Women in Action

When El Niño devastated Mindanao in 2015, thousands of Lumads (indigenous peoples) suffered as their crops died and famine began to grip the land. No aid was forthcoming so thousands of them embarked on a long march from Surigao to Quezon City in a heroic effort to bring attention to their plight and push the government to action. Among them was Marlinda Indao of the Matigsalog tribe of Bukidnon, who described their situation to Rochit Tañedo in "Birthing in the Time of El Niño: Marlinda's Story." 

A strong woman of an earlier era is the lead character of Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's latest novel, The Newspaper Widow. PF Correspondent Lisa Suguitan Melnick jots down her impressions of the book in "An Enjoyable Period Piece."

Back to the present, Sta. Rosa, CA-based professor Leny Mendoza Strobel writes about Monica Anderson, a yoga teacher, who will be her next guide as she begins the retirement phase of her life. Monica, a third-generation FilAm who runs a fitness studio, is descended from sturdy Ilocano folks, part of the first-generation Filipino workers now known as the manongs. 

As we take time out to observe Holy Week, here's a Read Again: Images of Semana Santa, taken by our contributing photographers. For those of us who can't be in our motherland, here's a link to Rappler's virtual "Visita Iglesia," our Video of the Week.

And for your Easter meal, how about making Corned Beef Sinigang, a delicious recipe shared by our PF Correspondent and food expert Elizabeth Ann Quirino.

Our In The Know links this week:

Eclipsed by Cesar Chavez, Larry Itliong's Story Now Emerges
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/eclipsed-cesar-chavez-larry-itliongs-story-now-emerges-n423336

A Taal Tale: Why This Town is More Than its Popular Volcano
https://www.realliving.com.ph/lifestyle/travel/a-taal-tale-why-this-town-is-more-than-its-popular-volcano-a00170-20170110?ref=article_related

18 Places You Would Never Have Imagined Were In The Philippines
https://www.buzzfeed.com/isabellelaureta/san-ka-pa?utm_term=.akVNMYdnx#.qqg408yEj

One Down: Filipina MC’s unite, slay colonial patriarchy on track
http://eltecolote.org/content/en/arts_culture/one-down-filipina-mcs-unite-slay-colonial-patriarchy-on-track/

Week of Age-Old Rituals

At one point in my young life, I was a researcher for a UN-funded project on folk media in the Philippines, tasked with documenting traditional forms of expression and events all over the country. That was how I witnessed the various rituals that make Holy Week unique and special among our people -- from the meditative cadence of the pabasa that brought a community together to the disturbing flagellants and the sacrificial re-enactments of Jesus' nailing on the cross in Pampanga. There too were the pageantry of the Moriones festival in Marinduque and, of course, the Seven Last Words, the Visita Iglesias and the long Easter masses of the Catholics -- all of them traditions that showcase the richness of our culture.

Some of our contributing photographers sent in some images of Holy Week in the Philippines. Enjoy them again in "Images of Semana Santa."

For the undocumented in the US who are currently going through their own personal tribulations due to the Trump administration's anti-immigrant policies, here's a useful legal guide from immigration lawyer Lourdes Tancinco, "Undocumented's Options: Depart Voluntarily or Be Detained."

Advice on an equally significant topic is given by Dr. Glenn Vives, a cardiovascular specialist of Kaiser Permanente in Martinez, California. Regular contributor Manzel Delacruz mines the doctor's insights on why Filipinos and Fil-Ams are prone to cardiovascular problems, in "He Wants You to Have a Healthier Lifestyle."

Positively Filipino Correspondent and food expert Elizabeth Ann Quirino provides us two pieces this week: a feature on Tanya Maynigo Louks, founder and owner of Craft Kombucha, a healthy tea-making entrepreneurship in Washington D.C.; and her Good Friday recipe for Baked Tilapia, this week's Happy Home Cook feature.

For those who missed out on stories from other publications, here are the In The Know links for this week:

Dealing with Duterte's Philippines
http://www.metsociety.org/debate-foreign-policy/2017/4/3/dealing-with-dutertes-philippines

Drug war sends OFW rushing home for son who ‘couldn’t run’
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/887697/drug-war-sends-ofw-rushing-home-for-son-who-couldnt-run#ixzz4e12Kdwgy 

Inside a Filipino cybersex den
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3393713/She-sat-eight-year-old-girl-lap-asked-want-Inside-Filipino-cybersex-den-pot-bellied-paedophiles-pick-girls-abused-webcam.html#ixzz4e0uxRU00

So Beats Onischuk To Win 1st U.S. Championship
https://www.chess.com/news/view/so-beats-onischuk-to-capture-first-u-s-championship-3094

Philippine invasive plant could fuel the country's kitchens
https://www.yahoo.com/news/philippines-invasive-plant-could-fuel-114459236.html?.tsrc=fauxdal

And our Video of the Week: “Bibingka” a 2015 short film by Kay Cuajungco, who explores the lives of Filipino migrants through the foods they grew up with and the recipes that were passed through them.