March 05, 2024

Wonder Women

March 05, 2024/ Staff

It's always a pleasure to celebrate with the rest of the world Women's History Month because we take pride in Filipino women everywhere who are coming into their fullness as achievers, leaders, advocates, activists, mentors, and role models in their chosen fields.

This week, to start off this year's month-long celebration, we spotlight two women, one a long-time literary giant and the other, the first Filipina to compete in the toughest horse race on earth.

Author/publisher Cecilia Brainard regards Linda Ty-Casper as one of the greatest Filipino novelists. Her critically acclaimed 1974 novel, Three-Cornered Sun has been given new life by a woman-owned publishing house called Exploding Galaxies, whose avowed mission is, according to Brainard, "to rediscover lost Filipino classics."

Solana Lim Perez is a young Filipina horsewoman who dared compete with veterans in the ten-day extreme endurance race in the grueling Mongolian Steppes. Though she didn't win, she completed the 1,000-kilometer Mongol Derby, a singular achievement in itself. Read all about this brutal contest from contributing writer Mikeli Mapua.

Filipino and Fil-Am thespians are having their time in Broadway as ANC reporter Don Tagala reports.

Here's a book that's one-of-a-kind: San Francisco Bay Area-based author and artist Michael Magnaye's La Vie en Pose, a collection of hilarious and satirical photos of the author in cross-dressing poses. You have to see it for yourself to appreciate the daring, the imagination and the acts of subversion. Guaranteed to be a hit on your coffee table because you ain't seen anything like it.

[Partner] Discount Tix To Larry The Musical, Meet Our Larrys, And More!

[Video Of The Week] The Domestic Slaves Rescued From London’s Richest Streets

Anti-Asian Hate Watch

Anti-Asian Hate Incidents
https://laist.com/brief/news/anti-asian-hate-aapi-resource-hub

UCLA, AAPI Data Report Urges Culturally Informed Mental Health Care for Asian American, NHPI Communities
https://bnnbreaking.com/breaking-news/health/ucla-aapi-data-report-urges-culturally-informed-mental-health-care-for-asian-american-nhpi-communities

Anti-Asian Bias Sometimes Is Disguised in ‘Microaggressions’
https://sampan.org/2024/frontpage/anti-asian-bias-sometimes-is-disguised-in-microaggressions/

Fight Anti-Asian Racism with Data and Community Help
https://asianresourcehub.org/

WA lawmakers pass bill to create hotline for hate crimes and bias incidents
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/wa-to-establish-hotline-for-hate-crimes-and-bias-incidents/

Hate crime charges added for home-invasion suspects accused of targeting Asian people
https://midmichigannow.com/news/nation-world/-hate-crime-asian-families-home-invasion-robbery-break-in-crime-crisis-seattle-washington-king-county-renton-son-english-cash-jewelry-arrest-charges-jail-bail-charged-june-assault-suspects-criminal-violence

Funding provided by the State of California.

In The Know

Andi Eigenmann reveals cause of Jaclyn Jose's death
https://mb.com.ph/2024/3/4/andi-eigenmann-reveals-cause-of-her-mother-s-death#google_vignette

This Filipino E-Learning Platform Has Created A Library of Free Online Courses That Everyone Can Contribute To
https://www.tatlerasia.com/gen-t/innovation/ask-lex-ph-library-free-online-courses?utm_source=tatlerasia.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PH_DIG_FORDIPLOMACYANDFRIENDSHIP_FULL20240301

In Pictures: 15 Manila Spots That Signal Beginnings of a Larger Walkable Heritage Zone
https://www.spot.ph/newsfeatures/culture/108008/manila-best-history-and-heritage-spots-a6883-20240210-lfrm?utm_source=Facebook-Spot&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20240301-fbnp-newsfeatures-manila-best-history-and-heritage-spots-a6883-20240210-lfrm-fbold&fbclid=IwAR00ngha9N2gi78GZO_tHj5DmmishGMFKtWxcsJMYlJuhBXxA2zt4PmAV7Y

