May 29, 2024

Anthropological Skulls of Thought

May 29, 2024/ Staff

How many of you are willing to brave a long boat ride, take a challenging hike through forest and mountain, and slither down a cave for the singular purpose of seeing human remains? It's not many people's idea of fun, certainly not for those past the age of dreaming they are Indiana Jones. But for a group of 20 students of anthropology, the journey was well worth the hardship, and the reward of seeing up close the strangely modified skulls was a dream-come-true.

The vaunted site (at least for those into the study of humanity, as anthropology is defined) is the Guyangan Cave System in Banton, the northernmost island of Romblon. Guyangan is network of caves known to hold a rich trove of archaeological treasures that could well hold the key to understanding in greater detail the evolution of our race.

The skulls there are unique in its inexplicable deformity: the foreheads are much higher than a regular human. How did this happen and why? The answers are still in the speculative stage but our lead story this week by UP anthropology major Aidrielle Raymundo about their trip to Banton is fascinating.

Just as fascinating is cultural writer Pablo Tariman's story about Damodar Das Castillo, a cello prodigy who is just 16 years old but has already won five first prizes in international competitions, performed in various international stages and earned standing ovations from ecstatic audiences.

An anthropological documentation of a different kind is the story of a pandemic as seen through the experiences of Fil-Am health care workers in its frontlines. There is a book about it and we're appreciating it this week.

And speaking of books, book designing is a specialized art that few have mastered. But a Filipino artist named Felix Mago Miguel has done just that and he's profiled by PF correspondent now based in France, Criselda Yabes.

With deep sorrow, we pay tribute to Barbara "Tweetums" Gonzalez, one of the Philippines' best columnists, who passed away in Manila on May 28. Her first publisher, Karina Africa Bolasco, writes a stirring tribute to this lady who wrote so beautifully about life. We are also posting a piece from her Facebook page, which was her column for the Philippine Star on April 24.

[Video of the Week] South China Sea Tensions: Onboard A Philippine Convoy Boat That Sailed Towards Disputed Reef

In The Know

Stockton museum highlights Filipino American heritage
https://fox40.com/news/local-news/stockton/stockton-filipino-american-national-historical-society-museum/

6 Filipino ‘ulam’ hog Best Pork Dishes in the World list of Taste Atlas for 2024
https://www.rappler.com/life-and-style/food-drinks/filipino-best-pork-dishes-world-2024-taste-atlas/

Traveler waves Philippine flag on sandbar near Pag-asa Island
https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/on-the-radar/2024/05/24/2357576/traveler-waves-philippine-flag-sandbar-near-pag-asa-island?

Philippines: world’s largest rice importer again
https://opinion.inquirer.net/173953/philippines-worlds-largest-rice-importer-again

Maria Ressa delivers the Commencement Address | Harvard Commencement 2024
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dETo7ECQKc

Anti-Asian Hate Watch

Heritage Month campaign stops hate by spreading love
https://asamnews.com/2024/05/29/resilience-perseverance-stop-aapi-hate-storytelling-campaign/

Miss USA Savannah Gankiewicz says she's received death threats and hateful messages since being crowned
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/miss-usa-savannah-gankiewicz-says-170839361.html

Asian students face racism, harassment at school. What would make it stop?
https://wausaupilotandreview.com/2024/05/18/asian-students-face-racism-harassment-at-school-what-would-make-it-stop/

Why are hate crimes so hard to convict in court?
https://wausaupilotandreview.com/2024/05/17/why-are-hate-crimes-so-hard-to-convict-in-court/

Legal fund helps Asian Americans fight discrimination at work
https://www.axios.com/local/san-francisco/2024/05/15/asian-american-workplace-discrimination-legal-fund

Statistics of sentiments: How Asian Americans feel
https://sundial.csun.edu/181618/print-editions/print-stories/statistics-of-sentiments-how-asian-americans-feel/

Veteran attacked in Chicago suspects it was a hate crime
https://asamnews.com/2024/05/24/hate-crime-racially-motivated-attack-chicago-kevin-qin/

Funding provided by the State of California.

May 22, 2024

Tastes of Nostalgia

May 22, 2024/ Staff

Remember Ma Mon Luk? Those delicious asado-filled white siopao the size of our clenched fist that we were told to peel before eating? Paired with the restaurant's steaming mami, they were perfect for keeping stomach and soul satiated because they were cheap and flavored just right.

Ma Mon Luk, the restaurant (first in Quiapo and later a branch in Quezon Blvd. near Banawe, QC), was itself a draw. Humid and steamy because there was no air-conditioning, greasy and somewhat grubby, it nonetheless attracted not just budget eaters but bougie types as well. Quite a number of Filipino octogenarians associate Ma Mon Luk with their first dates or their marriage proposals. During martial law when many were hunted, the always bustling restaurant was a good place to meet in plain sight (thus unnoticed by the hunters) and to satisfy one's craving as well.

