Quarrel Over Quezon, Fracas Over Frankfurt Book Fair

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With the hubbub of praise and condemnation that has surrounded the showing of the movie "Quezon," starring Jericho Rosales in the title role, it's good timing to come out with "Embassy of Exile" by our resident Fil-Am historian Alex S. Fabros, Jr. It tells the story of how a group of distinguished Filipino statesmen, led by the ailing Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon, set up a Philippine government in exile during WWII. The headquarters was in a brownstone at 1617 Massachusetts Ave. in Washington D.C. where, to this day, the consular services of the Philippine Embassy in the US is based. 

Though Quezon did not live to see the end of the war, his stalwart team did valiant work, including a call to arms that inspired Filipino farmworkers in America to volunteer to fight. Despite the demands of war, the team of Filipinos never lost sight of its main task - to ensure the granting of independence from the US which came to fruition on July 4, 1946. 

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Last month, about 400 Filipino writers and publishers gathered in Frankfurt for the 76th annual Frankfurter Buchmesse, reputedly the world's largest book fair. As the 2025 Guest of Honor, Philippine books were front and center of the trade exhibition that allowed international literary agents, translators, and book distributors to negotiate deals. Was the Philippine participation (reportedly at a cost of hundreds of thousands of euros) worth it? Author/publisher Cecilia Brainard who was there gives us a participant's report.

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Making waves on Netflix nowadays is the Filipino film "Only We Know," a story with a "kilig" factor starring Charo Santos and Dingdong Dantes. If you're on the fence about watching it, read Elizabeth Ann Quirino's review here.

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A Filipina-British, Viva Andrada O'Flynn, was proclaimed the Mock Mayor of Barton, England on the historic Gloucester Day last September, the first Filipino to hold the title. She leads the festivities at the traditional FUNtastic Fair on November 15, so if you're in the vicinity, join up.

[Read It Again]

Major General Basilio J. Valdes – Doctor, Officer and Gentleman by Jessie Thompson Huberty

The Manila House in Washington, D.C. by Titchie Carandang

[Video of the Week] Espionage, Exile & Debate Glory: Hidden Filipino History in Washington, D.C.

In The Know

Photos show the impact of Typhoon Kalmaegi on the Philippines
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The Philippines MICHELIN Restaurants – The MICHELIN Guide
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The Assassination of Doña Aurora Quezon 
https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/assassination-of-dona-aurora-quezon-a00293-20190429-lfrm?utm_source=Facebook

Conservative and Religious: Filipino Evangelicals Go MAGA
https://fulcrum.sg/conservative-and-religious-filipino-evangelicals-go-maga/?

Meet the First Filipina to Visit All 203 Countries and All 82 Provinces of the Philippines
https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/first-filipino-all-countries-all-philippines-provinces-a7420-20251019-lfrm5?

Our Very Own Monsters

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Our regular contributor Claire Mercado Obias, who loves to write about books written by authors of Filipino heritage, introduces two of them this week, both falling under the horror genre. The Secret Lives of OFWs by Manila-based author Jet Tagasa sounds like juicy gossip but this short-story compilation actually draws on Philippine mythical creatures as counter-power to the travails and suffering that Filipino domestic workers with foreign masters often endure. Tagasa is a former OFW herself so she is familiar with the feelings of distress and hopelessness that OFWs go through.

"Merging my stories with Philippine folklore is a way of adding power to stories of helplessness. A way of saying that all of us have an inner monster we can tap into, to overcome monster challenges. Making these stories more than just about suffering, but also, of hope,” Tagasa explains.

The second book in Claire's article, House of Monstrous Women by Fil-Am Daphne Fama is as much a horror story as it is a political statement. Set during the 1986 People Power Revolution which toppled the first Marcos dictatorship, Fama's employs the imaginative merging of monsters and folklore to voice out her frustration with the political monsters in our midst.

“When the Marcos family reappeared in the political arena trying to rewrite the past, I was so frustrated by how they were trying to rewrite history, I wanted to bring mainstream attention to both the revolution, that period of history, and how people can truly make a difference if they come together,” Fama tells Claire.

