Timeless

"The Timeless Nora Aunor" is appropriately the title of our lead feature this week, which focuses on the single most influential superstar in Philippine entertainment for the past 50 years. San Francisco-based film expert Mauro Feria Tumbocon Jr., who has followed Nora Aunor's life and career meticulously, expertly encapsulates her triumphs and challenges -- certainly no mean feat since the superstar's trajectory is as fraught with drama as her roles have been.

Likewise, emerging triumphant from a long-drawn, turbulent legal case, the century-old (almost) Philippine Women's University (PWU) is all set to "build the scaffolding" for its next hundred years, as its current president, Dr. Francisco "Kiko" Benitez, puts it. Lyca Benitez-Brown, the university's media director, writes about the crown jewel of her distinguished clan's commitment to education, women and the nation.

We sent out a call for Hometown stories and the response has been gratifying (keep 'em coming, dear readers). Here's the first in our series: "In Search of the Cupang I Used to Know," where Ed Maranan, one of the most awarded Filipino writers of all time, tells us why his hometown, Cupang, Batangas, means a lot to him. 

For our Happy Home Cook this week: vegan chicharon is really not an oxymoron as our vegan chef, Richgail Enriquez, shares.

For our In The Know links this week:

Human Trafficking Survivor Speaks Out
https://www.facebook.com/fusionmedianetwork/videos/2036729566353011/?autoplay_reason=user_settings&video_container_type=0&video_creator_product_type=2&app_id=2392950137&live_video_guests=0

26 Filipino Words Now Officially Part Of The English Language
https://www.buzzfeed.com/aviannetan/like-hillary-clinton-is-a-presidentiable?utm_term=.veL7OB3OG#.mopmvxYvO

Mr. Wash SyCip @96
http://business.mb.com.ph/2017/07/04/mr-wash-sycip-96/

The problematic portrayal of Filipinos on American TV
http://cnnphilippines.com/life/entertainment/television/2016/06/23/filipinos-on-american-tv.html#.WV6QP0W1FT0.facebook

Why even the millennials must know the imprint of Luis Ma. Araneta
http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/265841/even-millennials-must-know-imprint-luis-ma-araneta/#ixzz4meRLR6G7 

For our Video of the Week, the singer formerly known as Charice Pempengco makes her singing debut as Jake Zyrus on ASAP.

Coconut, Chess and a Pork Shortage

With summer already scorching most of the western hemisphere, how about making some Buko-Pandan Gelatin, our Happy Home Cook feature for this week. The recipe which we reprinted (with permission) from the excellent cookbook, Kulinarya: A Guidebook to Philippine Cuisine, calls for real young coconuts; but you can use the very popular coconut juice from tetrapacks or bottles, and frozen buko (young coconut) strips that you can easily get from Asian stores. This is where you can also buy pandan flavoring. However you will do it, Buko-Pandan Gelatin should bring back happy memories of Philippine summers.

And speaking of memories, PF Correspondent Myles A. Garcia dug up some hilarious/crazy ones in his piece, "The Wacky 1978 Chess World Championship" held in Baguio City at the height of martial law. The lead characters in that zany event were chess masters Anatoly Karpov and Victor Korchnoi plus Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos. You get the idea.

Philippine-based PF Correspondent Rene M. Astudillo reports on the pork shortage in the Philippines and how the main ingredient for sisig or adobo that Filipinos constantly order may not actually come from homegrown pigs but imported from somewhere else.

So you will always be In The Know, here are some timely and must-read links to stories from other publications:

The Tragedy of Marawi for a Chastened Duterte
http://www.asiasentinel.com/politics/tragedy-marawi-weakened-rodrigo-duterte/

Whatever Happened to Manny Pacquiao?
http://www.esquiremag.ph/politics/what-ever-happened-to-manny-pacquiao-a00148-20161219

3 Filipinos on Forbes list of philanthropists
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/158537/3-filipinos-forbes-list-philanthropists

This Filipino Dish Is So Good It Might Make You Sing
http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/06/28/534590761/her-mother-taught-her-to-make-this-filipino-dish-now-shell-teach-you

Sugar Pie DeSanto’s Delicious Soul
https://m.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/sugar-pie-desantos-delicious-soul/Content?oid=7694048

For our Video of the Week, Periscope Films released a 1950s travelogue on the Philippines produced by Northwest Orient Airlines for its passengers.

Ube Art

Ube, that beloved purple root crop ubiquitous in Filipino desserts, takes center stage in San Francisco Bay Area-based artist O. M. France Viana's latest installations at Mills College Museum's 12 Degrees MFA Exhibition. Viana, a recent MFA graduate of Mills, has made it her mission "to chronicle how Filipino immigration is redefining what it means to be American," as PF contributor Manzel Delacruz reports. Along with ube, a collection of Black Madonnas, to which Viana claims a personal devotion, distinguished her exhibition.

Filipino cuisine has been getting a lot of press in the US lately but in the United Kingdom, it's still relatively unknown. But not for long, as self-made chef Roni Bandong has made it her personal crusade to promote Filipino cooking through her Maynila Supper Club (the British equivalent of the pop-up restaurant) and by winning in a UK-wide TV cooking show. Bandong's "chicken relleno" was chosen "Best Alternative Christmas Dish," as PF Correspondent and foodie Elizabeth Ann Quirino writes. That award-winning "rellenong manok" recipe is our Happy Home Cook feature for this week. Bookmark it for your Christmas cooking.

Here are the links to interesting stories this week, for you to be In The Know:

6 Filipino scientists who are changing the world
http://cnnphilippines.com/life/culture/2017/06/27/6-filipino-scientists.html

CBCP guide lists websites peddling fake news
http://www.rappler.com/nation/173832-cbcp-list-websites-fake-news

Jojo De Carteret's Homecoming
https://www.facebook.com/kapusomojessicasoho/videos/10154922026076026/?autoplay_reason=user_settings&video_container_type=0&video_creator_product_type=2&app_id=2392950137&live_video_guests=0

Pinoys the 'greatest' supporters of Trump in the world - Pew Research
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/616064/pinoys-the-greatest-supporters-of-trump-in-the-world-pew-research/story/

In Tama's No-Frills Space, the Filipino Food is Anything But
http://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/15/dining/tama-review-filipino-restaurant-brooklyn.html

And our Video of the Week: actor Dante Basco, director Jonah Feingold and their team just launched “Bangarang,” a prequel short film to Steven Spielberg's “Hook.” The Kickstarter-backed film explores the life of Basco's character Rufio before he became the leader of the lost boys in Neverland.