Behind the restaurant and the siopao, there was Ma Mon Luk, the man, whose origin story is now the focus of a children's book. Read all about it in this issue and get a recipe for mami.

Here's another nostalgia trip: remember the pop songs that filled the Philippine airwaves decades ago, like "Ikaw Ang Lahat Sa Akin" by Martin Nievera, and "Lift Up Your Hands" by Basil Valdez?" The songs have proven staying power but the composer herself has kept a relatively low profile. Until this month that is. This weekend in Manila she celebrates her 45th year as a hotshot composer of many hits. This issue has her covered.

And two doses of inspiration: first, from a veteran Fil-Am broadcast journalist who has a lot of say about pursuing a path that matters. And second, the continuing and never-ending list of Fil-Am achievers who are stamping their marks on the US melting pot.

Finally, a front-and-center look at Lake Sebu in South Cotabato where the T'boli tribe of crafts people and tradition bearers live, work and fight for their right to their ancestral lands.

For our Video of the Week, a new documentary on acclaimed soprano Evelyn Mandac by an appreciative student.

Read Again: How Filipinas Saved a Town in Japan

In The Know

Opinion: I’m Asian American. I see DEI as a bridge for communities
https://asamnews.com/2024/05/19/opinion-im-asian-american-i-see-dei-as-a-bridge-for-communities/

Family reaches settlement in police shooting of son
https://asamnews.com/2024/05/16/police-brutality-mental-health-angelo-quinto/

Sleepy far-flung towns in the Philippines will host US forces returning to counter China threats
https://apnews.com/article/us-forces-philippines-south-china-sea-taiwan-

Lino Brocka’s Cannes Classic ‘Bona,’ With Philippines’ Female Superstar Nora Aunor, Set for Release in U.S., France (EXCLUSIVE)
https://variety.com/2024/film/news/lino-brocka-nora-aunor-bona-philippines-restored-film-cannes-

20 Rare Photos of the Manila Carnival That You've Probably Never Seen Before
https://www.esquiremag.ph/culture/lifestyle/rare-manila-carnival-photos-

Teatro Balagtas brings struggle for social justice on stage
https://www.rappler.com/entertainment/theater/teatro-balagtas-brings-struggle-social-justice-stage/

Anti-Asian Hate Watch

Miss Hawaii USA receives slew of online hate, death threats since being crowned Miss USA
https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2024/05/19/miss-hawaii-usa-receives-slew-online-hate-death-threats-since-being-crowned-miss-usa

California’s Indigenous People Fight Histories of Hate
https://ethnicmediaservices.org/stop-the-hate/californias-indigenous-people-fight-histories-of-hate/

A New Database Raises Awareness About AAPI Hate in New York City
https://asamnews.com/2024/05/15/new-app-aapi-hate-tracker-to-report-incidents-for-asian-american-pacific-islander-native-hawaiian-in-new-york-city/

Spreading Love to Stop Hate
https://spreadaapilove.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Data-Insights_One-Pager.pdf?

Hundreds mourn victims of anti-Asian hate in New Jersey
https://asamnews.com/2024/05/20/racism-discrimination-violence-asian-american-community-montclair-aapi/

Funding provided by the State of California.

May 15, 2024

Our Mothers, Our Heroes

May 15, 2024/ Staff

All of us have our own personal heroes and we celebrate their presence and their legacy at various times of the year. Mother's Day, birthdays, anniversaries, Father's Day -- these are dates we jot down in our memory banks that allow us to renew gratitude and reverence to those who have personally guided and inspired us.

And then there are the heroes of a nation -- admired from afar, accessible to a lucky few -- who nonetheless earn our esteem and appreciation because of their works, their deeds, and the principles on which they anchored their life work.

In this issue, we pay tribute to two exemplary Filipinos who recently passed on: ex-Senator and human rights lawyer Rene Saguisag (as remembered by current Senator Risa Hontiveros) and playwright/poet/theater VIP Floy Quintos (as honored by his acolyte, Charlette San Juan).

And as a belated Mother's Day feature, two strong-willed and unique women are given due appreciation by their daughters (actress/writer/director Bibeth Orteza and author/community organizer Rochit Tañedo) who grew up not exactly like them, but close.

Speaking of, here's an important Mother's Day history: Mother's Day started in the 1870s as Mothers' Day (note the apostrophes). According to historian Heather Cox Richardson, a woman dynamo named Julia Ward Howe (she wrote the "Battle Hymn of the Republic") organized Mothers' Day festivals as a clarion call for peace and to empower women to have an equal say in changing society. The then-revolutionary intent of Mothers' Day stemmed from the shock of the carnage of wars that maimed and killed thousands of men. As Cox Richardson writes, Ward Howe believed that "women must take control of politics from the men who had permitted such carnage. Mothers’ Day was not designed to encourage people to be nice to their mothers. It was part of women’s effort to gain power to change society."