Meet the Indipinos

Filipino farm workers arrived in Bainbridge Island in Washington state almost eight decades ago to work in the strawberry farms. There they met and fell in love with indigenous women, berry pickers too. In the first year alone, there were 13 marriages. Their children have come to be known as Indipinos, a unique subset of the all-encompassing category, Filipino American. Indipinos in Bainbridge Island is the topic of PF's forthcoming webinar on January 19, which will also show in full the excellent documentary made by Gina Corpuz, herself an Indipino. You can register below.

The forthcoming Philippine elections in May is definitely the Big Story to follow this year. Former Commission on Elections (COMELEC) chief Andres Bautista ends his illuminating series on the Philippine electoral system this week with words of caution in "Practice Mental Hygiene for Philippine Democracy."

Many of us have no more tears to shed due to the constant, seemingly endless, news of people we know who died in the past two years. Here we list some of the more public figures who have succumbed not just to Covid-19 (and there are many of them), but also to co-morbidities and age. 

The early days of 2022 do not provide a respite. Already we have lost two prominent men of letters -- the literary giant F. Sionil Jose, 98, (eulogized here by his friend, Tokyo-based writer Amadio Arboleda) and renowned historian Dr. Samuel K. Tan, 88, (see link to a eulogy in our In The Know section). Another, the prominent lawyer Delfin Gonzalez, 107, who was the subject of our publisher Mona Lisa Yuchengco's video documentary 11 years ago.

For cold, wintry days, how about trying out this recipe for "Almost Binignit," binignit being the Cebuano version of the popular merienda fare, ginataan. Cebuana PR specialist Lorna Lardizabal Dietz shares her abridged version of this sweet delicacy for the Happy Home Cook.

Our Video of the Week is about the making of Kora's Filipinos doughnuts, a humungous hit among New Yorkers, thousands of whom have lined up for the shop's waiting list. Kora is owned and operated by Fil-Am baker/entrepreneur Kimberly Camara.

Read Again:

A Bookstore of Filipino Aspirations by Larry Ng



In The Know (Standard Edition)

Sulu’s Samuel Tan succumbs to COVID-19; leaves “a void no historian can fill”
https://www.mindanews.com/top-stories/2022/01/sulus-samuel-tan-succumbs-to-covid-19-leaves-a-void-no-historian-can-fill/?fbclid=IwAR2XvxjnTL1yNpLkBDhO-pisXrh_7dfy_HTRieLM1VtnoGOnZHH-bPbooCo

The First Year of COVID: Filipinos Were Among Hardest Hit, But Hidden by Data
https://www.voiceofsandiego.org/year-one-covid-19-death-toll/the-first-year-of-covid-filipinos-were-among-hardest-hit-but-hidden-by-data/ 

30 Photos of Makati During Its Early Days
https://www.esquiremag.ph/culture/lifestyle/best-makati-photos-a00297-20200524?utm_source=Facebook-Esquire&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20211227-fbnp--best-makati-photos-a00297-20200524-fbold&fbclid=IwAR2hFHcxnAYQ3jN0h74A_WIESEmW_z0AE5NfqClp0UXyD0EED9JgFQiXKbQ

IN PHOTOS: This Cubao postwar home was brilliantly transformed into a boutique cinema
https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/movies/01/30/21/in-photos-this-cubao-postwar-home-was-brilliantly-transformed-into-a-boutique-cinema?fbclid=IwAR0Y-F2nKIjVkhEOWD-8-7ndWy72SoNBRWUbiIRwgpIIl-B7anbRb9ha5cE

How this fruit vendor’s daughter rose to become IS Manila and Harvard scholar
https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/01/05/22/how-fruit-vendors-daughter-became-is-harvard-scholar

Sarap Filipino Bistro: ‘Many of the dishes are real showstoppers’ - restaurant review
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2022/jan/02/sarap-filipino-bistro-many-of-the-dishes-are-real-showstoppers---restaurant-review?fbclid=IwAR2ChFHirwsGbKfDsxYI7oR9dRaKGww7uQYo4PiCtPSpQ1rc91zNKjkIXP4



Gemma Nemenzo

Editor, Positively Filipino

On Stage, Underwater, and at a Certain Age

This week, we take you to the theater for a play on Filipino immigration, to the ocean with an underwater videographer and to a writer's personal journey towards becoming a septuagenarian.

