Rays of Hope

The numbers are staggering.

Quoting CBS News, "The United States reported more than 4 million coronavirus cases in November, which is higher than the total number of cases seen all year by any country in the world except India and Brazil."

Why, in heaven's name, did this have to happen? The US is the richest, most powerful country in the world with access to the best, most advanced health technologies -- or so we thought -- yet it has been brought to its knees by the pandemic.

If the numbers are staggering so are the consequences. One third of the total number of nurses who died of Covid-19 are Fil-Ams; we imagine there are many more Fil-Am frontliners, not just in the health industry, who have gotten the virus.

Covid-19 is a formidable foe, blind and disrespectful to barriers and divisions (race, economic status, political and religious beliefs) created by humans. But, as science and human ingenuity have proven throughout history, it can be defeated. All of us just have to do our part in making it happen. ALL. OF. US.

Our stories this week offer rays of hope for sickness and health.

Critical Care Pulmonologist Learning New Ways To Save Lives, Improve Outcomes
Reprinted from the UNLV Medicine Newsletter

Ana’s Chemo By Bella Bonner

Of Chicken Wings And Chicken Feet: The Traveler In Today’s Trying Times
By Carolina Esguerra Colborn

Fil-Ams Among The Remarkable And Famous, Part 12 By Mona Lisa Yuchengco

The Happy Home Cook: Munggo With Ham By Myrna Montera Lopez

Video of the week: The Marcos Gold Wealth: Is It True?

In The Know

IATF allows balikbayans, foreign spouses to enter Philippines
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2020/11/28/2059979/iatf-allows-balikbayans-foreign-spouses-enter-philippines/amp 

Filipinos Nix Christmas Gifts, Netflix in Worst Regional Slump
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/filipinos-nix-christmas-gifts-netflix-210000136.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=ma

Flood adaptive home with floating garage withstands Ulysses onslaught 
https://business.inquirer.net/312260/flood-adaptive-home-with-floating-garage-withstands-ulysses-onslaught?fbclid=IwAR0xFaqLaHgLGCZr9hIRCl9fYR2Fdno4X0oTmTotdbqwSBFbOWCqP4eh4HQ

U.P. just keeps winning at life—with three triumphs reported in just one day
https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/11/26/20/up-just-keeps-winning-at-lifewith-three-triumphs-reported-in-just-one-day?fbclid=IwAR2UkTdFXQpUxuQqguhT_GebE87eSyzZnBsRpKd8Fu797ItNJMjsj4XolEw

LISTEN: Nicole Scherzinger sings in Tagalog for first time in 'Pangako' cover 
https://www.rappler.com/entertainment/music/nicole-scherzinger-sings-in-tagalog-first-time-pangako-song?utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR2suhyxOC0-Rtowa2tyI02tdGqk_ld1i6dosRc3V6lpjm1xbYzCF3-TIZY#Echobox=1606211284

A Comprehensive List Of Filipino-Owned Small Businesses To Support This Holiday Season
https://www.one-down.com/articles/a-comprehensive-list-of-filipino-owned-small-businesses-to-support-this-holiday-season

---

Heroes and Duplicities

August is the month of Filipino heroes and one of them is August-born Manuel Luis Quezon, president of the Philippines during the Commonwealth period. Quezon initiated a shining moment in our country's heritage when shortly before World War II, he opened the country's shores in welcome to European Jews fleeing the impending Holocaust. Historian Ambeth R. Ocampo writes about Philippine-Jewish relations and the magnanimity of Quezon in "Quezon Saved Jews from the Holocaust." We commemorate the legacy of Quezon on his 139th birthday on August 19.

Another history lesson, this time from lawyer Saul Hofileña Jr., whose book Under the Stacks, unearths some previously ignored or unknown facts of Philippine colonial history. Veteran journalist Sylvia L. Mayuga introduces us to "A Man and His Book: Unmasking Duplicities of the Past," an eye-opener and a must-read (both the book and this review) to understand the deep roots of the Muslim conflict in Mindanao.

We continue our Hometown series with Toronto-based writer Patria Cabatuando-Rivera's story of growing up in Nueva Ecija and revisiting her childhood haunts in the towns of Peñaranda, Gapan and Santa Cruz. 

Our Happy Home Cook recipe this week is Liver in Bistek Sauce, one of the recipes in Gerri Barangan-Korten's book, Sagana. 

And another list of links to interesting stories is compiled in our In The Know section:

Duterte: Marcos family willing to open, return ‘wealth in question’
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/926476/president-rodrigo-duterte-marcos-family-ill-gotten-wealth-gold-bars-ferdinand-marcos

Philippines' communist rebellion: A new generation
http://bworldonline.com/philippines-communist-rebellion-new-generation/

Manila's 12 Oldest Restaurants and What They Look Like Now
http://www.esquiremag.ph/culture/food-and-drink/old-restaurants-manila-a1729-20170505-lfrm

Tagalog-speaking Qatari teen thanks Pinay nanny; says he owe her a lot for his upbringing
http://kickerdaily.com/posts/2017/08/tagalog-speaking-qatari-teen-thanks-pinay-nanny-says-he-owe-her-a-lot-for-his-upbringing/

51 Old Colorized Photos Reveal The Fascinating Filipino Life Between 1900 - 1960
http://www.filipiknow.net/old-colorized-photos-philippines/

Our Video of the Week takes us to Brooklyn where Nick Solares, host of The Meat Show, feasts on sisig, adobo and Filipino bbq at F.O.B., the Filipino food destination in the Cobble Hill neighborhood.