Olympics, Protests and Plastics

Nine days from today, the Winter Olympic Games will begin in PyeongChang, South Korea. To get us hyped on this once-every-four-years spectacle, Olympic historian and PF Correspondent Myles A. Garcia tells us about his visits to two Olympic Museums: the official museum of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), appropriately called The Olympic Museum (TOM) in Lausanne, Switzerland; and the Museu Olympic i de L’Esport - Joan Antoni Samaranch (MOLE-JAS) in Barcelona, Spain. Both museums offer Olympic enthusiasts collections to behold but Myles was invited to the bowels of TOM to see some prized mementoes. Read his story and be awed.

Going back in history, 48 years ago this month, Manila erupted with massive student demonstrations against the Marcos government and US imperialism, a tectonic period that is now immortalized as the First Quarter Storm. Author/poet/essayist Ed Maranan, who participated actively and later, along with thousand others, paid the price for his activism, recalls those heady, disruptive days in "Postcript: My Life Before and After the First Quarter Storm."

With 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic created since the early 1950's, plastic pollution has become an extremely serious environmental disaster that is threatening the planet. In this piece from the international nonprofit Break Free From Plastic, the severity of the problem is discussed and more importantly, the biggest corporate polluters are identified. Some of them are brands we grew up with.

Here's another crazy collection of In The Know links for your reading pleasure:

Social Media Devumi Under Fire for Selling Fake Followers to the Stars 
https://www.rappler.com/technology/news/194700-social-media-devumi-under-fire-selling-fake-followers-stars

Duterte to Build a $1 Billion New City for Thousands of Workers
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-29/duterte-to-build-a-1-billion-new-city-for-thousands-of-workers?cmpid=socialflow-facebook-asia&utm_content=asia&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social

Women Journalists Standing Up to Bullies is a Filipino Tradition
http://usa.inquirer.net/9785/women-journalists-standing-bullies-filipino-tradition

Opinion: Rappler Should Stop Misleading Everyone
http://opinion.inquirer.net/110628/rappler-stop-misleading-everyone

For those who may have issues with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), California State Representative Rob Bonta presents a checklist of your rights. Even if you are not a US citizen, you have rights, he emphasizes. 

The Happy Home Cook recipe of the week: Red Snapper Delight from Chef Niel Salvatera of Kusina de Manila.

And because Bruno Mars is in the news for sweeping the 2018 Grammy awards, let's witness his Filipino side with a video of the first visit of his mother, uncles and grandmother to the land of their birth, in time for Bruno Mars first concert in Manila.

Drift and Remember

Let's take a break from the disturbing events happening on both sides of the Pacific, and enjoy some pleasurable drifting, remembering and reading.

PF Correspondent Criselda Yabes, once- and still partly a Parisienne, takes us on a stroll in the city she loves. In "Drifting in Paris" she discovers a city whose natives have become friendlier, a city that never fails to offer new discoveries even for long-time residents. 

In Manila, contributing writer Bella Bonner focuses on Boy Camara, the UP campus heartthrob of the early '70s, who captured the attention and imagination of Manila's theatergoers then when he became Jesus Christ Superstar. Beyond JCS, however, Camara's life took some dramatic turns and he talks about it for the first time in this interview.

How about some "adobo, apple pie and schnitzel with noodles", a combination that is actually a metaphor for the delectable mix of stories in PF Correspondent Myles Garcia's new book with that title and adding: "Not a cookbook but an anthology of essays on the Filipino-American experience and some..." Walter Ang stirs the pot with his review.

And having whet your appetite, here's San Francisco-based foodie Voltaire Gungab's own enticing concoction for the Happy Home Cook: Rice-Tapioca Pudding with Pineapple Sauce and Coconut Jam Cream.

