Here's to Pulutan

PF Correspondent and food expert Elizabeth Ann Quirino checks in with chef/author Marvin Gapultos who has come out with a new cookbook, his second, that focuses on that most proletarian of food traditions: the pulutan. Gapultos, who has shared some of his recipes from his first cookbook, The Adobo Road, likewise shares with the Happy Home Cook his own take on the classic Fish Kilawin, a favorite among Filipino beer drinkers anywhere.

This month brings back memories of Proclamation 1081, President Ferdinand Marcos' declaration of martial law dated September 21, 1972. To counter the push from certain quarters to revise history, there are ongoing efforts to gather stories of that period so the millennial generation will know how life was during that time. I write this week about the curfew which, in the overall scheme of things, was a relatively benign imposition compared to the other impositions of the authoritarian regime.

A new contributor from Illinois, Christian Gabriel Pareja, introduces us to a Filipino art therapist, Corazon Pecson Pagnani, who treats mental patients at Chicago's Kindred Hospital.

The news from the Philippines about the government importing rice infested with bukbok (weevil) and the Agriculture Secretary trying to convince people of its safety by eating it himself beg the question: how much lower can the administration get on the pathetic meter? It's a good time to Read Again Fil-Am journalist Dorian Merina's piece, "Wanted: A New Agriculture to Face Climate Change." In this article, Merina also pays tribute to Fil-Am labor leaders Larry Itliong and Philip Vera Cruz whose contributions to the US farm labor movement are immeasurable.

Here are the links to stories you may have missed this week:

How Duterte Used Facebook To Fuel the Philippine Drug War
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/daveyalba/facebook-philippines-dutertes-drug-war

Duterte voids amnesty of critical senator, orders his arrest
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/duterte-voids-amnesty-of-critical-senator-orders-his-arrest/2018/09/04/0588ceae-b00a-11e8-8b53-50116768e499_story.html?utm_term=.fa377f0dc11e

The art find of the century or its greatest hoax
https://news.abs-cbn.com/focus/08/29/18/the-art-find-of-the-century-or-its-greatest-hoax

The Sarah Huckabee Sanders of the Philippines
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/08/18/the-sarah-huckabee-sanders-of-the-philippines-219370

PH’s Maya-1 CubeSat deployed into Int’l Space Station
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1019926/phs-maya-1-cubesat-deployed-into-intl-space-station

And for Video of the Week, Our Better World features one of girls whose life was transformed when she was taken in by Tahanan Sta. Luisa, a shelter for girls in the Philippines.

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Tell Us Your Martial Law Story

We are collecting personal stories of life under Martial Law (1972-1981) in the Philippines. If you were there, you would have at least one. Did you violate curfew? Were you arrested? Was anyone in your family a political detainee or was "salvaged?" Did martial law motivate you to leave the country?  Did you benefit from it? What is your most enduring memory of that period?

In 200-600 words, join us in documenting that important era in our homeland's history. Your story counts. And if you have pictures, that would be great.

Please send to martiallawstories@gmail.com.

Food and Heroes

In a small coastal town named Borgarnes (pop. 1,500) in Iceland, a Filipino restaurant, Matstofan, has been serving Filipino food with Icelandic touches  for over two decades. First-time PF contributor Jennifer Fergesen took a bus from Reykjavik, Iceland's capital 70 km away, to see how Cora Villanueva Grönfeldt runs her restaurant, which has the distinction of being the northernmost Filipino restaurant in the world.

From Matstofan comes our Happy Home Cook recipe of the week, Rhubarb Sinigang, definitely a touch of the unique.

Aspiring young writers, some barely in their teens, in Manila can now get valuable writing inspiration and lessons from Write Things, formerly known as Where the Write Things Are, ran by the children of journalist/author Neni Sta. Romana Cruz. Roel, her son, writes about their vision of creating a writing community of young Filipinos.

