For a bare-bones operation like Positively Filipino, contributing writers are the oxygen of our existence. There are over a hundred of them listed on our website. Some are friends and former colleagues, but a large number started out as total strangers who reached out to ask if they could write for PF.

Take Dr. Patricio Abinales, a friend of ours from our alma mater, who is now with the University of Hawaii in Manoa. Jojo is one of our regulars, willing to take on assignments, eager to write reviews of books dealing with Philippine politics (among others). In this issue, he looks at a newly launched book, Unrequited Love: Duterte's China Embrace, by ace journalists Marites D. Vitug and Camille Elemia.

Gary Ferrington, a retired University of Oregon professor, is one of those who wrote to us out of the blue, asking if we were interested in profiles of three young, relatively unknown Filipino singers. Gary is a writer for Oregon ArtsWatch and identifies himself as an advocate for emerging artists. We have published two of his articles (on Francis Greg and Bugoy Drilon) and we have his third -- and final -- contribution this week, on a gifted Cebuano cover singer, Anthony Uy.

Odette Foronda, based in Toronto, is a world traveler and adventurer, who regularly contributes enticing travel essays that include her stunning photographs. Here she focuses on her adventure in Siargao in Surigao, one of the Philippines' most visited destinations for water sports.

With these three and the more than 100 other contributing writers, Positively Filipino survives and thrives as a chronicler of the Filipino diaspora, and a valuable repository of some of the best journalism pieces ever written.

We are ever so grateful.

Stories This Week

China And Duterte: ‘Who’s Your Daddy?’ by Patricio Abinales

Fil-Ams Among The Remarkable And Famous, Part 59 by Mona Lisa Yuchengco

Anthony Uy: A Musical Journey Rooted In Family And Faith by Gary Ferrington

Why Did The Chickens Go To Siargao? by Odette Foronda

[Video of the Week] Sylvia La Torre, Diomedes Maturan and Bobby Gonzales