The Morning After the Morning After: A Reflection

In today's political environment, hate, it seems, has been given a reprieve. Just like at the height of the pandemic, anti-Asian hate is  as real as ever and it will take proactive community efforts to mitigate its often lethal effects.

Eric Toda was a teenager when his Japanese grandfather was assaulted randomly, presumably because he was Asian. That traumatizing experience pushed the now-adult Toda to write an impassioned essay in AdWeek in 2021 calling for the industry he belongs to -- marketing -- to act as frontliners in the fight against hate. 

Toda is Meta's (formerly Facebook) Global Head for Social Marketing, indeed a powerful megaphone for his advocacy. For his laudable efforts, the Filipino-Japanese-American was recently awarded the first Dado Banatao Legacy Award by Fil-Am nonprofit Phildev. Veteran journalist and community activist Cherie Querol-Moreno introduces the anti-Asian hate crusader to PF readers.  

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An award-winning Fil-Am journalist and educator shares her thoughts on “the morning after the morning after” the recent elections. For those seeking clarity and calm, her essay could provide both.

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Here's a big international event book lovers and book industry insiders can look forward to: in October 2025, the Philippines will be the Guest of Honor at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the biggest in the world. This means Filipino authors, editors, translators, books and publishers will be at front and center in the book publishing industry's universally recognized event. Author/publisher Cecilia Manguerra-Brainard joined the 2024 delegation and gives us a preview on what to expect. 

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PF's most prolific correspondent Anthony Maddela profiles Fil-Am artist Maryrose C. Mendoza whose art speaks volumes about how she sees her Filipino and American identities.

[MUST WATCH] Ramona S. Diaz’s “And So It Begins”
Official Philippine Entry to the 97th Academy Awards for Best International Feature

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In The Know

Teodoro: China 'Pressuring' Philippines To Cede South China Sea Claims
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wkz05FgPodM

Why Exactly is the Philippines the World’s Top Rice Importer?
https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/why-philippines-is-worlds-top-rice-importer-a2556-20240703-lfrm? 

Senators hail new PH laws on maritime zones, archipelagic sea lanes
https://www.inquirer.net/420368/senators-hail-new-ph-laws-on-maritime-zones-archipelagic-sea-lanes/?

ESSAY: Global Pinoy pioneer Larry Itliong has his day in Pangasinan
https://www.gmanetwork.com/regionaltv/features/104986/essay-global-pinoy-pioneer-larry-itliong-has-his-day-in-pangasinan/story/?

The New Exodus

"When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers." The truth of this popular African proverb is starkly illustrated by the mass suffering in Gaza right now following the October 7, 2023 attack by the terrorist group Hamas against Israel. The latter's superior war machine has since been relentless in its goal of obliterating Hamas; civilians, infrastructures and the Gazan way of life be damned.

In this backdrop of unending war, Filipinos who resided in Gaza and married Palestinians had to flee. With the help of the Philippine Embassy in Jordan, under stressful circumstances, many of them chose to return to the Philippines with their families in tow. 

This week, we have an exclusive and extensive report by veteran journalist Chupsie Medina who visited a new community now called "Little Gaza" in Quezon City. There the Gaza refugees have organized themselves informally but effectively.  

Chupsie was able to talk to some of the more vocal community members, saw how they lived, and heard their stories about their escape from war, what they perceived as a re-victimization by Philippine groups who collected money on their behalf but didn't share the collection with them, and how they see their future.

Poignant, heartbreaking but ultimately a triumph of the human spirit. That's what our story, "Leaving Gaza" is all about. 

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What does the election results in the US say about Asian-American voters? University of San Francisco professor James Zarsadiaz dissects the outcome.

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Once upon a time, a Fil-Am psychologist dreamt of his Ilocano great grandfather who he never met. This ancestor who lived in the early years of the 20th century had hand-written stories of his life and times in a cuaderno (notebook), which was handed down through generations. Alvin B. Gaerlan, the great grandson, has since published the contents of the cuaderno into a book or two. Read about how this cuaderno took a life of its own in “My Great-Grandfather’s Memoir: From Notebook to Book”

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Our Partner post this week is from the National Federation of Fil-Am Associations (NaFFAA) which lists the Fil-Am winners of this year's elections. 

Video of the Week: Nostalgic Filipino Cookies

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In The Know

Undocumented Filipinos urged to return home
https://asamnews.com/2024/11/09/undocumented-filipinos-us-repatriation-advisory/

Museum spotlights rich Filipino Farm Center history
https://stocktonrecord-ca.newsmemory.com/

Ex-Philippine President confirms existence of personal ‘death squad’
https://asamnews.com/2024/11/06/rodrigo-duterte-death-squad-drugs-crime-crackdown/?jetpack_skip_subscription_popup

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Breathe In, Breathe Out

The nail-biting US election is over.

Meanwhile, here are our stories for the week: 

A brief visit to President Roxas town in Capiz to talk about drugs (the use of, the fight against, the politics and social science surrounding the issue) gave PF contributing writer Robert Francis Garcia some memorable encounters with regular folks and fresh scallops. ["Captivating Capiz"]

The Florence Finch is the newest U.S. Coast Guard Fast Response Cutter named after Florence Ebersole Smith Finch, a Filipino American woman who assisted the United States during World War II. We're reposting NextShark's' story on this singular honor accorded to one of us.

The 7th Fil-Am Book Festival in San Francisco recently was an exhilarating experience for Kyla Crisostomo, a young writer who was in Cloud 9 as she listened to well-known Fil-Am authors and perused the wide variety of Fil-Am-authored books in the marketplace.

Twelve young, accomplished Fil-Ams are visiting the Philippines as immersion delegates under the 2024 Filipino Young Leaders Program (FYLPRO). 

Our Video of the Week: an interview with Katrin de Guia, originally from Germany who has adapted the Philippines as her second homeland. 

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In The Know

Jollibee to take over Michellin-starred restaurant
https://asamnews.com/2024/11/05/flagship-chinese-food-store-worldwide-acclaimed-restaurant/?jetpack_skip_subscription_popup

Duterte’s jarring testimony into drug killings in Philippines relives a nightmare for many
https://apnews.com/article/philippines-duterte-drug-killings-testimony-448d440e057506e5a9cbe615372ccd45?

Here's one of the only places you can ride in a Filipino jeepney
https://www.npr.org/2024/10/27/nx-s1-5135715/filipino-jeepney-san-francisco?

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