Memories and Consciousness

President Manuel L. Quezon's Open Door policy that welcomed Jews fleeing from the Holocaust to the Philippines has been hailed as a humanitarian achievement. One of the beneficiaries of the Open Door was the Cassel family, who later established the Berg's Department Store that became an institution in Escolta. Recently, a Cassel daughter, Margot Cassel Pins Kestenbaum, who was just 7 years old when her family arrived in Manila, visited Philippine Women's University (PWU) where she went to school, and shared her memories of the city that welcomed them. Lyca Benitez Brown, a top PWU official, tells us about the nostalgic homecoming in "Memories of Refuge in Manila." 

A compelling story of gender transitioning is told in this first person article, "Gender: The Paradox of Passing" by UC Berkeley student Robin Cid Calleja. 

The life and loves of a revolutionary -- that's the big story in the late Rolando Peña's unique memoir, Crossings. University of Hawaii professor Patricio Abinales reviews in "A Red and Expert Renaissance Man."

Here are links to stories from other publications that might catch your fancy:

US health care needs its Filipino nurses, so why is the system stacked against them?https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3048163/us-health-care-needs-its-filipino-nurses-so-why?fbclid=IwAR36LPp0_26pOh4UwRXd95J8louaRJMOov7M0I4OAQhQ38qIuldKRoO8CFE

Did You Know That These Places Around the World Were Named After Filipinos?https://esquiremag.ph/life/travel/places-named-after-filipin-a2281-20190513-src-spot-lfrm2?utm_source=Facebook-Esquire&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20200208-fbnp-life-places-named-after-filipin-a2281-20190513-src-spot-lfrm2-fbold&fbclid=IwAR1oTLwVDGqmWyn4XlY4Imwym2A4OGzCCOb5HDzLWRNNI2sp1MVNWEcljyI

Exclusive: 'Shock and awe' has failed in Philippines drug war, enforcement chief says
https://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-shock-awe-failed-philippines-055724232.html

Manny Jacinto to star alongside Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick
https://www.msn.com/en-ph/entertainment/celebrity/manny-jacinto-to-star-alongside-tom-cruise-in-top-gun-maverick/ar-AAHSkLi?li=BBr8zL6&fbclid=IwAR1pa1zh8hO6pTrikxwOQ6ozMH1Y0_6UU1SAeingAT9q00B6zw0mp2XJwq0

Elizabeth Ann Quirino shares her Chocolate Bark Crackers with Salted Caramel recipe for Valentine’s Day.

For our video of the week, dual voice singer Marcelito Pomoy takes “America’s Got Talent: The Champions” by storm.

A Colonial Urbanization

Knowing a city's colonial history is important when planning its rehabilitation and restoration. Thus our lead article this week, "Colonization's Impact on Manila," written by urban planner Nathaniel von Einsiedel offers valuable knowledge and guidance for those who seek to bring back Manila's former glory,  a goal of the capital city's current mayor, Isko Moreno Domagoso. 

Spanish food in Metro Manila has become a thing, thanks partly to the efforts of Marilou and Pablo Garcia-Morera, whose enterprise Espa-Fil has made available the crucial ingredients of Spanish cooking to the Philippines. PF Correspondent Cherie Querol Moreno writes about the couple and whets our appetite for the cuisine of our former colonizer in "To Dine in Madrid, By Way of Manila." 

Marilou Morera is also a cookbook author and she shares her recipe for "the true paella" for the Happy Home Cook this week.

From Toronto's Bank of Montreal comes Annella Manalo Mendoza, a digital assets manager and librarian. Christian Gabriel Pareja profiles her in "Old Fashioned Values in a Digital Career."

Our In The Know links this week:

Black History and the Filipin@ Community

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/unseen-and-unheard/201602/black-history-and-the-filipin-community?fbclid=IwAR0KReXkWJrM_-fXnxcOQRzKnyhcdQA9ge78UHAkGhjLM53tnHEg_67lPGc

Just how bad was corruption during the Marcos years?
https://www.rappler.com/thought-leaders/240477-analysis-just-how-bad-was-corruption-marcos-years?fbclid=IwAR2RLmmhLUHbGaFruyfGYmSAaEBTiXkwybXYjix8e0x6sX9T77TjZ2fR1rQ

Meet 11 Year-old Filipino Cellist Damodar Das Castillo, Champion Musician in Estonia
https://www.goodnewspilipinas.com/meet-11-year-old-filipino-cellist-damodar-das-castillo-champion-musician-in-estonia/?fbclid=IwAR2KlSv3O-MbHd5z09Od_hOlFPCcq4JaNvIS4w1j30vCCKl_zFRM9nLpM1Y

World’s greatest concentration of unique mammal species is on Philippine island
https://www.fieldmuseum.org/about/press/worlds-greatest-concentration-unique-mammal-species-philippine-island?fbclid=IwAR34pe6inxzGI-G9N0bydSZ4UjoMBG4IQltcghyZHEBSs0zO1odVkKsUj6E 

For Video of the week, GMA Public Affairs’ I-Witness features Solana Perez, who wants to be the first Filipina to compete in the Mongol Derby, the hardest horse race in the world.

Doing Us Proud

This week is about Filipinos who have crashed the international scene in their respective fields and have made us proud:

F. Sionil Jose, the grand old man of Philippine letters, the country's foremost chronicler of the Filipino experience, is paid homage to by author Rafaelito Sy, who writes about his recent encounter with the National Artist for Literature. ["F. Sionil Jose and a Nation's Memories"]

Cris Comerford, the White House chef of three US administrations (Bush, Obama and Trump), was recently awarded a doctorate honoris causa by her alma mater, the University of the Philippines (UP). Sonia Delen, current president of UP's alumni chapter in San Francisco, profiles Cris. ["Her Lola's Legacy: Chef Cris Comerford's Secret Sauce"]

This week is also about remembering, this one a painful episode in 1929-1930 when anti-Filipino riots broke out and ended tragically in California. Read Again Alex Fabros' "In The Heat of the Night: The Exeter and Watsonville Riots 1929-1930."

And speaking of remembering, we join the sports world in grieving the untimely death of basketball legend Kobe Bryant. Here's our Video of the Week showing him dancing the tinikling.

Our Happy Home Cook recipe this week is for Chocolate Cake from Ballesteros, Cagayan baker Dondon Catli, who we featured earlier this month.

ICYMI, stories you may have missed or want to read again:

WOMEN OF THE EASTERN CALIPHATE: Hiding in plain sight
https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/investigative/245849-women-eastern-caliphate-hiding-plain-sight-isis-part-1

WOMEN OF THE EASTERN CALIPHATE: By blood and marriage
https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/investigative/245822-women-eastern-caliphate-by-blood-marriage-isis-part-2?utm_source=Rappler+Subscribers&utm_campaign=82d6b16cbd-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_01_07_04_22_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d18b1557b8-82d6b16cbd-96223989&mc_cid=82d6b16cbd&mc_eid=0c0639d4af

'Kill Everyone Over 10' –Jacob Smith, the ‘Monster’ of the Philippine-American War
https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/jacob-h-smith-philippine-american-war-a1926-20190919-lfrm?fbclid=IwAR0G4IHMUvqfn428wobgF_nFqUGTX7L5EX2IR3G5ev4llfrtHoK57TdtC64

Reviving ancient Cordillera textiles
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1211779/reviving-ancient-cordillera-textiles?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR26HEwT8pJLsvIYCnHdeHPVRapsWcjuEv__OCLhgRx8NWXiTWcCDa9WF8w#Echobox=1578786243