Hope and Optimism

/

When second-termer Senator Risa Hontiveros took over the chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, little did she anticipate that her unwavering advocacy of the rights of the constituencies under her ambit would lead to a high-profile investigation with national security implications. Hontiveros has become known as a meticulous and expert questioner during Senate hearings, sparing no one, not even the powerful. We had a long one-on-one conversation with the Senator when she visited the San Francisco Bay Area last week and we found hope and optimism in this lady who now leads the genuine political opposition in the Philippines.  

Among the many celebrations in June -- it's Juneteenth today in the US and Jose Rizal's 153rd birth anniversary in the Philippines -- are LGBTQI+ Pride Month and National Cancer Survivors Day last June 2. We celebrate both with appropriate stories this week.  

We have a situationer on the growing disquiet in the LGBTQI+ community in the San Francisco Bay Area as the 2024 US presidential campaign revs up the divisive rhetoric against non-mainstream communities. And a personal account of a breast cancer struggle that paved the way to an entrepreneurial venture.

But we don't need any official proclamation to shine the light on the June batch of FilAms Among the Remarkable and Famous, the 58th edition.

Read Agains:

Two Centuries of Filipino Immigration to the US

Rizal’s Cook Remembers a Good Man 

Rizal's "Kiss"

[Video of the Week] The Filipino Story (Episode 2)

In The Know

Pentagon ran secret anti-vax campaign to undermine China during pandemic 
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-covid-propaganda/

New protection for undocumented families applauded
https://asamnews.com/2024/06/18/dreamers-immigration-reform-citizenship-made-easier/ 

The Best Filipino Restaurant in the Bay Area Isn’t a Restaurant at All
https://www.kqed.org/arts/13959765/best-filipino-restaurant-oakland-tipunan-ghost-kitchen

Torn from Family at Birth Because of Parents' Leprosy, Woman Reunites with Brother 53 Years Later (Exclusive)
https://people.com/torn-from-family-because-of-parents-leprosy-woman-reunites-brother-53-years-storycorps-exclusive-8661113

Medal of Honor Monday: Army 1st Lt. Rudolph B. Davila
https://www.defense.gov/News/Feature-Stories/Story/Article/3407437/medal-of-honor-monday-army-1st-lt-rudolph-b-davila/

Anti-Asian Hate Watch

FBI official admits mistakes, vows to improve relations with Asian-American communities
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3266087/fbi-official-admits-mistakes-vows-improve-relations-asian-american-communities

Playground named after grandma fatally beaten in San Francisco
https://asamnews.com/2024/06/17/yik-oi-huang-peace-and-friendship-park-beating-victim-san-francisco/

Woman sentenced to 40 days in jail in viral hate crime in Texas
https://asamnews.com/2024/06/18/racist-tirade-plano-texas-video-social-media-esmeralda-upton-sentenced/

Public Policy Inst. of California Releases Data on Hate Crimes
https://www.postnewsgroup.com/public-policy-inst-of-california-releases-data-on-hate-crimes/ 

Woman arrested for alleged hate crime against 2 Asian residents in Bellevue
https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/bellevue-hate-charges

Funding provided by the State of California.

/ /
, , , , , , , ,

Staff

Time To Swoon in June

/

It's June and, like clockwork, summer weather (now commonly termed a heat wave) begins in the western hemisphere. In our motherland, June is expected to bring the monsoon rains so desperately needed for the parched earth of the long, extremely hot summer of 2024. 

Like the previous month, June is packed with celebrations: LGBTQ Pride Month and its string of parades and revelry happens this month. For Filipinos everywhere, the annual Independence Day festivities gather communities for parades, dances, competitions and food. And then there's Rizal Day, celebrated every year on June 19, and Fathers' Day on June 16. In the US, it's also Immigrant Heritage Month, a little-known commemoration that should interest us who have made the US our adopted country. 

June of course begins the travel cycle, and the travel industry is anticipating the full impact of what has become a post-pandemic byword: revenge travel. We have been posting stories about enticing places to visit since spring, and will continue to do so this summer. One of them, in this issue, is the journey of a daring couple, both septuagenarians, who completed the challenging Kumano Kodo, Japan's equivalent to the Camino de Santiago of Spain. Since they've done both pilgrimages, the two got their Dual Pilgrim Certificate, earned by just about 5,000 long-distance walkers.  