There's no escaping the real world, so here are the In The Know links to various stories swirling around cyberspace:

Violent explosion at the Philippines' most active volcano, 'hazardous' eruption expected
http://abcnews.go.com/International/violent-explosion-philippines-active-volcano-hazardous-eruption-expected/story?id=52522540

A Fraught Time for Press Freedom in the Philippines
https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2018/01/17/578610243/a-fraught-time-for-press-freedom-in-the-philippines?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social

What is Omidyar Network and why did it invest in Rappler?http://usa.inquirer.net/9632/omidyar-network-invest-rappler

Filipina Photojournalist Cheryl DIaz Meyer Sweeps Coveted White House Awards
https://www.townandcountry.ph/the-scene/current-events/cheryl-diaz-meyer-a00208-20180123-lfrm

Top 10 Ensaymadas in Manila
https://www.spot.ph/eatdrink/the-latest-eat-drink/72019/top-10-ensaymada-in-manila-2017-a1106-20171115-lfrm2

For our Video of the Week, Vicks Philippines presented the heartwarming story of Hernando Caja in its #touchofcare campaign, which shows how caring for others transforms lives.

Comforting the Afflicted, Afflicting the Comfortable

When I was in journalism school at the University of the Philippines (UP) many decades ago, our professors -- all giants in the field -- imprinted into our consciousness two basic tenets that every decent journalist should take to heart: first, that an independent, unfettered press is vital to good government, and second, it is not the role of the press to comfort the comfortable. On the contrary, the role of the press is to make those in power uncomfortable, by being the guardian and the disseminator of truth and decency. Such principles were tested sorely during martial law, and they are again being tested now.

To paraphrase Oprah, the press is currently under siege, not just in the US but more so in the Philippines. Upholding press freedom has become a bruising challenge these days; its suppression has taken many forms -- from outright harassment, legal cases, trolling and imprisonment, even killing of journalists. The latest case is the revocation of the license to operate of Rappler, an online publication in Manila. With our In The Know links this week, we keep you updated on the issue:

Rappler Registration Revoked
https://www.rappler.com/nation/193687-rappler-registration-revoked

SEC revocation of Rappler’s registration explained
http://verafiles.org/articles/vera-files-fact-sheet-sec-revocation-rapplers-registration-e

Three things Duterte got wrong about Rappler
http://verafiles.org/articles/vera-files-fact-check-three-things-duterte-got-wrong-about-r

In time of slaughter and lies, Rappler is a beacon of hope
http://usa.inquirer.net/9322/time-slaughter-lies-rappler-beacon-hope

Of PDRs and 'foreign ownership' of PH media
https://www.rappler.com/thought-leaders/176774-pdrs-media-ownership

Media, human rights groups slam SEC closure order vs. Rappler
http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2018/01/16/media-groups-on-SEC-closure-order-rappler.html

Our lineup for this week takes us to Vancouver, Canada as PF contributing writer Sandie Gillis chronicles the visit of National Artist BenCab and his drawing session with Filipino-Canadian artists who belong to the Dimasalang III artist collective in that area. 

It also takes us back in time to the construction of the railroad to Baguio in the early part of the 20th century by our American colonizers. Historian/academic Michael Gonzalez writes about the progress and folly of the ambitious project to provide the Americans in the Philippines an easy way to vacation in the land of pines.

PF publisher Mona Lisa Yuchengco attended for the first time and writes about the annual event of Bantayog ng Mga Bayani in Quezon City. Bantayog is a memorial site for the gallant men and women who resisted martial law and last year, the Bantayog heroes included the late Ambassador Alfonso Yuchengco, who turned out to be a secret supporter of some "subversive" activities against Marcos.

And in the same spirit of resistance, let's revisit what is now immortalized as the First Quarter Storm of 1970. Read Again journalist Jose "Pete" Lacaba's riveting account of that period, from his classic book Days of Disquiet, Nights of Rage. We posted it in two parts:

http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/the-first-quarter-storm-was-no-dinner-party-part-1

http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/the-first-quarter-storm-was-no-dinner-party-part-2

Our Happy Home Cook recipe for this week: Bangus Sisig by Chef Niel Salvatera of Kusina de Manila in Des Plaines, Illinois.

For our Video of the Week, TV Journalist TJ Manotoc opens up on a taboo topic in Philippines: Living with Depression.