October 23, 2024

A Cardinal for These Times

October 23, 2024/ Staff

In a largely Catholic country like the Philippines, the papal designation of a new Filipino cardinal is cause for celebration. A total of ten Filipino bishops have been elevated to the cardinalship, the latest being Kalookan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David.

Apung Ambo (as he prefers to be addressed, instead of the traditional His Eminence), 65, is a standout among the nine other Filipino cardinals. Born in Betis, Pampanga, the 10th of 13 children, exposed to and appreciative of folk traditions, radicalized by martial law, honed by advanced theological studies in Belgium, tempered by his assignments to marginalized communities, the new Cardinal lives true to Pope Francis' call to "go to the periphery."

Even if the going means putting his life in danger, as Bishop Ambo soon found out when he was assigned to Kalookan, virtually ground zero for former President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs. For his active and vocal resistance to the extrajudicial killings, Bishop Ambo got a direct and top-level warning, "isang bala ka lang" (you're just one bullet's worth).

To know more about the very interesting Apung Ambo, PF contributor Paulynn Paredes Sicam spoke to the cardinal-designate's oldest brother, UP professor and Inquirer columnist Randy David, and their youngest sister, Marivic. Read her story here.

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Part of the fun of Fil-Am History Month involves unearthing little known Fil-Ams who are nonetheless notable in their fields. Here we feature the artist Wayne Lacson Forte, who bills himself a "religious painter" whose reconnection to his Filipino heritage was a long but fruitful struggle. PF contributing writer Virgilio Reyes Jr. sent in this feature on Forte.

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Last week we wrote about the Filipino food truck, Master BBQ AVL, in Asheville, North Carolina which was destroyed by Typhoon Helene. The owner/chef Paul Pike writes this week about how his small business came to be and why he is asking for help.

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Two permitted reposts from two very different publications: From KQED, a delightful story on "How a Buffalo Soldier Changed the Life of Latin Jazz Master John Calloway" by Andrew Gilbert.

From the PREDA newsletter, PREDA founder Fr. Shay Cullen presents a disturbing picture of child abuse in the Philippines and issues a call for justice for the victims.

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Our Video of the Week gives us a preview of the 3-part Emmy-nominated series by MG Montemayor, a broadcast journalist in Waco, Texas. The series honors the Filipino fighters of WWII.

In The Know

Biden Honors Fil-Am History Month
https://asamnews.com/2024/10/23/pinoys-filipino-americans-pride-culture-celebration/

America and the Philippines Should Call China’s Bluff
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/china/america-and-philippines-should-call-chinas-bluff?

Armed group abducts American in Zamboanga del Norte
https://www.rappler.com/philippines/mindanao/armed-group-abducts-american-elliot-eastman-zamboanga-del-norte-october-17-2024/

Dream to reality: Kapwa Kultural Center uplifts Filipino Americans
https://asamnews.com/2024/10/19/filipino-american-cultural-wellness-youth-center-opens-in-daly-city/

Pro-China propaganda pivots, targets civil society as tensions mount
https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/investigative/pro-china-propaganda-pivots-targets-philippines-civil-society-tensions-mount/

No plastics: Recalling the early Filipino kitchen
https://verafiles.org/articles/no-plastics-recalling-the-early-filipino-kitchen

Nicole Scherzinger Gets 6-Minute Standing Ovation for Triumphant Performance at Opening of Broadway's Sunset Blvd.
https://people.com/nicole-scherzinger-broadway-sunset-blvd-standing-ovation-opening-8731178

October 09, 2024

The Many Faces of the Fil-Am

October 09, 2024/ Staff

Our stories for this second issue of Filipino American History Month (FAHM) 2024 reflect the many facets of being Fil-Am in this day and age. Our four million-strong community in the US has gone beyond its farmworker beginnings and expanded into a variety of professions, affiliations and locations.

But of course, no matter how far we've evolved, we begin a FAHM issue with our manongs, they who sowed this American earth so we can strive and thrive. PF contributor Alex S. Fabros, Jr., whose biography can fill several volumes, regales us with stories from his young life among the manongs of California's Salinas Valley. These are stories told orally, although Fabros, the historian, meticulously checked newspaper sources to confirm some of the incidents he writes about. "The Ilocano Gang of Salinas Valley" is a rare and valuable attestation to the hard but also fun-filled lives in California farms in the mid-20th century.