It's a good time to read these two books as Halloween and Undas (All Saints' Day) creep up on us. But then horror has become too real, almost mundane in its regularity lately that every day can be a good day to fight the monsters, especially those in suits, that threaten to spook us to helplessness. 

[Our Stories This Week]
The Monsters in Our Midst by Claire Mercado-Obias
That Strange Writing in Philippine Passports by Howie Severino
A Marvel Superhero Shatters the Asian Male Inferiority Complex by Anthony Maddela
FilAms Among The Remarkable And Famous, Part 72 by Mona Lisa Yuchengco

[Read It Again]

An Ilongot Murder Mystery by Michael Gonzalez
Soup Tales and Big Breakfasts by Micky Fenix
Escape Through Death’s Door  by Criselda Yabes

[Video of the Week] Filipino American National Historical Society in Stockton

[Partner] Philippine International Aid’s “Giving Hope to the Children 2025”

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Staff

A Fil-Am Pioneer on Two Fronts

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Our most prolific contributor of Fil-Am history stories, Alex S. Fabros, Jr. has handed us another gem of a story on Ramon Reyes Lala, who was a pioneer on two fronts. He was the first Filipino to be naturalized as a US citizen: "In 1896, despite court rulings that barred Asians from citizenship Lala secured naturalization as a U.S. citizen. How he did so remain uncertain—perhaps through a loophole, persistence, or the benevolence of a sympathetic judge. But the certificate was real, and he carried it like armor," writes Fabros. And two years later, in 1898, Lala came out with The Philippine Islands, the first English-language book by a Filipino published in America. Unfortunately, we can only find a very blurred picture of the original cover but there is a 2015 reprint by Jefferson Publication (sent to us by Fabros) available online (link posted at the end of the story). It's a very interesting and valuable read, with graphic descriptions and images of the Philippines and its people in the late 1800s. 

A few years later, in 1903, as American colonialism was taking root in the Philippines, a clever act of creative subversion initiated by Filipino/Kapampangan playwright Aurelio Tolentino had the invited American officials squirming in their seats. Tolentino's play, "Kahapon, Ngayon at Bukas" was touted as a harmless historical drama (and thus approved by the American censors). In reality, it was anything but. Robby Tantingco, a noted book author and academic, posted this amusing vignette on his Facebook page to commemorate Tolentino's 156th birth anniversary on October 15.

She started out as a model and a beauty queen, became a multi-awarded actress and later on, the head honcho of the nation's biggest media conglomerate. Now retired from her corporate roles, Charo Santos-Concio has returned to acting. Her full-circle life is the stuff of inspiration and emulation, as her classmate of yore, Elizabeth Ann Quirino relates.

A short documentary titled "Oakland Ilokana" by Fil-Am Elenita Makani O'Malley puts together the voices and the stories that previously eluded the filmmaker until she focused on her grandmother Lola Marie, Marie Veronica Mendoza Rivera Yip, one of the first Filipino children to grow up in Oakland, CA's Chinatown. The film is a tribute and an archive to the grandmother, Filipinos in Oakland, and to the city itself. PF contributing writer Lisa Suguitan-Melnick reports. 

[Partner] San Jose State Mural

[Read It Again]

Quezon Saved Jews from the Holocaust by Ambeth R. Ocampo
A Lesson My Mom, the Actress Caridad Sanchez, Told Me by Cathy S. Babao
Leaving Gaza by Chupsie Medina

[Video of the Week] Boxer Pancho Villa

In The Know

Meet Pedro Fernández: FC Barcelona’s Filipino-Spanish Gem on the Rise
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Hidilyn Diaz to teach at UP College of Human Kinetics in 2026: 'I’m excited and nervous'
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Filipinos in the 6ix | Connecting the Filipino Community
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Greatest OOTDs in Philippine History
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From Colonial Roots to Global Nurses: The Evolution of Nursing Education in the Philippines
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Staff