Spot Stays: This Palawan Resort's Water Villas Are Worth the Splurge
https://www.spot.ph/things-to-do/the-latest-things-to-do/107767/palawan-resort-setir-new-salepan-villas-a5138-20240117?utm_source=Facebook-Spot&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20240303-fbnp-things-to-do-palawan-resort-setir-new-salepan-villas-a5138-20240117-fbold&fbclid=IwAR1QFhEKpoCoCpXj9hAv0yy0g-moP2f3BMBnQ7A5pAHI-V-dfoDRChLhfJE

Navy sailor’s filmmaking son brings Filipino enlisted stories to the small screen
https://www.stripes.com/branches/navy/2024-02-23/master-chief-filipino-navy-film-13091538.html?utm_campaign=dfn-ebb&utm_medium=email&utm_source=sailthru&SToverlay=2002c2d9-c344-4bbb-8610-e5794efcfa7d&fbclid=IwAR3DvC51WEVVDT8DworW4827eYrLeng5PkmhrHoa1IL2iS2TalKU4ZZfxfA

February 28, 2024

Springtime and Justice

February 28, 2024/ Staff

Now that we're inching to spring, it's time to make travel plans. How about visiting Amsterdam, whose fascinating windows, artistic displays, cobbled streets, environmentally sound transport (bicycles) and intoxicating whiffs of legal substances guarantee a wondrous vacation for anyone. PF correspondent Criselda Yabes, now France-based, writes about this tourist friendly city that beckons and lures.

The fight against anti-Asian hate requires special efforts by various states to stem the insidious crime. In New York recently, as assault victim Vilma Kari, a Filipino American senior, was accorded justice with the sentencing of her attacker to 15 years in prison, NY Governor Kate Hochul pledged $30 million in support of the AAPI communities' (including the Fil-Am community) efforts to protect its constituents from hate crimes. The Filam.net founding editor Cristina DC Pastor reports.

It's never too early to teach children the principles of justice, and books such as Ang Hukuman ni Sinukuan are on hand to provide parents and educators the tools to explain the complicated concept via mundane and familiar stories. Contributing writer Ian Layugan elucidates.

We close Black History Month with two stories that solidify the solidarity between Fil-Ams and Blacks.

Justin Jones, an elected member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, made headlines in 2023 when he joined two other representatives in breaking decorum on the House floor in a gun control protest. Long before that incident, PF featured him as a community activist actively embracing his Filipino roots in https://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/justin-jones-black-filipino-civil-rights-activist

A little-known but significant history: in 1925, the Pullman Company hired Filipinos as scabs when Black porters were trying to form a union. The train company didn't anticipate that the Filipinos would eventually join the Black porters in forming the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Read all about it in https://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/how-black-and-filipino-unity-was-forged-in-the-pullman-workers-union

[Video of The Week] EDSA On My Mind

Anti-Asian Hate Watch

California Assemblymember Carlos Villapudua Bill Would Establish Greater Penalties for Felony Hate Crimes
https://goldrushcam.com/sierrasuntimes/index.php/news/local-news/54302-california-assemblymember-carlos-villapudua-bill-would-establish-greater-penalties-for-felony-hate-crimes

Group launches new campaign to fight anti-Asian hate
https://www.aol.com/group-launches-campaign-fight-anti-204000574.html

Seattle police officer who struck Jaahnavi Kandula won’t face charges
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/seattle-police-officer-who-struck-jaahnavi-kandula-wont-face-charges/?utm_source=marketingcloud&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=BNA_022124201042+BREAKING+No+charges+for+officer+who+struck+Jaahnavi+Kandula_2_21_2024&utm_term=Registered%20User

Man Pleads Guilty To Hate Crimes For Attacking Asian Family, Blaming Them For COVID-19
https://www.aol.com/man-pleads-guilty-hate-crimes-224853882.html

Asian hate: Attacker of elderly Filipina sentenced to 15 years
https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/558378/asian-hate-man-who-attacked-elderly-filipina-in-ny-sentenced-to-15-years

A New Chapter in Hell's Kitchen: The Resilience of Vilma Kari and the Fight Against Hate
https://bnnbreaking.com/breaking-news/crime/a-new-chapter-in-hells-kitchen-the-resilience-of-vilma-kari-and-the-fight-against-hate

More than half of Asian New Yorkers report feeling isolated or anxious, yet many don't seek mental health services: report
https://www.audacy.com/1010wins/news/local/more-than-half-of-asian-new-yorkers-report-feeling-isolated

Funding provided by the State of California.

