Afternoon Delight

What's your idea of an afternoon well spent, one that elevates your spirit and shakes or stirs you to take, if not outright action, at least to take the next step towards greater enlightenment?

Would it be watching a controversial movie that presents an alternate reality of a well-documented historical event, like "Maid in Malacanang"?

Would it be taking time off to pursue a passion that saved you from pursuing a wrong path, like chef/photographer Jomel Bartolome in New Zealand? 

Certainly, it will not be what author/professor/human rights activist/occasional politician Walden Bello endured recently when he had to spend jail time for displeasing the powerful. 

For many of us, an afternoon of Filipino music and an intimate conversation about our musical culture with Maestro Michael Dadap wins hands down as the activity of choice, more so if it's in the company of kindred spirits, as PF contributor Lorna Lardizabal-Dietz writes about.

These stories and another of our popular recurring list of Fil-Ams who are making this world a better place are our offerings this week. 

We are also re-sharing some stories that we hope will make your day better.

In 2013, during the search for a new Pope, then newly named Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle was talked about as a possible candidate. Here's the late ace reporter Aries Rufo's take on the issue: http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/2013/3/the-man-who-could-be-pope

And a good read, at any time of day from Lotis Key-Kabigting: http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/white-men-cant-jump-start

[Cook It Again] The Happy Home Cook: Rellenong Talong (Stuffed Eggplant)

[Video of the Week] "Gintong Kasaysayan, Gintong Pamana" LA's Historic Filipinotown Mural

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In The Know

Philippine media under pressure as Marcos Jr courts influencers
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/20/philippine-media-under-pressure-as-marcos-jr-courts-influencers

When Filipinos Fight with Filipino-Americans, No One Wins
https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/filipinos-filipino-americans-filams-filipinx-diaspora-a2819-20220813-lfrm2
Philippine classrooms reopen after more than two years
https://ph.news.yahoo.com/philippine-classrooms-reopen-more-two-032342193.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9sLmZhY2Vib29rLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAFiv7B7QwjQj_86QCR-k3x8XaEvIhOp4chOIPrES_OphaH_UXSvyFNBN09_mP_sSgnSpzJRzbSTUG-SaPyFRCv3_S2XFNI5fPK7gB3c0fgoyEMqxmc8tBJ0dhjtPyzRN5sAVwDN1U_KjS02HBZQhj9gMw-29ARYLodRIbcRESufw

Why American Billionaire Andrew Carnegie Offered To Buy The Philippines’ Freedom For $20 Million
https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/andrew-carnegie-philippines-a00304-20200105?utm_source=Facebook-Esquire&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20220815-fbnp-long-reads-andrew-carnegie-philippines-a00304-20200105-fbold&fbclid=IwAR2dzkEZ8Zkzr4MZoKKPzMGtLOO_5O8aAhHYLmFhc6VGFscV8zz54fzBrnY

Why Niagara Falls has become home to many Filipinos
https://news.abs-cbn.com/life/08/16/22/why-niagara-falls-has-become-home-to-many-filipinos

The story of esteemed 19th-century Spanish painter’s ‘lonely tomb’ at the La Loma Cemetery
https://pop.inquirer.net/331379/the-story-of-esteemed-19th-century-spanish-painters-lonely-tomb-at-the-la-loma-cemetery

What Ever Happened to the Legendary Salinas Salt Springs?
https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/salinas-salt-springs-a00293-20201201?utm_source=Facebook-Esquire&utm_medium=Ownshare-Photo&utm_campaign=20220822-fbnp-long-reads-salinas-salt-springs-a00293-20201201-fbold&fbclid=IwAR1slU5yvifhDoHV6amCmF_ZZXply4tS4idc05GNrTtELjeacn2jenyaowo

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They Who Heal Us

At the beginning of 2020, our world was still what we had known it to be. Our daily routines were simple: work; play; love; travel; enjoy.  

Two weeks into the year, the Philippines suffered its first major tragedy, but it was localized. Taal Volcano erupted, spewing tons and tons of ashes that turned some parts of Batangas and Cavite gray, forcing large-scale evacuations and rendering farms and orchards dead. 

And then Covid-19 happened towards the end of January and, just like that, the world as we knew it was completely upended. Within a few weeks, lockdowns would be imposed in almost all countries, businesses destroyed, international travel banned, and mass deaths became the norm.

We're now on the 8th month of the pandemic and the end is nowhere in sight. In the Philippines, 80 health care groups representing 80,000 doctors and a million nurses have petitioned the government for a "timeout" to recalibrate its strategy (or the lack of it) in fighting the virus because the entire health care system is now in danger of complete collapse, its frontliners exhausted to their human limits.

The US is not doing any better. The country is on top of the list in covid infections in the entire world and every day, records are broken for new cases. Toiling at the forefront, side by side with the doctors and other health care workers are the 150,000-strong Filipino nurses scattered in most states but mainly in California and New York, where they make up about 20 percent of the labor force caring for coronavirus patients. Do a Google search and you'll see many reports on how Fil-Am nurses have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. Watch our Video of the Week -- a CBS news report by Fil-Am journalist Elaine Quijano on precisely this topic. 

Our story this week on Zenei Cortez, the president of the California Nurses Association and co-president of National Nurses United, the US' largest nurses' union, is both a call to action and a tribute to these heroes of the moment, many of whom are our kababayans. PF Correspondent Cherie Querol Moreno reports.

