July 20, 2022

Unforgettable

July 20, 2022/ Staff

In 1932, a Filipino woman named Cecilia Villano Navarro, the wife of an ailing Filipino farmworker, was buried alive by some members of her Northern California Filipino community. Her alleged crime: adultery, although the details are murky at best. What followed next was a sensational court trial that pitted Filipinos against Filipinos, Filipinos vis a vis the US system of justice, and whispered tales of supernatural appearances. On July 29 (July 30 in the Philippines), a Positively Filipino webinar titled "A Murder Most Foul" deconstructs this lurid tragedy, taking off from the documentary film "The Celine Archive" by Celine Parrenas Shimizu. Please see details in the e-flyer below, as well as the link to register for the event.

In 1960, a young American woman sailed to the Philippines on a freighter from New York to begin a new life as a wife and mother. Patricia Kearney Encarnacion, a first-timer to Asia, was alternately filled with wide-eyed wonder and shock at what she saw and experienced in her first months in a country so different from her own. She wrote detailed letters to her family vividly describing how it was to see carabaos outside her window, riding a bus to Quiapo and eating at least five meals a day.

In 1980, a London- and US-educated Filipina debuted as director of a Filipino movie, one of a few women able to pierce the then-male dominated Philippine movie industry. In the decades that followed until her death in 2012, Marilou Diaz-Abaya made some monumental movies that will forever be remembered. This year, she was posthumously named National Artist for Cinema. Her friend Pablo A. Tariman pays her tribute.

This year, our country and the world are confronted with challenges to collective memory as powerful forces connive to revise history. CoverStory.ph editor Rosario A. Garcellano quotes sociologist/columnist Randy David's words ("The battle for memory never ceases") as she correlates the past Marcos administration with the present, so we will not forget.

Here's something to make you smile: A Filipina nurse in the UK risked her marathon record to help a runner reach the finish line. It was all in a day's work for Harrieth Kay Amores.

Partner Posts

{Partner] AAJA And AAJA-Asia Condemn Maria Ressa's Appeal Denial

[Partner] Kababayan Reminded To Remain Vigilant When In New York City

For the Happy Home Cook, here's one recipe we can make over and over again: The Happy Home Cook: Buko Fruit Salad

[Video of the Week] 4 Ways to Make Filipino Halo-Halo

The Best Places to Eat Filipino Food in Every State
https://www.foodandwine.com/travel/best-places-eat-filipino-food-every-state?fbclid=IwAR0o0vRyAf51OtGEAbn884XNtSLuwazxjpwCv5q3eCvsEfohu901_RQaOPk

Filipinos are buying books to preserve the truth about the Marcos regime
https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/16/asia/philippines-marcos-books-truth-rewrite-history-intl-hnk-dst/index.html

Filipino nurse represents UK health workers to receive courage award from Queen
https://www.rappler.com/nation/overseas-filipinos/nurse-represents-united-kingdom-health-workers-receive-courage-award-queen-elizabeth/?fbclid=IwAR1IMJaX7to0OC3t3yN5MCTf9ePhN8kOCXLsm_-uLVuCzvxHI6kzCyDNDpA

New female-owned bookstore in Riverside focuses on sharing diverse stories
https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2022/07/14/new-female-owned-bookstore-in-riverside-focuses-on-sharing-diverse-stories/?fbclid=IwAR2q1wlMhW_yWd0qoBzZJ_ZrKLx1RKEFqi0vvYEEbjqgBl5n8ddqPUiakps

Smile or Be Disciplined, Philippine Mayors Warn City Workers
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/15/world/asia/philippines-mayors-smile-discipline.html

From a rock grew a park: How Masungi became the benchmark for conservation areas
https://www.rappler.com/environment/masungi-georeserve-benchmark-conservation-areas/?fbclid=IwAR39jI6_pWDqxW_uPZoRygwPkr11l6bnISfFMik4i04aUlB8wJvJ3e6iJp0

Ricaredo Demetillo: Poet of Panay epics
https://philippinesgraphic.com.ph/2022/07/14/ricaredo-demetillo-poet-of-panay-epics/

July 13, 2022

Alive and Kicking

July 13, 2022/ Staff

Barotac Nuevo, a town on the outskirts of Iloilo City, has seen better times. Described as "obscure and hardly prosperous" by PF Correspondent Criselda Yabes, a recent visitor, the town nonetheless has a claim to fame that no other place in the Philippines can dispute -- the football capital of the country. Soccer football to this otherwise undistinguished municipality is the lifeblood, the legacy, the source of pride and the driver of ambitions of its citizens. For decades it has supplied the national team with star players, coaches, federation officials and yes, next-generation athletes who, like their counterparts in Europe, Africa and South America, worship soccer as its sports religion. Why/how does Barotac Nuevo defy the country's basketball obsession and embrace soccer as its One True Thing? Read our lead story this week.

Fides Cuyugan-Asensio's proclamation last month as 2022 National Artist for Music was a cause for celebration among the country's culturati, among them the writer Pablo Tariman who writes this week's feature on this beautiful woman who was not only a foremost coloratura but also a revered librettist, music teacher, and actress on stage, TV and the movies. As her former students attest, Cuyugan-Asencio was their guide and inspiration in their musical careers, a lasting legacy that truly deserves the National Artist designation.

We're now on list 34 of Fil-Ams Among the Remarkable and Famous, and still counting. If you know someone who should be included, please send the name and links to supporting information to our publisher, Mona Lisa Yuchengco, who painstakingly updates the list. Send email to PFpublisher@yahoo.com.