Last month, we posted a couple of articles from Canada and reached out to Filipino-Canadians to write more. So this issue, we're posting another two; from Toronto, our regular contributing writer gives us the story of the making of the first anthology of Fil-Can writing; and from Vancouver, a first-time contributor writes about a Filipino who was a high-ranking official in Metro Vancouver but, upon retirement, returned to her first love and is flourishing. 

A look back: One afternoon in 1999, Fil-Am mail carrier Jojo Ileto was doing his rounds when a man asked him to mail a letter. There was nothing unusual about the request and Ileto gladly acceded. As he turned, the man took out a gun and shot Ileto twice. He was a random choice, clearly a hate crime. So much has happened since, yet so much still remain the same. We're reposting the story from 25 years ago because we must not forget.

Read Agains

Exceptional Philippine Churches by John Silva

Death by Discrimination by Bert Eljera

[Partner] Helping AAPI Communities Heal From The Pain Of Racism

[Video of the Week] LGBTQ Couple Excited By Their Baby Boy

Anti-Asian Hate Watch

National organizations call out anti-Asian bigotry in Congress
https://asamnews.com/2024/06/03/organizations-sign-letter-against-anti-asian-bigotry-in-congress/

The Ongoing Fight Against Antisemitism and Anti-Asian Hate: Legislative Developments
https://nysba.org/the-ongoing-fight-against-antisemitism-and-anti-asian-hate-legislative-developments/

Chinese Americans still reeling in the wake of anti-Asian hate
https://goldengatexpress.org/107116/campus-original/chinese-americans-still-reeling-in-the-wake-of-anti-asian-hate/

Man who lived in Fontana is charged with hate crime for allegedly punching woman in the head
https://www.fontanaheraldnews.com/news/man-who-lived-in-fontana-is-charged-with-hate-crime-for-allegedly-punching-woman-in/article_7519572a-1f7b-11ef-a22c-9ff3bfb428d0.html

Connecting to AANHPI seniors on mental wellness
https://www.kalw.org/2024-05-30/connecting-to-aanhpi-seniors-on-mental-wellness

Funding provided by the State of California.

/ /
, , , , , , , , , , ,

Staff

Breathe and Refresh

/

Jose Rizal

Time to take a breather after that hectic Christmas celebration. 

For your pleasurable relaxation and a dash of significant history, here's a compilation of stories we have published on Jose Rizal, the Philippines' National Hero, who remains an enigmatic person of great interest among our readers.

Through the ten years that PF has been publishing, we've had an array of Rizal stories usually in the months of June (his birth month) or December (his death month). We noted that these stories brought in a higher-than-usual readership, indicating a continuing curiosity, if not lifelong love, for this renaissance man who lived a brief but very consequential life.

Rizal was executed by the Spanish colonialists on December 30, 1896. He was 35. 

Rizal’s Great Loves by Penélope V. Flores

Rizal’s Cook Remembers A Good Man by John L. Silva

José Rizal And His Dueling German Friends by Penélope V. Flores

Jose Rizal, Martial Arts Warrior by Rene J. Navarro

‘The Month Of December, 1872’ Dr. José Rizal’s Rough Draft by Penélope V. Flores

Some Not Very Well Known Facts About Rizal’s Trial And Execution by Rodolfo A. Arizala

Jose Rizal, The Oracle by Mona Lisa Yuchengco

[Video of the Week] GomBurZa Teaser Trailer

Anti-Asian Hate Watch

New booklets teach communities ‘How to Report a Hate Crime’
https://www.dailynews.com/2023/12/14/new-booklets-teach-communities-how-to-report-a-hate-crime/

The Big Tell 2019: Peacock: Exeter, The Anti-Filipino Riot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmEQRtBXEhI

Salt Lake City police investigate salon break-in, vandalism as hate crime
https://www.sltrib.com/news/2023/12/11/salt-lake-city-police-investigate/

Funding provided by the State of California.

/ /
,

Staff