The Marcos Jewelry and Encounters in the Caribbean

I'm back home after a six-week stay in the Philippines and as always, a homeland vacation is replete with emotions, nostalgia and infuriating same-old same-old issues. One thing sure though: there's never a dull moment in the country where we grew up. Politics inevitably was a topic of conversation and political personalities old and new can still stir some passionate discussions.

Take Imelda Marcos -- as Positively Filipino Correspondent Myles A. Garcia writes, her collection of jewelry is always an object of speculation, interest and derision. Read his update on what is happening to this treasure trove of blings. 

Imelda's jewels is also the topic of a documentary called "Kwento ng mga Alahas," our Video of the Week.

Filipinos are everywhere in the world as attested to by another PF Correspondent Rey E. de la Cruz, whose Pinoyspotting this week focuses on his encounters in the Dominican Republic and Curacao.

Our In The Know links for today:

Trump Could Deport me. That’s Why I’m at His Speech to Congress. by Jose Antonio Vargas
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2017/02/28/trump-could-deport-me-thats-why-im-at-his-speech-to-congress/?utm_term=.a7844a9a9685

Death on the Night Shift in Duterte’s Manila  by Miguel Syjuco
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/22/opinion/death-on-the-night-shift-in-dutertes-manila.html?rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Fmiguel-syjuco&action=click&contentCollection=opinion&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection&_r=0

LA Fil-Ams mourn passing of community leader-activist Greg Santillan
http://usa.inquirer.net/1492/la-fil-ams-mourn-passing-community-leader-activist-greg-santillan

OFW Nurse from Canada Shares Sad Story About Her Demanding Family Back Home
https://www.facebook.com/pesosenseph/posts/689716461213107:0

And our Happy Home Cook recipe, Paksiw na Pata from PF Correspondent and foodie Rene A. Astudillo, is probably our last meat dish before we start our Lenten collection of recipes next week.

You might also be interested in our Partner Post this week, everything you want to know about Assumptionistas. 

Climate of Denial

While climate change deniers have been getting some exposure in the public consciousness lately because of the new US president, we support what 95% of the world's scientists agree on: climate change is the single most serious challenge confronting our planet in the next decades. To better understand this issue, Los Angeles-based journalist Dorian Merina writes the second of a series of articles on the issue. "What's Driving Climate Change?" tells it like it is.

In Toronto, Maripi Leynes hangs out in a Filipino-Canadian restaurant and tells us about it. "In This Corner, Kanto by Tita Flips" gives visitors to Canada's eastern shores a place to enjoy a touch of home. Tita Flips also shares with us two recipes for our Happy Home Cook: one for kwek kwek (a dish made of quail eggs) and another for taho (sweetened tofu drink).

To get you up to speed on news in other publications, here's a buffet of In the Know links:

TNTs Fear Trump’s Enforcement Surge by Rodel Rodis
https://www.facebook.com/notes/rodel-rodis/tnts-fear-trumps-enforcement-surge/1180812835364804

'Hook' prequel film 'Bangarang' reaches Kickstarter goal
http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/Movies/2017/02/20/Hook-prequel-film-Bangarang-reaches-Kickstarter-goal/5281487613448/

Danish man charged with ordering rape of 346 children in ‘historic’ livestream sex abuse case
https://www.rt.com/news/377652-denmark-pedophile-abuse-livestreams/#.WKbWx5gRU74.facebook

Tel Aviv's Little Manila
http://roadsandkingdoms.com/2017/tel-avivs-little-manila/?utm_source=Mash-Up+Americans+Newsletter&utm_campaign=2a7bc5c731-Weekly_Newsletter_012717&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b7389b4eea-2a7bc5c731-279253069

FM's Propagandist's Grandson Fights Lies
http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/02/20/1674033/fm-propagandists-grandson-fights-lies

For our Video of the Week, here's the world famous band Journey's rendition of "Bayan Ko," from a recent concert in Manila. Journey, of course, has strong Filipino connections. It's lead singer, Arnel Pineda, is one of ours.

"Feastivals" and Valentine Videos

A day after Valentine's Day, the social media universe of the Philippines – where some serious celebration of V-Day happens every year -- is still kilig over the three tear-inducing videos of Jollibee, titled Crush, Vow and Date. Watch them here and get your hankies ready.

Minola Oil (a Philippine product) underscores the progress of gay rights in the country with its V-Day commercial.

Another story of celebrations comes from Positively Filipino Correspondent Rene Astudillo, who has moved semi-permanently from the San Francisco Bay Area back to the homeland. “Feast-ivals of the North” introduces the food festivals of the Ilocos, a region famous for both healthy and strange dishes.

Another Positively Filipino Correspondent, Los-Angeles-based Anthony Maddela profiles Fil-Am Jeffrey Cirio, principal dancer of the American Ballet Theatre in New York. Jeffrey, raised in Philadephia by his Filipino father and American mother, will be dancing in Don Quixote in May 2017.

For your expanded reading fare, here are the In the Know links for this week:

From Oprah to MoMA Catalog: Filipino Designer's Clutch is a Hit: http://www.townandcountry.ph/out-about/arts-culture/filipino-designer-carissa-evangelista-s-clutch-makes-it-to-moma-s-international-catalog-a00180-a00185-20170208

The Second Youngest Billionaire in the World is a Filipino-American:
http://nextshark.com/bobby-murphy-snap-inc-filipino-american/

Toronto Ube Desserts
https://www.facebook.com/Insiderdessert/videos/1643592859269533/?autoplay_reason=user_settings&video_container_type=0&video_creator_product_type=2&app_id=2392950137&live_video_guests=0

Bongbong to DILG? Robredo allies, ex-Comelec exec weigh in:
http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/14/17/bongbong-to-dilg-robredo-allies-ex-comelec-exec-weigh-in

We go vegan again this week with Richgail Enriquez's recipe for vegetable lumpiang shanghai.

A post-Valentine Watch Again treat: “66 Years, 2 Months, 21 Days…. and Still Counting,” produced and directed by our publisher, Mona Lisa Yuchengco.