As the US and the Philippines move towards real-time intelligence sharing, infrastructure may be a challenge: Analysts
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/us-philippine-defence-cooperation-guidelines-south-china-sea-realtime-intelligence-3464061

Sunlight Air Is Moving All Its Flights to Clark
https://www.spot.ph/things-to-do/the-latest-things-to-do/108063/sunlight-air-moves-operations-to-clark-airport-pampanga-a6247-20240215?utm_source=Facebook-Spot&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20240222-fbnp-things-to-do-sunlight-air-moves-operations-to-clark-airport-pampanga-a6247-20240215-fbold&fbclid=IwAR1rXKeNv3br_34dL19Z9bxXR2JAhUQxJkrXmeO7JPnH5HN_apJB77zggls

The Master Chief Trailer Sees Tensions Rise In The US Navy [EXCLUSIVE]
https://screenrant.com/the-master-chief-movie-chris-soriano-trailer/

What I’ve Learned: Ramon Ang
https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/what-ive-learned/ramon-ang-a2056-20231115-lfrm2?utm_source=Facebook-Esquire&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20240217-fbnp-long-reads-ramon-ang-a2056-20231115-lfrm2-fbold&fbclid=IwAR3bnexdwS089pspc5R9xHfFjfO77fIAZsFsDD35BNUpCQv3tl54w148Z5Y

February 21, 2024

Life Lessons

February 21, 2024/ Staff

Tinikling, the iconic Filipino bamboo dance, is as ubiquitous as lumpia, adobo, and pancit as shorthand for Filipino presence and identity in America. The dance, which calls for timing one’s steps to avoid being caught between two clashing bamboo poles, is also a metaphor for learning to navigate life in an adopted homeland, according to author Bobbie Peyton’s children’s book, Dancing the Tinikling. Contributor Claire Mercado-Obias reviews the book illustrated by artist Diobelle Cerna (“Living Through the Rhythm of the Tinikling,”).

February as African American History Month is also a timely reminder of our own political and organic links to Black America. Rene G. Ontal tells the story of Pvt. David Fagan, a Black American soldier who defected to the Filipino resistance during the Philippine-American War (Read Again “A Black Man’s Burden,”) warning, “To the Colored American Soldier: It is without honor that you shed your precious blood. Your masters have thrown you in the most iniquitous fight” as instruments of their ambition.

More contemporarily, Filipina African American writer Janet Stickmon shares insights on growing up in both cultures: “Identifying as only African American or Filipino American never felt right because it just wasn’t true. College and scholarship applications told me, ‘Please choose one,’ but categories like African American and Asian/Pacific Islander felt too constraining” (Read Again “Blackapina, Third Movement: The Blend”).

Meanwhile, in time for the coming California primaries on March 5, 2024, Filipino community leaders who have long learned the importance of political representation and empowerment are encouraging Filipino Americans to be engaged in democratic life, to vote for candidates from the community, and to hold them accountable while in office. Contributor Jun Nucum reports on Fil-Am movers and shakers who are gunning for California legislative posts (“Meet Fil-Ams Running in California Primaries ’24,”)

Back in the Philippines, human rights activist Robert Francis Garcia and peers from the Commission on Human Rights find that the human rights situation in Cotabato in Mindanao has improved such that they could enjoy unperturbed visits with friends and their innovative livelihood projects (“Catching Up in Cotabato,”).

And here’s an actor to watch: Red Concepcion. Within a decade, Concepcion has made it from college theater productions in the Philippines to the world’s biggest stage – Broadway. Concepcion just debuted as gullible car mechanic Amos Hart in the long-running musical Chicago, the second-longest running show on The Great White Way (“Actor Red Concepcion Takes on ‘Chicago’ on Broadway,”).

[Video of the Week] Panagbenga Festival 2024