Virtual Everything

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Nine months since the coronavirus pandemic hit earth like the proverbial giant meteorite, a virtual world has opened up for us. Webinars, podcasts, streaming movies, tutorials, family reunions, exercise videos, Broadway shows, awards shows, online learning, virtual international travel -- they're all ours for the taking (or watching/listening). Zoom has even become a household word. 

(Speaking of webinars, in case you missed Positively Filipino's very enlightening conversation with ace journalists Sheila Coronel and Ging Reyes, "Shutdown For a Shakedown? Behind the Attempts to Muzzle Press Freedom and ABS-CBN," you can watch it here.)

Unfortunately the online world also has its share of trolls and criminals, preying on the naive, the seniors (who are not as tech savvy) and the emotionally vulnerable. True these scammers have been around pre-covid but presumably they are more active now that people are staying home and relying only on their electronic devices to maintain their contact with the rest of the world. And then there's the loneliness factor. 

Pre-pandemic, romance scams (the type with the highest recorded occurence) lost its victims in the US $143 million in 2018 alone, with an average per-victim loss of $2,600. 

PF publisher Mona Lisa Yuchengco writes about her friend's brush with a romance scammer, truly a cautionary tale for potential sweet-talk victims. If you or someone you know is being scammed, there are web sites (such as https://www.usa.gov/stop-scams-frauds) for reporting them. Just make sure you do a background check on the site you choose lest it might be another scam. 

Stories this Week: 

[Webinar] Shut Down For A Shakedown? Behind The Attempts To Muzzle Press Freedom And ABS-CBN

Looking For Love In All The Wrong URLs By Mona Lisa Yuchengco

Dishes You’d Like To Cook And Eat In Self-Quarantine By Jennifer Fergesen

Jason Tanamor And His Aswang By Walter Ang

Amba Girly: Spirit Of The Corps By Marisa S. Roque

The Happy Home Cook: Blond Biko By Chef Nouel Omamalin

Video of the Week: The Voice Kids UK winner Justine Afante

In The Know 

WATCH: Why all Filipinos are considered indigenous
https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/life/10/27/16/watch-why-all-filipinos-are-considered-indigenous?fbclid=IwAR2jwrF9GGtzeG-sO2u6uuZZ0aNPZdsYLjfQC6RuDNNn0AdTBEjeT3LPJhI

Philippine human rights workers are being systematically killed in a growing war on dissent
https://news.yahoo.com/philippine-human-rights-workers-being-184122085.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=ma

25 years after: Amy Besa & Romy Dorotan on the pains and glory of being New York restaurateurs

https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/food-drink/features/08/23/20/before-ube-hit-it-big-abroad-amy-besa-and-romy-dorotan-were-serving-it-in-the-us-in-the-90s?1=1&fbclid=IwAR0YI4Ig0_q5FMmnF-kt9-Eh8MjlYNpY14TdrkrcFUT-f2r0vTUWR0Kz7Lw

SF author’s ‘Son of Good Fortune’ explores ‘myth of the American dream’
https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/books/san-francisco-authors-debut-novel-sheds-light-on-filipino-american-immigration?fbclid=IwAR0mNlHlp7yl-yHtmkUiaqBlt1_VVeV1NASoPk8A6lofzxekBcl1DnPf6fI

Anna Maria: The Spaniard who survived 16 bayonet wounds during the Battle of Manila
https://english.elpais.com/arts/2020-08-28/anna-maria-the-spaniard-who-survived-16-bayonet-wounds-during-the-battle-of-manila.html?fbclid=IwAR2jq8GfLyKl4HXCOiM5Vek-sCCoRY_HqMn_E0guLPEc2I4BPzagYkShOcw

 

The Man Behind the Myth

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Imagine this scenario: a poor, chaotic country is holding an election for president. On one side, the incumbent -- ruthless, cunning, steeped in the politics of power; on the other side, a very popular movie actor, beloved by the masses for his standard role as defender of the powerless, but with nary an experience in governance or political maneuverings. The actor would have won, but for the shameless "order" of the incumbent to her appointed election official (of which she was caught when a recording of her phone call was made public, now infamously remembered as "Hello Garci"), with the assistance of some of her loyal generals, for the manufacture of a million votes in her favor.