We can't let go of the month of August without reminders of the heroes of our past. Read Again:

"Andres Bonifacio, the Other National Hero," by Dr. Penelope V. Flores. On August 23, 1896, Bonifacio led the historic revolutionary moment immortalized as the Cry of Balintawak. 

President Manuel L. Quezon, born August 19, 1878, is remembered for many things, one of them an unparalleled humanitarian act not commonly known. We share historian Ambeth R. Ocampo's story on how "Quezon Saved Jews from the Holocaust." 

And more good reading you might have missed from other publications: 

Activist priest recounts 'close call' with death squad
https://www.rappler.com/nation/210477-amado-picardal-priest-threats-davao-death-squad

The people left behind by Philippines' brutal war on drugs - photo essay
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/aug/14/death-drugs-duterte-philippines-poor-bear-brunt-of-narco-crackdown

Fil-Am author Erin Entrada Kelly on bullying, hope, and her new Filipino folklore-inspired book
http://cnnphilippines.com/life/culture/literature/2018/08/24/erin-entrada-kelly-interview.html

Watch: How Chicken Adobo Unites the 7,000+ Philippine Islands
https://www.eater.com/2018/8/22/17769936/best-chicken-adobo-nyc-filipino-food-video

and for Video of the Week we feature Norman King,the first aeta to graduate from the University of Philippines.

Anniversaries of Political Violence

Yesterday, August 21, we marked the anniversaries of two cataclysmic events that changed the course of Philippine history:

* 47 years ago, August 21, 1971, the Liberal Party political rally in Plaza Miranda was bombed, killing some and permanently disfiguring some of the well-known legislators at that time. Public sentiment blamed President Marcos, then already increasing unpopular, who then declared the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus (leading a year later to the declaration of martial law). Decades after, some members of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) revealed (and this was later confirmed by other insiders) that the Plaza Miranda bombing was ordered by the CPP leadership. Read Again journalist/author Gregg Jones account: The Ghosts of Plaza Miranda

* 35 years ago, August 21, 1983, opposition leader Benigno Aquino Jr. was assassinated upon arrival at the Manila International Airport. The heinous crime resulted in an upheaval so massive that for the next three years, the Philippines was like a cauldron just waiting to explode. Read Again, journalist Ken Kashiwahara's story of Ninoy's last minutes: Ninoy's Final Journey

This year, August, a shroud of sorrow envelopes the Filipino American community with the sudden passing of a beloved historian/author and community leader Dawn Bohulano Mabalon. Her friend, Mariel Toni Jimenez, tells us why Dawn's death is heavy as a mountain.

On a brighter note, PF Correspondent Elizabeth Ann Quirino profiles Cathy Feliciano Chon, Captivating Communications Influencer, in her continuing series of outstanding young Filipinos.

And here's a look on the evolution of the cherished mythical figure, Ibong Adarna, by PF Correspondent Myles A. Garcia.

Among our In The Know links this week is AARP's announcement that Washington DC-based community leader Jon Melegrito won the AARP AAPI Hero Award.

Jon Melegrito, AARP AAPI Hero Awardee
https://www.facebook.com/AARPAAPI/posts/1412613422208026

Typhoons and Tycoons: Disaster Capitalism in the Philippines
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/typhoons-tycoons-disaster-capitalism-philippines-180816065729201.html

Ninoy Aquino Remembered
http://opinion.inquirer.net/115456/ninoy-aquino-remembered

These are The Really Crazy Rich Asians
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g01YnqH-2ek

Where I Come From South Bay | Mix of Cultures
https://video.kpbs.org/video/where-i-come-from-south-bay-mix-of-cultures-ejnyqy/

In the midst of summer in the Western hemisphere, how about cooking a traditional favorites: Inihaw na Baboy (Grilled Pork). Our Happy Home Cook recipe for the week.

And for Video of the Week, a rare footage unearthed by the Associated Press from its archives that shows a scene from the 1976 trial of Ninoy Aquino.