Memories and Consciousness

President Manuel L. Quezon's Open Door policy that welcomed Jews fleeing from the Holocaust to the Philippines has been hailed as a humanitarian achievement. One of the beneficiaries of the Open Door was the Cassel family, who later established the Berg's Department Store that became an institution in Escolta. Recently, a Cassel daughter, Margot Cassel Pins Kestenbaum, who was just 7 years old when her family arrived in Manila, visited Philippine Women's University (PWU) where she went to school, and shared her memories of the city that welcomed them. Lyca Benitez Brown, a top PWU official, tells us about the nostalgic homecoming in "Memories of Refuge in Manila." 

A compelling story of gender transitioning is told in this first person article, "Gender: The Paradox of Passing" by UC Berkeley student Robin Cid Calleja. 

The life and loves of a revolutionary -- that's the big story in the late Rolando Peña's unique memoir, Crossings. University of Hawaii professor Patricio Abinales reviews in "A Red and Expert Renaissance Man."

Here are links to stories from other publications that might catch your fancy:

US health care needs its Filipino nurses, so why is the system stacked against them?https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3048163/us-health-care-needs-its-filipino-nurses-so-why?fbclid=IwAR36LPp0_26pOh4UwRXd95J8louaRJMOov7M0I4OAQhQ38qIuldKRoO8CFE

Did You Know That These Places Around the World Were Named After Filipinos?https://esquiremag.ph/life/travel/places-named-after-filipin-a2281-20190513-src-spot-lfrm2?utm_source=Facebook-Esquire&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20200208-fbnp-life-places-named-after-filipin-a2281-20190513-src-spot-lfrm2-fbold&fbclid=IwAR1oTLwVDGqmWyn4XlY4Imwym2A4OGzCCOb5HDzLWRNNI2sp1MVNWEcljyI

Exclusive: 'Shock and awe' has failed in Philippines drug war, enforcement chief says
https://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-shock-awe-failed-philippines-055724232.html

Manny Jacinto to star alongside Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick
https://www.msn.com/en-ph/entertainment/celebrity/manny-jacinto-to-star-alongside-tom-cruise-in-top-gun-maverick/ar-AAHSkLi?li=BBr8zL6&fbclid=IwAR1pa1zh8hO6pTrikxwOQ6ozMH1Y0_6UU1SAeingAT9q00B6zw0mp2XJwq0

Elizabeth Ann Quirino shares her Chocolate Bark Crackers with Salted Caramel recipe for Valentine’s Day.

For our video of the week, dual voice singer Marcelito Pomoy takes “America’s Got Talent: The Champions” by storm.

Here's to Pulutan

PF Correspondent and food expert Elizabeth Ann Quirino checks in with chef/author Marvin Gapultos who has come out with a new cookbook, his second, that focuses on that most proletarian of food traditions: the pulutan. Gapultos, who has shared some of his recipes from his first cookbook, The Adobo Road, likewise shares with the Happy Home Cook his own take on the classic Fish Kilawin, a favorite among Filipino beer drinkers anywhere.

This month brings back memories of Proclamation 1081, President Ferdinand Marcos' declaration of martial law dated September 21, 1972. To counter the push from certain quarters to revise history, there are ongoing efforts to gather stories of that period so the millennial generation will know how life was during that time. I write this week about the curfew which, in the overall scheme of things, was a relatively benign imposition compared to the other impositions of the authoritarian regime.

A new contributor from Illinois, Christian Gabriel Pareja, introduces us to a Filipino art therapist, Corazon Pecson Pagnani, who treats mental patients at Chicago's Kindred Hospital.

The news from the Philippines about the government importing rice infested with bukbok (weevil) and the Agriculture Secretary trying to convince people of its safety by eating it himself beg the question: how much lower can the administration get on the pathetic meter? It's a good time to Read Again Fil-Am journalist Dorian Merina's piece, "Wanted: A New Agriculture to Face Climate Change." In this article, Merina also pays tribute to Fil-Am labor leaders Larry Itliong and Philip Vera Cruz whose contributions to the US farm labor movement are immeasurable.

Here are the links to stories you may have missed this week:

How Duterte Used Facebook To Fuel the Philippine Drug War
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/daveyalba/facebook-philippines-dutertes-drug-war

Duterte voids amnesty of critical senator, orders his arrest
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/duterte-voids-amnesty-of-critical-senator-orders-his-arrest/2018/09/04/0588ceae-b00a-11e8-8b53-50116768e499_story.html?utm_term=.fa377f0dc11e

The art find of the century or its greatest hoax
https://news.abs-cbn.com/focus/08/29/18/the-art-find-of-the-century-or-its-greatest-hoax

The Sarah Huckabee Sanders of the Philippines
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/08/18/the-sarah-huckabee-sanders-of-the-philippines-219370

PH’s Maya-1 CubeSat deployed into Int’l Space Station
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1019926/phs-maya-1-cubesat-deployed-into-intl-space-station

And for Video of the Week, Our Better World features one of girls whose life was transformed when she was taken in by Tahanan Sta. Luisa, a shelter for girls in the Philippines.

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Tell Us Your Martial Law Story

We are collecting personal stories of life under Martial Law (1972-1981) in the Philippines. If you were there, you would have at least one. Did you violate curfew? Were you arrested? Was anyone in your family a political detainee or was "salvaged?" Did martial law motivate you to leave the country?  Did you benefit from it? What is your most enduring memory of that period?

In 200-600 words, join us in documenting that important era in our homeland's history. Your story counts. And if you have pictures, that would be great.

Please send to martiallawstories@gmail.com.

Death Hogs the Headlines

With a 91-percent approval rating in his first month in office, it seems like President Rodrigo Duterte can do no wrong. But two controversial issues he had committed himself to during the campaign are now stirring dissent.

His war on drugs has led to extrajudicial killings while his promise to allow the burial of ex-president Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani is reigniting the fire of anti-Marcos groups. This week we have two excellent pieces for you to ponder: "Where Will President Duterte and His War on Drugs Take Us?" by Criselda Yabes and "Eulogizing Marcos" by Greg B. Macabenta.

For a compelling end-of-summer read, we bring you a review by Canada-based Alfred Kwong of his fraternity brother Ted Yabut, Jr.'s ambitious memoir, "Brown Rice." A coming-of-age story set in Manila through the turmoil of martial law, the scenes described in the book will surely bring memories to those who were there during that period.

A story you will want to Read Again: Filipino American author/teacher Oscar Peñaranda's account of "A Reunion of Strangers," which involves Dumaguete, the Filipino American War, eBay and a blood-stained revolutionary flag. 

Our Happy Home Cook recipe, a traditional favorite -- Rellenong Talong.

Our Video of the Week celebrates the ties that bind a Filipino nanny named Auntie Yolly and an Olympic Gold Medalist, Joseph Schooling.