Fil-Ams have accomplished much in various fields previously unknown or unreachable to our manongs. Later this week, the Philippine Development Foundation (Phildev) will honor some to them, and we feature them here.

In this crazy election season, Fil-Ams are participating in record numbers. But one Filipino Republican pauses to reflect on his disappointments and dilemma.

Fil-Ams are now all over the US, not just on the West Coast, and so, some of them have not been spared nature's wrath. The poet Tony Robles who moved from California to North Carolina years ago writes about how the recent Typhoon Helene has devastated his home and family. Read his lyrical account here.

And finally, a young Fil-Am megawatt celebrity visited and performed in her grandparents' homeland and wowed the country with her generosity. Read the story in our In The Know section below of Olivia Rodrigo's love gift.

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We can't help but repost this heartwarming Facebook post of Kalookan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David when he first heard that Pope Francis announced him as the newest Cardinal-designate of the Philippines. Get to know Bishop Ambo as he is fondly called in our In The Know section below.

FROM A WHIRLWIND TO A SOFT BREEZE

I was enjoying a quiet Sunday morning at the Collegio Filippino after a heavy Synod schedule. I slept a bit longer because my Sunday Mass was not going to be until 4pm at the Chaplaincy for Filipino Migrants in Rome. For the first time in many days I had 8 full hours of sleep. After my late “Coffee with Jesus” my phone started ringing. I ignored it because I was also preparing my Sunday homily for my 4 pm Mass at the Sta Pudenziana Church. Besides, the call registered as an international call so I restrained myself from answering it because I’m using a Philippine SIM card and the call would have had to pass through the Philippines and would have been very expensive. Haha, now I realize it must have been someone from the Vatican trying to reach me to inform me about the announcement that was going to be made by the Pope at 12 noon after the Angelus.

Later at noon, the procurator at the Collegio sent me a congratulatory message on WhatsApp. I texted back and said, “For what?” He texted again and said, “Na-announce po na Cardinal kayo.” I texted back and said: “Joke?!” That’s when he called me up to say it could not be a joke because the Pope himself had announced it after the 12noon Angelus. And he sent me the video cut-out from the newsfeed of Vatican news. Then i began to receive a deluge of messages. It felt like being caught in a whirlwind. I put down the phone and did a five minute breathing exercise, which instantly calmed me down. Now it felt like Elijah standing by the mouth of a cave and feeling a soft breeze that penetrated my soul and prepared me for this new chapter of my life and ministry as a bishop, as a servant of God’s people. I said, “Ok, Lord. My life is in your hands.”

In The Know

[Closer Look] God’s love and justice: Lessons from Cardinal-elect David
https://www.rappler.com/philippines/closer-look-god-love-justice-lessons-cardinal-elect-pablo-virgilio-david/

Olivia Rodrigo donates all Manila concert proceeds to Jhpiego Philippines
https://www.philstar.com/entertainment/music/2024/10/07/2390779/olivia-rodrigo-donates-all-manila-concert-proceeds-jhpiego-philippines?

Tagalog courses strengthen community for Filipino students at Yale
https://asamnews.com/2024/10/05/tagalog-courses-strengthen-community-for-filipino-students-at-yale/

Nicole Scherzinger makes Broadway debut
https://asamnews.com/2024/09/29/nicole-scherzinger-sunset-boulevard-broadway-debut/

Look, Manila, Benitez heritage home MiraNila is newest concert hub
https://www.thediarist.ph/look-manila-benitez-heritage-home-miranila-is-newest-concert-hub/?

Old Cubao Restaurants That Your Parents Keep Talking About
https://www.esquiremag.ph/food-and-drink/food/old-cubao-restaurants-a00204-20200505?

'Silog' meals turn Pinoy orphan into a culinary hero in Seattle
https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/pinoyabroad/pinoyachievers/922156/silog-meals-pinoy-orphan-culinary-hero-seattle/story/?

December 02, 2020

Rays of Hope

December 02, 2020/ Gemma Nemenzo

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?