Requiems for UK in EU and the EDSA Republic

The worldwide tumult brought about by the United Kingdom's Brexit vote is personal to our Britain-based friend and former colleague, Emmily Magtalas Rhodes, who gives us an impassioned account of what it means tohave an uncertain future for her family. "My Beef with Brexit" is both a rant and an appeal to reason that Americans, facing a tough election season, should heed.

A leap back to Philippine history is provided by historian Dr. Michael Gonzalez in "Heneral Antonio Luna's Railroad," which tells the story of how the Philippine National Railway ushered in a future of numerous possibilities at the turn of the 20th century. For Filipinos of a certain age, Tutuban conjures images of trains and adventure. Too bad young Filipinos now only know it as a mall.

As the six-year term of President Benigno Aquino III comes to a close, political analyst and former congressman Walden Bello shares with us his "Requiem for the EDSA Republic," a think piece that provides an important challenge to the incoming administration of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte. 

Meanwhile, regular contributor Manzel Delacruz writes about "Taklub," the award-winning movie by director Brilliante Mendoza about the resiliency of the survivors of Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda). Nora Aunor stars.

In Sports, Positively Filipino Contributing Writer Anthony Maddela reports on the Los Angeles Dodgers' Filipino Night game and how it is seen by some members of the largest Filipino community in the US.

For our Happy Home Cook feature this week, let's celebrate US' Independence Day with a barbeque Filipino style. Actress Judy Ann Santos shares her recipe for Marinated Baby Back Ribs from her book, Judy Ann's Kitchen.

For our Video of the Week, the Philippine Department of Tourism ran a successful marketing campaign at the London Waterloo Station in order to entice the Britons and kababayan abroad to visit the Philippines.

Political Anxiety

Mercifully, the political circus will be over in five days. But will it really?

The traditional "wisdom" in Philippine political campaigns is that a candidate, especially for hotly contested posts, will have to overcome two major hurdles before he/she can claim a win: the voting and the counting. “A candidate may win in the voting, but will he win in the counting?” is a common question asked by voters. The vote tally is the bigger hurdle, thus political operatives know that a big chunk (some say 98 percent) of campaign funds should be saved for the last night before election, when the horse-trading and the bribing will be at fever-pitch and poll watchers are deployed (and paid) in every precinct to make sure the votes are counted correctly.

Who wins and who loses when the electoral process is subverted? Walden Bello, a recognized thought leader and independent senatorial candidate, shares his opinion piece on who or what is the biggest current threat to the Philippines' teetering democracy.

Moving on to other compelling stories, Positively Filipino Contributing Writer Rey E. de la Cruz takes us to his hometown of Ballesteros, Cagayan where the destructive effects of black sand mining has resulted in an eroded coastline and the wiping out of "gakka," small clams unique to the area. Gakka has been a traditional Cagayan delicacy for centuries and its disappearance has made Ballesteros natives angry at those profiting from the mining activities.

And another hometown, another lament: Rene Astudillo returns to Baguio and realizes that the hometown he knew is now just a memory. "What Happened to the Baguio I Once Knew?" is a common question from those who once loved the beautiful city of pines.

In Manila, Kashmir restaurant, the first and longest-running Indian restaurant in the metro area, continues to lord it over newbies. Serina Aidasani pays tribute to the restaurant's longevity in "Spicing Up the Filipino Palate," some 40 years after the owners introduced Indian cuisine to Filipino taste buds.

Kashmir also shares with us its recipe for Vegetarian Samosas in our Happy Home Cook section this week.

In our Video of the Week, Chef Myke "Tatung" Sarthou presents dishes which Filipinos prepared during pre-hispanic times.

New on Holy Week

As the Christian world takes a breather for Holy Week, we'd like to invite San Francisco Bay Area residents to watch "An Open Door: Jewish Rescue in the Philippines," an award-winning documentary by Noel Izon on how the Philippines opened its doors to more than a thousand Jews rescued from Europe in the early years of WWII. A touching affirmation of love and brotherhood featuring the children of the survivors, this film will be shown for the first time for free on April 15. Seats are limited so click on this link right now for details.

We don't usually do Q&As, but we couldn’t resist one with Walden Bello, who recently resigned as congressman because he could no longer support his party's (Akbayan) uncritical support for the Aquino administration, following President PNoy's skirting of responsibility for the Mamasapano tragedy. Walden is always worth reading, and this interview shines new light on some aspects of the controversy that has been glossed over by media.

And speaking of controversy, writer/professor Peter Bacho shares some pretty strong views about Filipino Americans and the issue of identity, in this profile by regular contributor Anthony Maddela. In "Peter Bacho, Pessimistic Sage," the author of Boxing In Black and White states that “Young Filipinos are not interested in the past; they are not intellectually curious, so I have no real desire to explain [the Filipino experience], to be honest.” Read the story to get the full context of this controversial statement.

Starting with this issue, we're posting a recipe a week to help you with your menu planning for your family. We start off with Elizabeth Ann Quirino's Filipino Fish Stew in Ginger Broth with Tomatoes and Spinach, a perfect Holy Week treat that I can personally attest to as delicious. If you have a recipe that you want to share, please send it in. Read the intro to The Happy Home Cook on how to do it.

And in observance of Holy Week, we've gathered some pictures of rituals and images from our contributing photographers, Marites Falcon, Brian Aguilar Agana and our art director, Raymond Virata.

More Holy Week traditions are featured in our Video of the Week.

In my blog, I focus on a trending topic in the Philippines: divorce, or the lack of it.