War, Family, Faith, and Pageantry

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We have quite a varied lineup this week:

In time for Veteran's Day in the US yesterday, a feature on the children's book, The Horse Soldier: A Wartime Secret by Sandie Oreta Gillis. It is the story of Lt. Edwin Price Ramsey, who led the last horse-mounted cavalry charge in U.S. military history during World War II. It is also the story of the author's grandparents who risked sheltering Ramsey in their house in Pangasinan. An inspirational story of courage during war but told for children. Leodivico Padua Masuli writes about the making of the book.

An American actor and scriptwriter married a Fil-Am movie producer and made a movie called "One Big Happy Family." Lisa Jenner, whose husband is Dean Devlin, found rich material in Filipino family dynamics that, along with co-star Dante Basco, made this 2025 comedy movie a joy to watch. PF's Los Angeles correspondent Anthony Maddela gives us a glimpse.

From North Texas, Jocelyn Alvarez Allgood introduces Yvonne Yngson Gochangco, the reigning Ginang Filipinas America, whose academic and career credentials -- a master's degree in public health, a certified nurse anesthetist -- surpass her 2025 beauty title.

A sobering testimony: when software engineer Michelle Moreno-Apolo was diagnosed with breast cancer, she dug deep into her Catholic faith, instilled in her by her mother, to navigate the harrowing journey of treatments. She shares with us her story of faith.

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Last Saturday, November 8, the Maria Elena Yuchengco Philippine Studies Program of the University of San Francisco commemorated its 25th anniversary with one of the most anticipated and well attended events in the city: a conversation with Maria Ressa, veteran journalist and the Philippines' second Nobel Prize winner. Moderating the discussion was another Fil-Am celebrity -- Pulitzer-prize winner Jose Antonio Vargas. Read all about the event here. 

Jose Antonio Vargas leads the Q&A with Maria Ressa

Congratulations to PF regular contributor of Fil-Am history stories Alex Fabros, Jr. for winning 2nd place in the International Affairs category at the 2025 American Community Media Awards (there was a first place tie between Kalynh Ngo of Viet Bao and Shahbod Noori of Tehran Magazine). Here’s the winning story: How Vietnam War Vets Wrestled with the Shadows of the Toxic Orange Mist

Alex Fabros, Jr. with wife Lorraine Wong at the American Community Media Awards last November 7, 2025 in Oakland, CA.

[Partner] FilVetRep Day

[Read It Again]

The General At Ease by Gemma Nemenzo
The Boogie Woogie Boys by Alex S. Fabros, Jr.

[Video of the Week]

'Lies Spread Faster Than Facts'—Maria Ressa at the UN 

In The Know

Sometimes heroes are in a small boat with a salbabida

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/sometimes-heroes-are-in-a-small-boat-with-a-salbabida

Kaya Founders Secures $25 Million in Final Close to Back PH Startups

https://www.esquiremag.ph/money/industry/kaya-founders-bags-25-m-in-final-close-of-fund-

Still recovering from #FilipinoAmericanHistoryMonth, but we wanted to share this news story covering the unveiling of Dr. Dawn Bohulano’s Portrait at Delta College

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=3158291527686077&extid=MSG-UNK-UNK-UNK-IOS_GK0T-GK1C&ref=sharing&mibextid=wwXIfr

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Staff

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
https://apnews.com/photo-gallery/typhoon-kalmaegi-tino-central-philippines-floods-photos

The Philippines MICHELIN Restaurants – The MICHELIN Guide
https://guide.michelin.com/ph/en/selection/philippines/restaurants 

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