Facing the Challenge

With coronavirus news and missives swirling relentlessly and dire economic prognostications triggering panic attacks, we wonder how our entrepreneurial kababayans are faring. PF contributing writer Jennifer Fergesen checks in on Filipino food businesses in Europe and reports their situation in "Filipino Restaurateurs in Europe Grapple with Pandemic."

Author and balikbayan traveler Cecilia Manguerra-Brainard tells her story of how the virus trailed her in the early days of contagion when she traveled from the Philippines to LA in "CORONAVIRUS: The Beginning." 

When the going gets tough, the tough gets going. This popular adage aptly describes the plight of the Alcantara sisters of Paco, Manila, whose privileged life was abruptly cut short with the advent of WWII. Ambassador (Ret.) Virgilio A. Reyes, Jr. lovingly tells the story of his grandmother, mother and aunts who survived a situation so much worse than what Covid-19 has created now, in "How Linda and Her Sisters Survived the War."

Other than the pandemic, the most important issue in the US right now is the Census 2020. We urge all Filipinos in the US to stand up and be counted (by filling out the form either online or on paper). The future of your families, the communities you live in and the communities you belong to depend on your participation. To know why it is imperative, Read Again "What Fil-Ams Should Know About the 2020 Census" by Cherie Querol Moreno.

What does battling an epidemic entail? Read Again Dr. Jorge Emmanuel's riveting story of the work he did as a World Health Organization (WHO) consultant in Monrovia, Liberia during the 2014 ebola crisis in "My Battle with Ebola." 

Our Happy Home Cook recipe this week is for the ultimate Filipino comfort soup, Chicken Tinola with a new way of serving it.

Here are links for your reading enjoyment:

Philippines: Covid-19 will devastate the poor
https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/philippines-covid-19-will-devastate-poor?fbclid=IwAR2KC_ucEtO9XCHZ1O1KcJqcsx6AHprBzk4z71h2MtGqNiWlXDOgY0APz7w

How this first Filipino COVID-19 patient battled the virus for 15 days and won
https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/03/23/20/how-this-first-filipino-covid-19-patient-battled-the-virus-for-15-days-and-won?fbclid=IwAR2TUJMc-Q0R9hr3hEyb0PHRlpcnoCxkgrId25yAAT9FsONmdJVxadoEBOA

Metro Manila’s Most Vulnerable in the Time of COVID-19
https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/specials/content/138/rick-rocamora-metro-manila-s-most-vulnerable-amid-covid-19/?fbclid=IwAR1VSaphXXP7N6tjqmy2dFmc_7mowQpOYYC0oGshZOPVznRHw7iLy2dS5fY

10 Things We Wish Pasig City Could Give the Entire Country
https://www.spot.ph/newsfeatures/the-latest-news-features/81448/pasig-enhanced-quarantine-a4362-20200318?utm_source=Facebook-Spot&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20200317-fbnp-newsfeatures-pasig-enhanced-quarantine-a4362-20200318-fbfirst&fbclid=IwAR1535XR4Lf0zGIZpsfgYHZSSOtKwN3BOOH5gbpJ3tPbugZ5pgabjsZoapc

'Bayanihan, Musikahan': Ryan Cayabyab, Filipino artists launch FB Live concert series amid coronavirus crisis
https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/03/18/20/bayanihan-musikahan-ryan-cayabyab-filipinos-artists-launch-fb-live-concert-series-amid-coronavirus-crisis?fbclid=IwAR10yBiZd1SYUcKB26hgccSjWiM77LMS0XGt8RSe2wYan363U5fNtAASd_0

Cutting Our Travel Short And Trying To Get Home During The Coronavirus Pandemic
https://www.travelawaits.com/2493076/cutting-our-travel-short-and-trying-to-get-home-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic/?pv=related_list&fbclid=IwAR0-AmsVUrXlUzydOyvKjp-uAbe3sDmib0rwIyniwbN0jz3l1eX1Dd8OEZg

For Videos of the Week, the Filipino Voter Empowerment Project created these public service announcements to remind Filipino Americans to be counted in the US Census. In the second episode, three of the actors, Lily De Ocampo, Jurshia Felipe, and Jamie Sophia Tubal, are also nurses in real life. They took time out to volunteer for this project before the coronavirus breakout and are now serving on the front lines of the Covid-19 crisis.

Readings-In-Place

Here are some pleasurable reads to enjoy while you ride out your Covid19-imposed social distancing:

As San Francisco Bay Area residents are ordered to shelter-in-place, our publisher Mona Lisa Yuchengco writes her personal take on the current situation in "Love (and Life) In the Time of Coronavirus."

England-based writer Joy Watford introduces the creative, enterprising women who set up a publishing house in Manila called Gantala Press. Read about its vision and mission in "Gantala Press: Bringing Out Women Writers from the Margins."

And speaking of women writers, Rafaelito V. Sy profiles Grace Talusan whose book, The Body Papers, has been tagged an Editor's Choice by the New York Times. "Grace Talusan's Book of Healing and Empowerment" tells us why it is so deserving.

PF Correspondent Myles Garcia digs up another morsel in the overextended saga of Imelda Marcos, this time vis a vis the American heiress Doris Duke in "Imelda's Debt, Which Keeps on Growing."

