Why We Love Yakking

Aside from eating, Filipinos love to tell stories to one another. It may appear simply as chatting, but it's a more layered affair. Contributors BJ Gonzalvo PhD and Khimee Leong of Kuwentuhan Tayo Project explore the neural and cultural dimensions of one of our favorite pastimes.

Meanwhile, travel-hungry Filipinos are liking the taste of Mango Tours, which is becoming the go-to travel agency for kababayans. Find out from Positively Filipino Editor Gemma Nemenzo why they are coming back for more.

Here are our [In The Know] links this week:

Typhoon Mangkhut reveals biggest plastic polluters of Manila’s arterial river
https://www.eco-business.com/news/typhoon-mangkhut-reveals-biggest-plastic-polluters-of-manilas-arterial-river/

The Philippines Is Ready To Rise Again
https://www.forbes.com/sites/panosmourdoukoutas/2018/09/27/the-philippines-is-ready-to-rise-again/#b4acb4e55bd9

Inside Mother Tongue, an Asian cocktail bar and restaurant
https://nowtoronto.com/food-and-drink/food/mother-tongue-toronto/

For Happy Home Cook, we take a sample from The New Filipino Kitchen, a new book edited by Jacqueline Chio-Lauri on the exploration of modern Filipino recipes: Chef Rodelio Aglibot's Avocado Mousse with Raspberry Sauce and Lychee Granita.

For our video of the week, the Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses to Malacañang (CARMMA PH) ran a video of Filipino millennials on their views of Martial Law to aid an online petition to educate the youth about what really happened in the 70s and 80s.

Surprises

When Manila-based journalist Manny Mogato got the dawn phone call that announced his winning the 'Holy Grail' of journalism -- the Pulitzer Prize, he was shookt, as contributing writer Kelly B. Vergel de Dios describes his reaction. Only one other Filipino from the Philippines has won the coveted award -- Carlos P. Romulo -- and that was 76 years ago. (Four FilAms have won the Pulitzer: Alex Tizon, Jose Antonio Vargas, Byron Acohido and Cheryl Diaz Meyer.)

In Amsterdam, long-time resident Franklin M. Bobadilla got the surprise of his life when the priest in De Krijtberg Catholic Church asked during a sermon one Sunday: "Did you know that we have a Filipino saint in this church?" Find out why in "An Encounter of a Special Kind."

While the 46th anniversary of the proclamation of martial law in the Philippines has come and gone (September 21) we will be continuing our collection of martial law stories, so send in yours to martiallawstories@gmail.com.

This week we have two:

Fil-Am activist Jeanette Gandionco Lazam recalls her harrowing experience leaving the country after the declaration, in "Who Is Marshall Law?"

Our publisher Mona Lisa Yuchengco writes publicly for the first time about an extortion plot by a certain Commander David. Her piece, "My Thriller in Manila," is stuff for novels.

links to keep you In The Know:

How Manila has become a portrait of ugliness
https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/66882/how-manila-has-become-a-portrait-of-ugliness/

Utah Valley University President Welcomes Students Using 6 Languages in Crazy Impressive Video
https://nextshark.com/utah-valley-university-president-welcomes-students-using-6-languages-crazy-impressive-video/

Duterte critic arrested as 'darkness and evil' prevail in Philippines
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/25/duterte-critic-antonio-trillanes-iv-hits-out-at-darkness-and-evil-philippines

Schoolgirl, 12, honored for saving Philippine flag
https://globalnation.inquirer.net/10317/albay-girl-honored-for-saving-philippine-flag

For our Happy Home Cook, actress Judy Ann Santos-Agoncillo's recipe for Thai Beef Lettuce Wrap. 

For Video of the Week, Balitang America covers the book launch of Jose Antonio Vargas.

46 Years Ago

Folks in New York and New Jersey will be the first in the US to watch the movie "Goyo: The Boy General" which has been creating waves in the Philippines. Starring Paulo Avelino and directed by Jerrold Tarog, also the director of the highly acclaimed "Heneral Luna," "Goyo" is hailed by some critics as even better than the earlier movie. PF Correspondent and cultural historian John Silva weighs in with his review. Details of East Coast showings are provided with the review.

With this issue, we begin our compilation of Martial Law Stories, as part of the growing effort to document what happened during that period. 

"Raid" by Nathan Gilbert Quimpo (excerpted from Subversive Lives: A Family Memoir of the Marcos Years) vividly recalls the heart-stopping fear many experienced when the dreaded knock in the middle of the night came.

"House Arrest" by Vin Lava relates the author's baffling house arrest which turned out to be a decoy so the safe house close by will be warned of the arrest of a top revolutionary.

"The 'Torture' of Playing for the 1974 Miss Universe" by Circus Band vocalist Ceres Jacinto gives us a glimpse of what a command performance for Imelda Marcos meant. 

And as a fitting bookend to this week's 46th anniversary of Proclamation 1081, Read Again Patricio Abinales' account of the adventures of his youth, "Note From the Underground."

This week's list of In The Know links:

To write his debut memoir, Jose Antonio Vargas went off the grid
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/write-his-debut-memoir-jose-antonio-vargas-went-grid-n905416

Philippine Miners Trapped in Typhoon: Drawn by Gold, Drowned in Mud
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/17/world/asia/philippines-landslide-typhoon-mangkhut.html

Philippine ex-general jailed over activists' abduction
https://ph.news.yahoo.com/philippine-ex-general-jailed-over-activists-abduction-091643588.html

Bank of America is asking customers to prove citizenship to access their own money https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/9/11/1794968/-Bank-of-America-is-asking-customers-to-prove-citizenship-to-access-their-own-money

'She can't see — that's why she can't drive': Asian-American woman films woman's racist tirade in parking lot
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/cant-see-thats-cant-drive-asian-american-woman-films-womans-racist-tirade-parking-lot-132547635.html

For our Happy Home Cook, another pulutan recipe that emanated from prison: Tahong Especial.

For our Video of the Week, Arnel Giban posted a video on the children who became victims in the Philippines' War on Drugs.