While soccer remains an "emerging" sport in the Philippines and basketball dominance internationally will forever be a pipe dream for Filipinos, there is one sport where Filipino grit and size have been a winning fit: boxing. Meet the boxing star who first put the Philippines on the world map, Luis Logan. http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/before-elorde-and-pacquiao-there-was-luis-logan

And if you're braving a Philippine beach vacation, here are some suggestions beyond Boracay: http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/11-great-beaches-you-probably-havent-been-to

Don't forget to check out our In Brief section, for capsule news on Filipino things that matter.

For a savory summer treat: The Happy Home Cook: Buko-Pandan Gelatin (Young Coconut-Pandan Gelatin)

Video of the Week: Decolonizing Leche Flan

In The Know

Techpreneur Sheila Lirio Marcelo Opens New Doors Into the Metaverse
https://www.tatlerasia.com/power-purpose/technology/techpreneur-sheila-lirio-marcelo-metacrafters?utm_campaign=PH_MAG_FULL20220712&utm_medium=email&utm_source=tatlerasia.com

LOOK! This 10-story state-of-the-art theater is new home of world-class Filipino talent
https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/07/06/22/sneak-peek-the-new-samsung-performing-arts-theater?1=1&fbclid=IwAR3drgVIrBXCiui_XHoY1a6Hs0C-5_xUWqJHy_gL8kuhapaTOY8Tnyk6a7c

At an Isolated Boarding School, a Culture of Sexual Abuse Thrived for Decades
https://www.vice.com/en/article/3adzw5/philippines-high-school-for-the-arts-sexual-abuse?fs=e&s=cl&fbclid=IwAR1Lp49G9uMBPPKu2kRFOZmTgs-4gzUApVO6NfWb1dyCVH5PPON9JmAa8AI

Tapayan, Gusi, or Martaban: Tales of Stoneware Jars in the Philippines
https://verafiles.org/articles/tapayan-gusi-or-martaban-tales-of-stoneware-jars-in-the-philippines?fbclid=IwAR3qMhcjwe7GBqLLFwhNdu59_SkvezsgGsCkXzHw2DjQfgU4qeso2-TYF74

Anna bought abortion pills via social media. Now, like thousands of other Filipinas, she is dead
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/jul/04/abortion-pills-facebook-filipina-women-philippines?utm_term=62c2cf3917e26940d8746561663ecda9&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUS&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTUS_email

CFNet presents Outstanding Filipinos in Canada for 2022 to combat Filipino Invisibility in Canada
https://www.canadianfilipino.net/opinion/commentary/cfnet-presents-outstanding-filipinos-in-canada-for-2022-to-combat-filipino-invisibility-in-canada?fbclid=IwAR0Jh806DVHyl4TfDHR_T7FmEN2hf9nXs54c7p7mh1LlRKzjtIlazXWtQdE
SF Filipino Community Mobilizes to Preserve Unique Elementary School Language Program
https://www.kqed.org/news/11918252/sf-filipino-community-mobilizes-to-preserve-unique-elementary-school-language-program

July 06, 2022

American Tapestry

July 06, 2022/ Staff

Fermin Tobera, a 22-year-old Filipino farmworker, was asleep for the night when a mob of white men fired shots at the bunkhouse where he and other Filipino laborers were billeted. The lone bullet that pierced his heart inflamed what was already a powder keg between whites vs Filipino workers, and led to the infamous Watsonville riot of 1930.

[Here's more about the anti-Filipino riots in Central California: In the Heat of the Night: The Exeter and Watsonville Riots 1929-1930]

Ninety two years later, Tobera, largely unacknowledged in the annals of Fil-Am history, is being honored with a mural in the California town (now a city) where he lost his life. The Tobera Project, steered by Roy Recio Jr. and other community leaders, got a boost in 2020 when the Watsonville City Council issued an apology to the Filipino community for the 1930 race riots. Since then, an exhibit titled "Watsonville is in the Heart" has been set up to show Filipinos' pivotal role in shaping the history of the city.

It's never too late to correct historical omissions and mistakes. PF contributing writer Harvey I. Barkin reports on "Fermin Tobera: From Historical Footnote to the Big Picture."

Two Filipino Americans are staking their claim in the American tapestry. Averie Danielle Bishop wowed judges with her articulateness and her community-oriented vision to win the Miss Texas title, the first Asian American to hold the title. Next stop: the Miss America contest in December. Texas resident Gus Mercado reports.

Recent Yale grad Reina Bonta completed her first film, LAHI, which pays homage to her Filipino and Hawaiian ancestries, and dedicates the film to her grandmother, Cynthia, a long-time community activist. PF Correspondent Cherie Querol Moreno tells us more.

From across the pond, the future of the West Philippine Sea, specifically the Ayungin Shoal, is at stake as a new Philippine administration takes over. Retired editor of the Philippine Daily Inquirer Rosario A. Garcellano shares with us her piece on this issue.

Florentino Peñaranda was a revolutionary leader in Leyte during the Philippine-American War at the turn of the 20th century. More than a century later, his grandson, the writer/professor Oscar Peñaranda, by a lucky stroke of serendipity found the actual revolutionary flag of his lolo. Here's how it happened: http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/a-reunion-of-strangers

Fifty six years ago this month, the Beatles performed in Manila. Marra PL. Lanot was there and here is her story: http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/the-beatles-in-the-philippines

[Cook It Again] http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/the-happy-home-cook-nora-dazas-humba

[Video of the Week] Igorot Stone Kingdom