Here's a new recipe from creative foodie Voltaire Gungab for the Happy Home Cook: Roasted Eggplant Soup with Lime Oil. 

In case you missed these stories:

He gave his wife CPR as she died after contracting coronavirus. Officials won’t test him.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-17/wife-cpr-died-coronavirus-test

Just For Kids: A Comic Exploring The New Coronavirus
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/02/28/809580453/just-for-kids-a-comic-exploring-the-new-coronavirus?fbclid=IwAR1zmlXmQtdMCMqhjnJAXHDakXkIh30FKye4Na4I3jwaq63HAETry8gAtPM

Island Women Rise: The Triumphs and Struggles Of Filipino-American Artists
https://hypebae.com/2020/3/ruby-ibarra-klassy-rocky-rivera-faith-santilla-filipino-american-hip-hop-artists-female-empowerment-immigrants-interview?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_campaign=facebook_post&utm_medium=social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR3Qxe5o_YUS7Z5Ujcwy4vQWbDQQephmDOJZaptVzb4KVpSj-d_LaHmZUmY#Echobox=1583698187

A Warrior Is Born: How Carmen Rosales, The Queen of Philippine Cinema, Became a Guerrilla Fighter and Sharpshooter
https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/carmen-rosales-a00304-20200303-lfrm?ref=article_featured

The Darker Life of Juan Luna: A Tale of Jealousy and Murder
https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/life-of-juan-luna-a00293-20190618-lfrm?utm_source=Facebook-Esquire&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20200303-fbnp-long-reads-life-of-juan-luna-a00293-20190618-lfrm-fbold&fbclid=IwAR3OFN4_6beoPMoKiWJOOxf_Bp_wr_vZnSazJ9pA6CFF4YaOfQJtOOw1bR8

For Video of the Week, Fil-Am singer Cedrice captures the last spot in the blind auditions on “The Voice.”

Audacious Women

A woman baker who's making it in New York with her silvanas and chocolate cake. A woman academic who authored a memoir in poetry. A group of  women journalists who didn't let dictatorship or harassment faze them. Stories about women by women marks our Women's Month celebration this week:

Agatha Verdadero profiles Ann Casimiro of New York, whose sweet delights has put a restaurant called Tsismis on the city's very competitive culinary map. ["Ann Casimiro's Sweet Success"] 

PF Correspondent Lisa Suguitan-Melnick focuses on recently retired academic Leny Mendoza Strobel who has come out with a poetic memoir entitled "Glimpses." ["The Scholar Unplugged”]

And from our Manila-based correspondent Criselda Yabes, her tribute to the Women Writers in Media Now (WOMEN), the group of journalists who never stopped fighting authoritarianism. Full disclosure: this is a self-serving feature. ["WOMEN, on the Verge of Another Breakdown"]

From a well-known woman foodie and PF Correspondent Elizabeth Ann Quirino, our Happy Home Cook recipe for Tuna Pasta.

Our In The Know links this week:

How Has the Philippines Managed to Contain the COVID-19 Outbreak?https://www.esquiremag.ph/life/health-and-fitness/how-has-the-philippines-managed-to-contain-the-covid-19-outbreak-a2099-20200306-lfrm?fbclid=IwAR2qp_2Im3A_biihwFUl4TYxjmxrvaDJjy2Fcyw9DtLy10-oToxzCCxo4dQ

11 Empowering Female Scientists Who Paved the Way for Filipino Women in Science
https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/women-scientists-in-the-philippines-a00304-20200308-lfrm?utm_source=Facebook-Esquire&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20200308-fbnp-long-reads-women-scientists-in-the-philippines-a00304-20200308-lfrm-fbfirst&fbclid=IwAR21zvzVKzePOgjqiplQwL3OFN1koK3u48CIZHqmVhcFQkB2xIPgcDJQgT0

No matter the weather: Life as a solo mother
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1238287/no-matter-the-weather-life-as-a-solo-mother?fbclid=IwAR2TwLb2Tb1Xm-6YgBAhIZEtWknWdVsLuza5WbxBzL0z9VjHvELCuFwhwTM#/

Why Doreen Fernandez’s Tikim is still THE book on Filipino food, 20 years after it was first published
https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/books/03/03/20/why-doreen-fernandezs-tikim-is-still-the-book-on-filipino-food-20-years-after-its-publishing?fbclid=IwAR1SAP1uspssUPLu3TwTvhiAVmwG_3m_UUbOTQp8W7Ldht_Mn8e6pWKDMlc

Fried Chicken King of Asia Loses $2.9 Billion on U.S. Gamble
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/fried-chicken-king-asia-loses-210000270.html

This 'Tagalog Scrabble' May Help Improve Your Child's Filipino Vocabulary
https://www.smartparenting.com.ph/life/family-fun/salitaan-tagalog-scrabble-a00061-20200305?fbclid=IwAR1tL2HQi2I80zsYGBIViJexn1bNHVyR19iVUqiwBkdZDgG6DcRCJfZsrsw

For our Video of the Week, Youtube personality Mikey Bustos presents his latest cover “Stupid Cough,” a COVID-19 parody and safety reminder video set to Lady Gaga’s new song “Stupid Love.”