"Feastivals" and Valentine Videos

A day after Valentine's Day, the social media universe of the Philippines – where some serious celebration of V-Day happens every year -- is still kilig over the three tear-inducing videos of Jollibee, titled Crush, Vow and Date. Watch them here and get your hankies ready.

Minola Oil (a Philippine product) underscores the progress of gay rights in the country with its V-Day commercial.

Another story of celebrations comes from Positively Filipino Correspondent Rene Astudillo, who has moved semi-permanently from the San Francisco Bay Area back to the homeland. “Feast-ivals of the North” introduces the food festivals of the Ilocos, a region famous for both healthy and strange dishes.

Another Positively Filipino Correspondent, Los-Angeles-based Anthony Maddela profiles Fil-Am Jeffrey Cirio, principal dancer of the American Ballet Theatre in New York. Jeffrey, raised in Philadephia by his Filipino father and American mother, will be dancing in Don Quixote in May 2017.

For your expanded reading fare, here are the In the Know links for this week:

From Oprah to MoMA Catalog: Filipino Designer's Clutch is a Hit: http://www.townandcountry.ph/out-about/arts-culture/filipino-designer-carissa-evangelista-s-clutch-makes-it-to-moma-s-international-catalog-a00180-a00185-20170208

The Second Youngest Billionaire in the World is a Filipino-American:
http://nextshark.com/bobby-murphy-snap-inc-filipino-american/

Toronto Ube Desserts
https://www.facebook.com/Insiderdessert/videos/1643592859269533/?autoplay_reason=user_settings&video_container_type=0&video_creator_product_type=2&app_id=2392950137&live_video_guests=0

Bongbong to DILG? Robredo allies, ex-Comelec exec weigh in:
http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/14/17/bongbong-to-dilg-robredo-allies-ex-comelec-exec-weigh-in

We go vegan again this week with Richgail Enriquez's recipe for vegetable lumpiang shanghai.

A post-Valentine Watch Again treat: “66 Years, 2 Months, 21 Days…. and Still Counting,” produced and directed by our publisher, Mona Lisa Yuchengco.

We're 5 Years Old!

Our first issue for 2017 also marks the fifth year of publication of Positively Filipino.To all of you who are still reading us and helping to spread the word about this site, our heartfelt thanks. It has been an exhilarating ride putting together writers and readers under a banner that is credible and deeply informative of things Filipino. We have learned as much as we have shared, and for this we thank our contributing writers. To those who are curious about who we are, please click on About Us. We'd like to hear more from you, and one way to do that is to just click on Reply to this email posting and we'll see your message. We hope to have your continued support in the years to come.

We have just gone through a very interesting year and here's our compilation of 2016's most popular stories:

10. A Home For Filipino Food In the Capital By Elizabeth Ann Quirino
9. And You Thought You Knew Everything About Beauty Pageants By Myles Garcia
8. An Open Letter to Mayor Duterte By Monique Wilson
7. Limeuil By Ofeila Gelvezon Tequi
6. She Keeps The Defense Agency Shipshape By Anthony Maddela
5. Opinion: What Happens If Bongbong Marcos Becomes Vice President By Myles Garcia
4. The Stunning Isabel Preysler By Mona Lisa Yuchengco
3. Jordan Norwood: Carrying the Ball for Filipinos at the Super Bowl By Lloyd LaCuesta and Ken Guanga
2. The Political Outsider By Randy S. David
1. How Filipinos Got Their Surnames By Penelope V. Flores

The recent award by the U.S. Congress of the Congressional Medal of Honor for Filipino veterans of WWII prompted Washington, D.C.-based community leader Jon Melegrito to write "Honoring My Dad, a War Veteran." The piece brings home the very personal story behind the long fight for veterans' recognition and equity, a cause that Melegrito himself tirelessly worked for.

Positively Filipino Contributing Writer Rey de la Cruz sent in a nostalgic story about his hometown -- Ballesteros, Cagayan, of which he has fondly written a children's book. If you grew up in a small town in the Philippines, "Ballesteros On My Mind," will trigger fond memories of childhood joys. 

After a holiday season that, of course, involved food binges, how about stepping back and making some vegan longganisa. Our vegan maven Richgail Enriquez tells us how.

For our Video of the Week, we feature a wonderful blend of spoken word, cultural beats and ethnic dance from Filipino Canadian artists Han Han, Datu and Hataw.

A Hundred Days

President Obama came out with a reflective piece on the significance of Filipino immigration to the US for Filipino American History Month, a first from a sitting American president. Read it here.

Meanwhile, in the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte just passed the 100-day mark of his administration and opinions fill up the full spectrum. With the latest Social Weather Stations survey showing a 76 percent satisfaction rating for the president's performance in office, and the constant flow of controversial and outrageous statements coming out of his mouth, President Digong is alternately revered and opposed by a divided nation. Here are four opinion pieces that reflect the divide:

Filipino American journalist Rene Astudillo writes on "Open Letter to My President";

Manila-based communications specialist Manuel Hizon provides as a situationer, "Making Sense of Change";

San Francisco-based lawyer/columnist Rodel Rodis educates us (and hopefully the President's men) on the Leahy Law that has interesting repercussions on US-Philippines relations; and Contributing Writer Myles A. Garcia weighs in with a satirical piece, "Dinuguan a la Duterte."

Our Happy Home Cook recipe for this week: Minatamis na Saging, a Filipino merienda favorite, from Richgail Enriquez's vegan kitchen. Take note of Richgail's reminder to use organic brown sugar for the recipe. Non-organic brown sugar, she says, is not vegan.

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Congratulations to the Winners of the 2016 Plaridel Awards
Lotis Key - Best Entertainment Story “Standing Room Only” 
Manzel Delacruz - Best International Reporting (tie) “Missions Possible”
Elizabeth Ann Quirino, Honorable Mention for Best Tourism Feature “My Tarlac Lights Up the World With Belenismo”