Of Philippine Democracy and Heroes

This issue marks the 8th year of Positively Filipino's publication. As some of you know, there are only four of us putting this e-magazine to bed but we are supported by our writers pool of over a hundred contributors (and counting). To them and to all of you, our readers, we owe our continued existence. Thank you for sticking with us.  

We begin 2022 with the continuing dissection by the former chair of the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Andres Bautista of the realities of the Philippine electoral system.  For this issue, he continues debunking "the Big Lie" of 2016, which has real-life repercussions on the 2022 election. 

A controversial decision by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to redesign the 1,000-peso bill by replacing the images of three WW II heroes -- Josefa Llanes Escoda, Chief Justice Jose Abad Santos, and General Vicente Lim -- with the Philippine Eagle has triggered an uproar. Historical researcher and author Desiree Ann C. Benipayo makes a case for keeping the three in the 1K bill.

Aside from the martyrdom of Escoda, Abad Santos and Lim in the hands of the Japanese conquerors, they have another thing in common as history professor Jose Victor Z. Torres states. Find out more in "The Last Time They Were Seen Alive."

One of the best memoirs I've ever read on growing up a Fil-Am male is the late Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Alex Tizon's Big Little Man, published before he wrote that highly controversial essay, "My Family's Slave." Retired Philippine Ambassador Virgilio A. Reyes, a regular PF contributor, writes about Tizon's heartbreaking deep dive into the psyche of being male, gifted and brown in a society that values white the most. 

New Year toasts may be over and done but a Meyer Lemon Frozen Margarita is timeless. For the Happy Home Cook, Elizabeth Ann Quirino shares her concoction.

Our Video of the Week  offers a good start to the New Year: a frank, painful and ultimately inspirational TED talk by former Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach on her mental health challenges. 


In The Know

Yssa Mei Panganiban talks Hawkeye and representing her Filipino Heritage in exciting interview
https://www.theilluminerdi.com/2021/12/30/yssa-mei-panganiban-hawkeye/?fbclid=IwAR2nyjlAaHSxWFbiT6rYRqPMdWC7okbuM4b3KoIqDhNv0KY4zUNAPWlsCcc 

Everybody’s Favorite 24-Hour Filipino Bakery Has Finally Reopened
https://www.kqed.org/arts/13896138/ling-nam-starbread-filipino-bakery-senorita-bread-24-hour-daly-city-open?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_campaign=202101127Arts&mc_key=00Q1Y00001xHmruUAC

The Untold Story of the Igorots' Revolt
https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/the-untold-story-of-the-igorots-revolt-a00293-20201023-lfrm?utm_source=Facebook-Esquire&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20211211-fbnp-long-reads-the-untold-story-of-the-igorots-revolt-a00293-20201023-lfrm-fbold&fbclid=IwAR2DyzvtS3H8THJ1OWk4Shzc14iQiek905O2XFPf5Q7h82Yq47-Vn0xAiSY

Listening to the lost peoples of Philippine history
https://philstarlife.com/geeky/482691-philippine-history-regalado-trota?page=3&fbclid=IwAR2axT4AMVCY48c-OxOjrJJlzDTkhY3HWZudUWVfNI12SnLjHsVmEUrIIEU

Scars of Empire: Harvard’s Role in U.S. Colonialism in the Philippines
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2021/12/13/wikstrom-scars-of-empire/?fbclid=IwAR2TNvBMUBtkW4mrHAo4P2NJkx6NEyex3CVqbbx_J5pLrwbx0U3qJ4WCQX0

Quezon City: The History of New Manila & Doña Magdalena Hemady
https://lakansining.wordpress.com/2019/02/06/quezon-city-the-history-of-new-manila-dona-magdalena-hemady/?fbclid=IwAR1QT7NOv452xdsVnZ6wRhOs2wsqN4EFa98xsefvNDWEZSEctEsB-rgzB7Q


Gemma Nemenzo

Editor, Positively Filipino

Sisterhoods

For the Cold War generation, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are unfamiliar names. These countries fell within the expansive cloak of the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), thus their separate identities weren't spoken about much. Now with the USSR gone, tourists are flocking to what constitutes Eastern Europe -- the exotic former Soviet states that hold astonishing sights and treasures of their own. One of these visitors was France-based Filipino artist Ofelia Gelvezon-Tequi, who recently took a journey with her sorority sisters and their families to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and, with her artist's eye, describes the fascinating things to see in "Vilnius Mon Amour." If you're a devotee of the Divine Mercy, Lithuania should be on your bucket list.

Journalist/community activist and domestic abuse fighter Cherie Querol Moreno adds her voice to the rapidly expanding #MeToo and #TimesUp movements in "Sisterhood Shatters Silence on Sexual Harassment," as she talks to some Filipina women and California State Rep. Rob Bonta, who are in the forefront of the community's participation in changing the culture of harassment.

PF Correspondent Rey E. de la Cruz shares his encounters with kababayans across the pond in Pinoyspotting: England.

And from the Philippines, PF Correspondent Rene M. Astudillo documents "The Curious Case of the Disappearing Faces in Philippine Peso Bills," which has many Filipinos tsk-tsking about the supposed "computer glitch."

From Rene Astudillo's food blog (mybaykitchen.wordpress.com), we also picked up our Happy Home Cook recipe for this week, Adobo Pineapple Fried Rice, using rice left over from when you cooked too much.

Another collection of In The Know links to stories you may have not caught from other publications:

Trump Immigration Plans Hit Hawaii's Filipino Families Hard
http://usa.inquirer.net/9417/trump-immigration-plans-hit-hawaiis-filipino-families-hard

Recovering from Historical Amnesia
https://www.teachforamerica.org/one-day-magazine/recovering-historical-amnesia

The Filipino Guide to Staying Sane
https://www.ncronline.org/ news/opinion/young-voices/ filipino-guide-staying-sane

The Ominous Rumblings of Mount Mayon
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2018/01/the-ominous-rumblings-of-mount-mayon/551513/

For our Video of the week, the UP Office for Initiatives in Culture and the Arts presented a documentary of National Artist for Sculpture Napoleon V. Abueva. The video was written and directed by Katrina Ventura.

Gemma Nemenzo

Editor, Positively Filipino