So now, 16 years later, we wonder: what if that election had been clean and the result an honest reflection of the will of the people, would a president, armed only with sincerity, honesty and an abiding faith in the rule of law, have changed the historical trajectory of our homeland? More curiously, would the masses' hunger for a strongman leader fighting on their behalf have been satiated with the actor/hero at the helm, and thus staved off the need for the authoritarian leader we now have? 

On the occasion of what would have been his 81st birthday on August 20, Fernando Poe Jr.'s long-time personal and business manager Susan V. Tagle provides us an intimate profile of the man behind the myth.

Our Stories This Week:

The President Who Never Was By Susan V. Tagle

Fil-Ams Among The Remarkable And Famous, Part 8 By Mona Lisa Yuchengco

My Uncle, The Visual Artist By Ivan Kevin Castro 

Read Again 

Filipino, the language, is no longer what we knew it to be: https://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/why-the-f-in-filipino-and-how-did-it-get-there

We commemorate this week the beginning of the Philippine Revolution against Spain, with a tribute to the man who led it: http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/andres-bonifacio-the-other-national-hero

For our recipe of the week, we bring back Adobong Dilaw https://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/the-happy-home-cook-adobong-dilaw-a-timeless-recipe?rq=adobong%20dilaw

In The Know

In the Philippines, A Community Fights to Protect Its Ancestral Lands
https://e360.yale.edu/features/in-the-philippines-a-community-fights-to-protect-its-ancestral-lands

Why The Philippines Has So Many Teen Moms
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/08/21/787921856/photos-the-hidden-lives-of-teen-moms

17 Unique Business Names that Reflect Filipino Humor
https://www.trendszilla.net/2020/05/28/17-unique-business-names-that-reflect-filipino-humor/?fbclid=IwAR1O3hM55VYhXbjQJTM87-TnFr5AsxmS19-sW5YNZpBvlqPQGfUutU98MK4

Immigrant finds strength, solace in Carlos Bulosan
https://globalnation.inquirer.net/190266/immigrant-finds-strength-solace-in-carlos-bulosan?fbclid=IwAR2Qi0K3qZE2TAUgV0PhwdrvQ1MPrbpTeY9TUp9jgVJlSFDczRAUcTJAmsI

In the Company of Heroes

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Today is the 142nd birthday of Manuel Luis Quezon, one of the most consequential of Philippine presidents, who presided during the Commonwealth period and is credited with setting the stage for the eventual independence of the Philippines from the US. In recent years, Quezon is remembered for a singular humanitarian act in 1939 that offered 10,000 visas for Jews fleeing from the Holocaust to seek refuge in Manila. Some 1,200 took up the offer, thus creating a Jewish community in Manila, known as the Manilaners. Read more about this in our story below.

Read Again: Stories about the Jewish rescue and its aftermath:

"Quezon Saved Jews from the Holocaust" by Ambeth R. Ocampo
http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/quezon-saved-jews-from-the-holocaust

"Memories of Rescue in Manila" by Lyca Benitez-Brown
http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/memories-of-refuge-in-manila?rq=jews

"A Rescue Hatched Over Poker, Bourbon and Cigars" by Esperanza Catubig
http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/2013/4/a-rescue-hatched-over-poker-bourbon-and-cigars?rq=jews

In two days, we will be commemorating a contemporary Filipino hero, Benigno Aquino Jr., whose assassination on August 21, 1983 led to massive protests that eventually led to the downfall of the regime of Ferdinand Marcos. That fateful journey of Ninoy from his US exile to his landing at the Manila International Airport (which now bears his name) was documented in painful detail by his brother-in-law, Ken Kashiwahara, then ABC News correspondent, who traveled with him. We are reprinting here Ken's story from the New York Times on October 16, 1983.

Also in this issue, retired Ambassador Virgilio A. Reyes Jr. writes about Leonor Orosa-Goquingco, National Artist for dance, whose Filipinescas dance company displayed her innovative choreography of traditional Filipino dances.

Likewise, PF Correspondent Elizabeth Ann Quirino profiles Johanna Mirpuri, social media influencer, food blogger and cookbook author. From Johanna's recently released "Simple Salads" cookbook comes our recipe for the Happy Home Cook this week, Summer Garden Caesar Panzanella Salad.

For our Video of the Week, here's a live performance of Fanny, the acclaimed and pioneering all-girl rock band of the early '70s, headlined by two Fil-Am sisters, June and Jean Millington.

A reminder to join us for our next Positively Filipino webinar: