaust by Ambeth R. Ocampo
Filipino Terms of Endearment by Myles A. Garcia

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Staff

Polls Post-Mortem

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The Philippines' midterm elections are over, thank goodness. And the overall results are a mixed bag, some unexpected, some unfortunate, a few horrifying. We asked our Manila-based political writer Ernesto Hilario for a post-mortem and he sent us this comprehensive overview of what this election portends for the next three years, until the next cycle comes along. While there are rays of sunshine and hope, it's still generally a stalemate among the trapos (traditional politicians) and the political dynasties. 

In the world of women's football, it's a different story. FilAm phenoms Alyssa and Giselle Thompson, aka the Thompson sisters, are expected to light up the roster of team Angel City FC. PF Correspondent Anthony Maddela writes of an optimistic future for the two, the progeny of a Filipino American father and a Peruvian American mother.  

Launching this month is FilAm writer Monica Macansantos' book, Returning to My Father's Kitchen, a collection of 15 essays that tenderly honors the legacy of her late father, a Palanca-award winning poet. Novelist Patty Enrado reviews the book. 

If you're planning to travel internationally this year and considering whether to go it on your own or join a group tour, read PF Correspondent Cherie Querol Moreno's story on the satisfactions of being among new-found friends.

Read It Again

Postcards from Rome by Odette Foronda
When Spring Ran in Manila, a Sort of Book Synopsis by Amadio Arboleda
Six or Seven Meals a Day by Ralph Semino Galán

[Video of the Week] Heritage Houses

In The Know

Today I Learned: Filipinos Can Acquire Spanish Citizenship by Proving Descent
https://www.esquiremag.ph/culture/spanish-citizenship-a7994-20250516-lfrm?

[Edgewise] Racially slanted Trump immigration scheme bared
https://www.gmanetwork.com/entertainment/celebritylife/news/122426/lea-salonga-and-her-child-nic-share-their-experiences-as-filipinos-in-the-us/story?

Sean 'Diddy' Combs' ex-girlfriend says he raped her, paid $20 million in settlement
https://www.reuters.com/legal/sean-diddy-combs-chief-accuser-resume-testimony-sex-trafficking-trial-2025-05-14/

Filipino Mothers and Their Famous Children
https://www.esquiremag.ph/culture/arts-and-entertainment/filipino-moms-a7942-20250511-lfrm?

View from Manila: A West Philippine Sea documentary one country doesn’t want you to see
https://www.rappler.com/philippines/view-manila-west-sea-food-delivery-documentary/

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Staff