Our Oxygen

For a bare-bones operation like Positively Filipino, contributing writers are the oxygen of our existence. There are over a hundred of them listed on our website. Some are friends and former colleagues, but a large number started out as total strangers who reached out to ask if they could write for PF. 

Take Dr. Patricio Abinales, a friend of ours from our alma mater, who is now with the University of Hawaii in Manoa. Jojo is one of our regulars, willing to take on assignments, eager to write reviews of books dealing with Philippine politics (among others). In this issue, he looks at a newly launched book, Unrequited Love: Duterte's China Embrace, by ace journalists Marites D. Vitug and Camille Elemia. 

Gary Ferrington, a retired University of Oregon professor, is one of those who wrote to us out of the blue, asking if we were interested in profiles of three young, relatively unknown Filipino singers. Gary is a writer for Oregon ArtsWatch and identifies himself as an advocate for emerging artists. We have published two of his articles (on Francis Greg and Bugoy Drilon) and we have his third -- and final -- contribution this week, on a gifted Cebuano cover singer, Anthony Uy. 

Odette Foronda, based in Toronto, is a world traveler and adventurer, who regularly contributes enticing travel essays that include her stunning photographs. Here she focuses on her adventure in Siargao in Surigao, one of the Philippines' most visited destinations for water sports. 

With these three and the more than 100 other contributing writers, Positively Filipino survives and thrives as a chronicler of the Filipino diaspora, and a valuable repository of some of the best journalism pieces ever written.

We are ever so grateful. 

Stories This Week

China And Duterte: ‘Who’s Your Daddy?’ by Patricio Abinales

Fil-Ams Among The Remarkable And Famous, Part 59 by Mona Lisa Yuchengco

Anthony Uy: A Musical Journey Rooted In Family And Faith by Gary Ferrington

Why Did The Chickens Go To Siargao? by Odette Foronda

[Video of the Week] Sylvia La Torre, Diomedes Maturan and Bobby Gonzales

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In The Know

Jollibee named best fast food fried chicken by USA Today
https://asamnews.com/2024/07/18/jollibee-chickenjoy-ranked-number-1-in-united-states-usa-today-editors/ 

Filipino workers have among worst work-life balance – report
https://www.rappler.com/philippines/score-global-life-work-balance-index-2024/

15 Vintage Photos of Manila During the 1950s That Show What Life Was Like Back Then
https://www.esquiremag.ph/culture/lifestyle/manila-1950s-photos-

How The Acolyte’s Manny Jacinto Brought Sexy Back to Star Wars
https://www.gq.com/story/manny-jacinto-the-acolyte-finale-interview?

Who Was Benson Flores, the First Filipino in Canada?
https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/benson-flores-the-first-filipino-in-canada-

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Anti-Asian Hate Watch

Former Bentonville fire captain pleads guilty to assaulting Asian man
https://www.nwahomepage.com/news/former-bentonville-fire-captain-pleads-guilty-to-assaulting-asian-man/ 

Rash of vandalism at Muslim Center raises fear of hate crime
https://asamnews.com/2024/07/18/tibayan-center-st-anthony-targeted-for-vandalism-minnesota/

Seattle interim police chief fires officer who made ‘vile’ comments
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/seattle-interim-police-chief-fires-officer-who-made-vile-comments/

Funding provided by the State of California.

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Timeless Star of the Silver Screen

To fans of Filipino movies, Eddie Garcia is a towering institution, unmatched in the breadth and depth of his talent, his experience and in the variety of roles he has played in the 70 years he has been in the industry as actor and director. Author/poet and movie critic Marra PL. Lanot catches up with this quintessential actor and shares his views with us in "What Makes Eddie Run?'

A landmark victory that should be celebrated and pursued, not ignored. That's the maritime case that the Philippines filed against China before the International Court of Arbitration, a complex process that veteran journalist Marites Danguilan Vitug meticulously chronicles in her new book, Rock Solid: How the Philippines Won Its Maritime Case Against China. The book is reviewed for us by Dr. Patricio N. Abinales in "High Noon in the West Philippine Sea."

Bookending our lineup this week is "Lucky Charm," an essay by millennial writer Maia Boncan.

Starting with the above piece, we'd like to encourage our young readers to share their thoughts/views and their writing, for a series that we have tagged, "Our Turn."

If you're craving comfort food this cold season, how about trying out our Happy Home Cook recipe this week from PF Correspondent Rene Astudillo: Dinengdeng with Fried Bangus. 

And our links for stories you may have missed reading:

Where 518 Inmates Sleep in Space for 170, and Gangs Hold It Together
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/07/world/asia/philippines-manila-jail-overcrowding.html?fbclid=IwAR3xMdQXvsf3WhfVkDI_SJST2H3NWtdK1v9bqN85ONyiMn9cQN5uymxK1xs

Meet the Filipina Engineer Who Struggled in Math But Now Works at NASA 
https://www.spot.ph/newsfeatures/newsfeatures-peopleparties/76495/josephine-santiago-bond-filipina-engineer-nasa-a833-20190106-lfrm?ref=home_feed_1%3Futm_source&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20190106-fbnp-newsfeatures-josephine-santiago-bond-filipina-engineer-nasa-a833-20190106-lfrm%3Fref&fbclid=IwAR0S6jjWV9oQ3oUOCviw04_mAvtvy1GjpvwJRghlK4zNL9kzkP6ELXVLOOg

“Stay a While Longer, Doc”
https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/specials/content/40/stay-a-while-longer-doc/?fbclid=IwAR13clgfoZCLsr_gZwWE3UW0ry3wW8wZ9MGtYazawdyLJOGgaMIOaWWnMiA

New Saliva-based Test Detects Malaria Before Symptoms Appear
http://news.ufl.edu/articles/2019/01/new-saliva-based-test-detects-malaria-before-symptoms-appear.php?fbclid=IwAR23dLuSPkYuKejtuJmxUjnnrJw1H1RYD9478XGHTz6K3RxsBKB0UVdMmrI

Darren Criss Wins at Golden Globes
https://deadline.com/2019/01/golden-globes-darren-criss-the-assassination-of-gianni-versace-ryan-murphy-filipino-american-1202530126/

For Video of the Week, Grammy-nominated recording artist H.E.R. (aka Gabi Wilson) was interviewed on the Late, Late Show with James Corden, where she acknowledged her Filipino heritage.

Privileged Views

If I were to list the five people I've felt so privileged to meet in my lifetime, N.V.M. Gonzalez would be one of them. The Philippine National Artist for Literature in 1997 was an exemplary man both as writer and raconteur -- witty, interesting, amusing, imaginative, with a mind that stayed young even as his body aged. To celebrate his birthday (September 8) a year prior to his centennial, we are posting an article by James McEnteer, "You Can't Go Home Again If You Never Left," originally published in Filipinas magazine, that we think captures the spirit of the late N.V.M. We are also posting one of his short stories, "The Tomato Game" from his book, The Bread of Salt and Other Stories.

Living in a country as dramatically different from the Philippines as Japan can be both enlarging and traumatic. The trick is not to take the strangeness too seriously as our regular contributor, Marites Danguilan Vitug, writes in "Surviving Japan Without Nihongo," an instructive piece on enjoying a place even without learning the language. 

Meanwhile, another regular, Myles A. Garcia, enthralls us with a nostalgic trip down cinema lane with "My Manila Movie Memories." Among readers of a certain age, who hasn't played hooky from school to catch the movies in downtown Manila, he asks. Who indeed hadn't made a special memory or two in those darkened movie theaters of our Hollywood daydreams?

Here's hoping the trip back brings a lingering feeling that will brighten your days ahead.