Coping with Corona

The Duterte administration's draconian enforcement of stay-at-home orders during this coronavirus pandemic is adding to the stress of quarantine, especially among a large sector of the now-elderly population who experienced martial law. PF contributor Ernesto M. Hilario provides a timely situationer on the enhanced community quarantine that is in place until May 15. ["Fighting Fire with Fire Won’t Stop the Pandemic"]

In one country in the Horn of Africa where the pandemic is an added burden to an already dire humanitarian crisis, it's business-as-usual work albeit with tighter social restrictions for humanitarian aide worker Gerry Romay of Negros Occidental. Our Nairobi-based writer, Agatha Verdadero, reaches out. ["Horn of Africa: Social Distancing as a Lifestyle"]

More nimble than their brick-and-mortar counterparts, Filipino food trucks and pop-ups in California switch their focus to helping the frontliners and those in need. PF regular contributor Jennifer Fergesen reports. ["Filipino Foodpreneurs Keep on Truckin’ Amid Pandemic"]

They say if you have Covid-19, among the first signs are the loss of your sense of smell and taste. Well, if you cook Filipino food, as PF Correspondent Elizabeth Ann Quirino suggests, and you're savoring the aroma and the strong flavors, then you're okay. ["Stop and Smell the Power of Filipino Cooking"]

And what better way to test your taste buds than "Becugan," the Kapampangan bagoong, our Happy Home Cook recipe this week.  

For those waiting to immigrate to the US, here are the basic facts about President Trump's latest directive suspending immigration. San Francisco-based immigration lawyer Maria Lourdes Tancinco writes our Partner post.  

Here are links to more stories:

Job Losses Drain Overseas Money That Helps Fuel the Philippines
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/job-losses-drain-overseas-money-210000713.html

This 81-year-old was L.A.’s most devoted museum-goer until COVID-19 shuttered cultural institutions
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2020-04-23/81-year-old-ben-barcelona-lives-and-breathes-museums-but-what-happens-when-culture-collapses?fbclid=IwAR1H8Na5TIC2jMZMUtfV1SjzsMnTf88n23ibsaK8QpF6-Ue-seB7779eO0E

Supplier of World’s Nurses Struggles to Fight Virus at Home
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-23/philippines-sends-nurses-around-the-world-but-lacks-them-at-home?srnd=premium-asia&fbclid=IwAR1zyKW0MWrg11tG7uj0TnIGd5Lu2-vN_FNMT5hkTgZ8kDIlE0-asMums40

Love story that started Peyups.com revives it as pandemic ‘escape’
https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/361524/love-story-that-started-peyups-com-revives-it-as-pandemic-escape/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR3FCmpteDj_4XI3sfFqVgry1Yyy15saZWNjHq9Mqko05cMlODs2eSOKFeE#Echobox=1587778400

Nursing ranks are filled with Filipino Americans. The pandemic is taking an outsized toll on them
https://www.statnews.com/2020/04/28/coronavirus-taking-outsized-toll-on-filipino-american-nurses/?fbclid=IwAR3yLDwQM2HF9IH0gw5X-eqHZSMMNp5IKIC4xO6wjfH-Yogua_8e_wWcBRs

A ‘Filipino soul food’ restaurant is reborn as a community kitchen
https://www.latimes.com/food/newsletter/2020-04-25/tasting-notes-escarcega-bebot-filipino-soul-food-long-beach-tasting-notes?fbclid=IwAR13AtMwL35EEym_p_fpC0u4j0ps6ccL9-TeyjTod5D4Mjyba7v3ghQoKB0

For video of the week, in celebration of Asian Pacific American History Month, CAAM launched the trailer of its 5-part documentary “Asian Americans” which premieres on PBS on May 11 and 12, 2020.