Writer and long-time activist Bonifacio P. Ilagan gives us a capsule post-mortem on the real state of the nation, following President Duterte's address last July 27. 

And, if you haven't yet, register for Positively Filipino's webinar on "Immigrants in the Time of Racial Unrest, the Pandemic and Trump" featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Jose Antonio Vargas and veteran immigration lawyer Lourdes Tancinco. The webinar happens on Monday August 10, 6pm PST/ 9pm EST (Tuesday 9 am Manila time). Here's the link: bit.ly/ImmigrantsRacialUnrest.

Stories This Week

A Compassionate Healer And Fierce Fighter For Fellow RNs By Cherie M. Querol Moreno

The State Of The Nation In A Day By Bonifacio P. Ilagan

Master Watercolorist Josė Honorato Lozano—The Sequel By Myles A. Garcia

Architect With A Personal Touch By Rafaelito Sy 

Read Again:
Murder Most Foul By Alex Fabros, Jr. 

The Happy Home Cook: Instant Pot Beef Caldereta By Elizabeth Ann Quirino

Video of the Week: Asian Americans report increased discrimination, even as some work on the front lines of pandemic

[PARTNER] Watch It Again: Philippine International Aid’s Giving Hope to the Children 2020 Online Fundraiser

In the Know

Philippine capital returning to lockdown as virus surges
https://news.yahoo.com/philippine-capital-returning-lockdown-virus-055713263.html

Meet the Bay Area rapper working on a COVID vaccine
https://www.sfgate.com/sf-culture/article/Bay-Area-rapper-COVID-vaccine-Ruby-Ibarra-15450383.php?fbclid=IwAR1A8QZEyXedtt9yNbRqhh3zl_08lP16KKVnxNbotvvZp_YOYMEZ6UoWpMU

Why Filipinx Americans Should Be In Solidarity With Black Lives Matter: Lessons From American History
https://www.facebook.com/notes/filipino-american-national-historical-society-fanhs/why-filipinx-americans-should-be-in-solidarity-with-black-lives-matter-lessons-f/10158420594771602/

On Adobo and Anxiety
https://www.southernfoodways.org/on-adobo-and-anxiety/

Amy Schumer just shared her Emmy nomination with her nanny who is from the Philippines
https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/07/30/20/amy-schumer-just-shared-her-emmy-nomination-with-her-nanny-who-is-from-the-philippines?fbclid=IwAR112EuPUsXXD2R31DL-KcyItX07l6euegi5MUvMAF1Rd-alBgsNFV2nktk

Old Soldiers' Bittersweet Celebration

Veterans Day (last Monday) in the US is a bittersweet event for Filipino veterans of WWII. While they share in the celebration, they are also reminded of the unjust Rescission Act of 1946 which stripped them of the post-war benefits promised them by the US government for fighting alongside US forces. In time for this year's commemoration, the Filipino Veterans Recognition and Education Project (FilVetREP) released a brief documentary, "Duty to Country -- Remembering Our Veterans and Families" as the first phase of their education efforts to tell the story of Filipino WWII veterans. Watch the video on their site and share it with everyone you know. 

Another film that's making waves is "The Kingmaker," a full-length documentary by Lauren Greenfield on Imelda Marcos, whose legendary and continuing outrageousness is on full display. Author/publisher and regular PF contributor Cecilia Manguerra Brainard writes the review. ("The Kingmaker' Shows the Fragility of Democracy")

A Finn who teaches Filipino? Meet novelist/teacher Riitta Vartti who does that and more: not only does she speak Filipino fluently and teaches the language to Finns, she has also put together a Finnish-Filipino/Tagalog-Finnish dictionary. Chicagoland-based contributor Christian Gabriel Pareja writes the profile. ("A Finn Who Teaches Filipino")

For those cold nights, here's a perfect comfort food: Creamy Beef Macaroni Soup by Rene Astudillo.

Our In The Know links this week:

The new US Chess Champion is now ranked no. 2 in the world and opponents fear he’s still getting better.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/the-new-us-chess-champion-is-now-ranked-no-2-in-the-world-and-opponents-fear-hes-still-getting-better/2017/06/05/640f4c6a-49fd-11e7-a186-60c031eab644_story.html?fbclid=IwAR00lS3p8LaunbW70A2zdeQdUXYNcQWNbOh3pRx_lEu45dw-j61jOtf2t74#comments

A Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist (VC) and his 5 advices for Start-ups
https://jqnomics.com/2461/a-silicon-valley-venture-capitalist-vc-and-his-5-advices-for-start-ups/?fbclid=IwAR1jbGdJfnDDGKK-B-HN3ssWcFCaGIZZCLuwIE0GAoq94uZtQnGBm_Cdyec

Seattle’s keeper of Filipino American history is an 87-year-old volunteer, and replacing her may prove difficult
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattles-keeper-of-filipino-american-history-is-an-87-year-old-volunteer-and-replacing-her-may-prove-difficult/?fbclid=IwAR115Jfd_OkuYkUp7Ns4LlXHWr6NnOctwVTjTaoLLrh3VGapbuclnUWn7ic

#MakingFilipinxAmericanHistory: 14 Filipinas in Tech
https://medium.com/women-of-silicon-valley/makingfilipinxamericanhistory-13-filipinas-in-tech-58bcd8ed9fd9

For video of the week, Youtube’s Top10 World channel lists the top 10 most beautiful cities in the Philippines.