Heartbreaks

Can you imagine same sex marriage becoming legal in the Philippines? Me neither, at least in our lifetime. But the times are certainly a-changin' as a legal case filed by a young, gay lawyer named Jesus Falcis III that pushes for the legalization of same-sex marriage in a mostly Catholic country gets a hearing as far up as the Supreme Court. That alone is an achievement, as PF Correspondent Rene M. Astudillo, reports in "Quo Vadis, Philippine Same Sex Marriage."

Hardly controversial is the innate talent of Noel Trinidad, the artist profiled by another PF Correspondent, Rey E. de la Cruz. 

Forty one years ago this month in San Francisco, one of the most heartbreaking conflicts took place -- the eviction of elderly Filipinos from the International Hotel. Read Again Veronica Versoza's account of what really happened that crucial night from which an entire generation of activists earned its chops. http://www.positivelyfilipino. com/magazine/the-last-night- of-i-hotel

Have you ever wondered how your family got its surname? Read Again cultural historian and PF Correspondent Penelope V. Flores' research on the genesis of Filipino surnames.
http://www.positivelyfilipino. com/magazine/how-filipinos- got-their-surnames

Quite a number of interesting Filipino-related stories were published in various media outlets recently. In case you missed them, here are some links in our In The Know section:

Carmen Guerrero Nakpil: The Greatest National Artist for Literature We Never Had
http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/301505/carmen-guerrero-nakpil-greatest-national-artist-literature-never/

Eating while immigrant: The bitter taste of assimilation and the joy of 'stinky' food 
http://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/ct-food-immigrant-food-and-childhood-0801-story.html

Philippines Raises Concern over Chinese Radio Warnings
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/philippines-raises-concern-over-chinese-radio-warnings/2018/07/30/a50ec7ee-93fe-11e8-818b-e9b7348cd87d_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.055854687a61

Filipina Chef Introduces Boodle Fights to the French Culinary Scene and the Europeans love it.
https://www.wheninmanila.com/filipina-chef-introduces-boodle-fights-to-the-french-culinary-scene-and-europeans-love-it/

Six Filipinos Indicted for Domestic and International Money Laundering and Conspiracy for Multi-Year Bribery and Fraud Scheme
https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/six-filipinos-indicted-domestic-and-international-money-laundering-and-conspiracy-multi

For our Happy Home Cook feature, incarcerated military officers (now freed) share their recipe for Calderetang Kambing (goat stew), a favorite of Filipino beer drinkers. 

For our video of the week, AARP nominates FilVetRep's Executive Director Jon Melegrito as one of its AAPI Community Hero Award finalists for his work in honoring the Filipino World War II Veterans. If you wish to support Jon, visit AARP's AAPI Hero Award facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/AARPAAPI/videos/1391794597623242/

Getting to Know Us

Yes, you are reading and enjoying our stories in The Magazine, the main section of PositivelyFilipino.com. But we'd like to point you to our other sections as well that you can access by clicking on the section name.

Our Global News Briefs section (click on In Brief) provides Filipinos an up-to-date, birds-eye view of situations, regulations, issues, events and other information that affect and involve Filipinos all over the globe.

+BTW compiles the weekly editor's notes and some significant letters from readers.

If you want to access our archives, click on Collections. Stories are classified based on topic areas.

Community News is a new section where we publish press announcements from various groups.

Screening Room is where you can watch interesting videos that we have posted.

All these comprise the whole of Positively Filipino and as always, we strive to be your main source of information and illumination on the Filipino diaspora and all things Filipino.

This week we bring you the "10 Filipino Billionaires in 2014" list. No surprises here. These men and their families have been considered the Philippines' richest for a while now. How they got to where they are – in addition to hard work and an incredible amount of luck – would make for a good read someday.

Poet Aileen Ibardaloza-Cassinetto submits a lyrical piece about her "Lolo Claudio in Colorado: After the Poetry," which tells of her clan's beginnings in America and how she as a poet is kept grounded by the pull  of history and geography.

Update your superstition meter with "Beyond Belief," Neni Sta. Romana-Cruz's evocation of folk beliefs regarding illness and burial. Neni is the author of the best-selling book, Don't Take A Bath On a Friday, so she knows her superstitions.

A fascinating technology breakthrough with the acronym ARRAS was developed by a team of scientists, government agencies and the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) to monitor the healing of the famous Tubbataha Reef in southern Philippines. Read about it in "ARRAS: A New Way Of Looking at Coral Reefs."

Chef Charles Miguel cooks up a storm at Benihana Piccadilly, UK in our Video of the Week.

If you're a fan of reality TV contests like The Voice and American Idol, check out AARP's Boomer Superstar Contest and help choose a winner.

Remember the popular OPMs (original Pilipino music) of the '70s? Take a nostalgic trip with me in my blog this week, "The Soundtrack of My Life."

Hope the summer heat in your area is not too intense.