Elaine Elinson, who did the exclusive interview for PF with novelist/playwright Jessica Hagedorn, now does a review of Gangster of Love, the play, showing at San Francisco's Magic Theater until May 11. She describes it as funny and heart-wrenching, which makes it a good one to catch -- and with a 20% discount for PF readers, why not?

PF Correspondent Rey de la Cruz profiles Robert Suntay, marine conservationist and underwater videographer, who talks about what it takes to film some awe-inspiring sights under the sea.

How does it feel to reach 70? PF Correspondent Myles A. Garcia feels it's time to do the things you didn't do in your youth.

Learn more about the US-Philippines Society from former Ambassador John F. Maisto, our Partner post this week.

We have some precious links in our In The Know collection this week:

US Military Bases Disguised as Philippine Bases are Here Again
http://www.preda.org/fr-shays-articles/us-military-bases-disguised-as-philippine-bases-are-here-again/

Meet the journalism student who found out she won a Pulitzer in class
https://www.cjr.org/the_profile/mariel-padilla-pulizter-cincinnnati.php

Documentary | Fake news in the Philippines: Dissecting the propaganda machine
https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/rich-media/199895-fake-news-documentary-philippines-propaganda-machine?utm_source=The+Daily+wRap&utm_campaign=0cd94f25bc-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_04_22&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b3868977d4-0cd94f25bc-95400069&mc_cid=0cd94f25bc&mc_eid=0c0639d4af

Accident that amputated swimmer’s leg led to his Palaro 2018 journey
https://www.rappler.com/sports/specials/palarong-pambansa/200613-ortho-amputee-swimming-mark-salazar-palaro-2018?utm_source=The%20Daily%20wRap&utm_campaign=0cd94f25bc-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_04_22&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b3868977d4-0cd94f25bc-95400069&mc_cid=0cd94f25bc&mc_eid=0c0639d4af

We go vegan again for our Happy Home Cook recipe with Richgail Enriquez's Kaldereta Stew. 

For our Video of the Week, we feature the Philippines' Gourmet Gypsy Art Café, a restaurant which that specializes in ketogenic dishes and trains adults with special needs.

Gemma Nemenzo

Editor, Positively Filipino

Culture and Spirituality

Heritage awareness, history and spirituality are the focus of our offerings this week as we try to slow down the too-quick turnover of days (or so it seems, this year already two months gone).

At the forefront, our Manila-based writer, Menchu Aquino Sarmiento profiles the esteemed conservation architect and heritage planner, Augusto Villalon, recently awarded an Honorary Membership to the International Council for Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), one of only 84 in the world and the first Filipino endowed with such stature. Villalon is a long-time advocate of cultural and eco-tourism that goes beyond monuments and artifacts. In "Nation-Building with Suman and Stone," Villalon's world view is given a proper airing.

Veteran journalist Sylvia L. Mayuga gives us the history of the tarot, the ancient art of divination, as a way of introducing Cartas Philippinensis, a set of 22 tarot cards created by Saul Hofileña and painted by Guy Custodio that interprets archetypes in Philippine colonial history. 

And from independent filmmaker Collis H. Davis, Jr. comes a book review of jazz artist/historian Richie Quirino who wrote The Amen Vibration Volume II about his mystical journey towards spiritual enlightenment.

For more secular concerns, here is an updated list of benefits for senior citizens (both resident and visiting) in the Philippines.

We are also posting Wikipedia's latest list of fake news sites in the Philippines.

And our Happy Home Cook recipe this week is a version of Pinakbet from New Jersey-based Melanie Q. Suzara.

Here's our In The Know links for this issue: 

The Bolo Wielding Peasant: The Biggest Misconceptions About Andres Bonifacio
https://www.townandcountry.ph/people/heritage/the-bolo-wielding-peasant-the-biggest-misconceptions-about-andres-bonifacio-a1957-20180223-lfrm2

Conversations at the Edge of Carnage
https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2018/march/conversations-edge-carnage-laurel-flores-fantauzzo#.WpSo9AEJIJM.twitter

The struggle for Marawi has only just begun
http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2018/02/02/the-struggle-for-marawi-has-only-just-begun/?utm_content=buffer56144&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

House panel approves divorce bill
http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/21/18/house-panel-approves-divorce-bill

For Video of the Week, GMA's I-Witness uploaded a video featuring the revelations of the Duterte family during Martial Law.

Gemma Nemenzo

Editor, Positively Filipino