Independence, Ramadan, and Father's Day

As we celebrate 120 years of Philippine Independence, let's take a look back to how it all began. Read Again "Why June 12 Is Different From Other Days" by contributor John Silva.

In San Francisco, this year's celebration featured, among other highlights, an Independence Day cake created by Bettina Santos-Yap, a marketing person who recently embarked on her second career, this time in the culinary world. PF Correspondent Cherie Querol-Moreno reports.

We wish our Muslim brothers and sisters a meaningful celebration of the Eid ul Fitr on June 15, marking the end of this year's month-long Ramadan. How is Marawi City faring after the horrific fighting and bombing there? Our PF Correspondent Criselda Yabes updates us on the remnants of what used to be a glorious showcase of Muslim life in Mindanao.

And for our Father's Day feature, a touching story on how a son found his father and how the father accepted his previously unknown son. Derrick Reyes, the son, tells us his story in "May I Call You Dad?" while Ricardo "Dick" Taylor reveals what he felt when he found out that he had a son he never knew.

In our In The Know links this week, we pay tribute to Anthony Bourdain, the chef/media celebrity/adventurer/sage who, in two episodes of this highly rated series, publicly declared a lot of affection for Filipinos and Filipino food. 

A tribute to Anthony Bourdain, one of the OG champions of Filipino cuisine
https://coconuts.co/manila/lifestyle/tribute-anthony-bourdain-one-og-champions-filipino-cuisine/

This valedictorian began to talk about sexual misconduct at her graduation. Then her mic was cut.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2018/06/09/this-valedictorian-began-to-talk-about-sexual-misconduct-at-her-graduation-then-her-mic-was-cut/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.f331545d609f

The Price of ‘Machismo Populism’ in the Philippines
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/06/duterte-kiss-philippines/562265/

Filipina Equestrian Spreads The Olympism Message
https://www.olympic.org/news/filipino-equestrian-spreads-the-olympism-message?esi=true

For your Father's Day celebration, here's a simplified version of our favorite Filipino dessert, Leche Flan from contributor Melanie Q. Suzara.

And for our Video of the Week, enjoy Anthony Bourdain's tribute to our people. 

Father Courage

Happy Father's Day to all the dads -- and single moms -- out there who, like our contributor Patricio N. Abinales in "Single Parenting an American," is trying to negotiate the rough waters of a kid's tween years combined with some cultural dilemmas. I feel his pain because about two decades ago, I was in the same situation as I wryly recall in my blog this week, "Paternal Instincts." It will be a tough journey ahead for parents like him but time flies and pretty soon the difficult years will just become family anecdotes to laugh about. At least that's always the hope.

It will be the 155th birthday of our National Hero Jose Rizal on June 19 so we are reposting two stories to remember him by: Penelope V. Flores' "Rizal's Great Loves" and John Silva's "Rizal's Cook Remembers a Good Man."

Lifelong activist and first-time contributor Edwin Batongbacal writes an impassioned review of the new book, Women Against Marcos: Stories of Filipino and Filipino American Women Who Fought a Dictator, by Mila de Guzman. Edwin's take is personal because some of the women featured in this book were his mentors who helped shape his political views. We are also including a chapter written by Mila Aguilar, one of the valiant women profiled in the book.

Our Happy Home Cook recipe this week: food blogger and cookbook author Marvin Gapultos' Lying Laing, his version of the traditional Bicolano dish but this time using kale instead of gabi (taro) leaves.

For our Video of the Week, we join the celebration of June as Immigrant Heritage Month with "I Am An Immigrant," a short video featuring celebrities standing by immigrants.