February 28, 2024

Springtime and Justice

February 28, 2024/ Staff

Now that we're inching to spring, it's time to make travel plans. How about visiting Amsterdam, whose fascinating windows, artistic displays, cobbled streets, environmentally sound transport (bicycles) and intoxicating whiffs of legal substances guarantee a wondrous vacation for anyone. PF correspondent Criselda Yabes, now France-based, writes about this tourist friendly city that beckons and lures.

The fight against anti-Asian hate requires special efforts by various states to stem the insidious crime. In New York recently, as assault victim Vilma Kari, a Filipino American senior, was accorded justice with the sentencing of her attacker to 15 years in prison, NY Governor Kate Hochul pledged $30 million in support of the AAPI communities' (including the Fil-Am community) efforts to protect its constituents from hate crimes. The Filam.net founding editor Cristina DC Pastor reports.

It's never too early to teach children the principles of justice, and books such as Ang Hukuman ni Sinukuan are on hand to provide parents and educators the tools to explain the complicated concept via mundane and familiar stories. Contributing writer Ian Layugan elucidates.

We close Black History Month with two stories that solidify the solidarity between Fil-Ams and Blacks.

Justin Jones, an elected member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, made headlines in 2023 when he joined two other representatives in breaking decorum on the House floor in a gun control protest. Long before that incident, PF featured him as a community activist actively embracing his Filipino roots in https://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/justin-jones-black-filipino-civil-rights-activist

A little-known but significant history: in 1925, the Pullman Company hired Filipinos as scabs when Black porters were trying to form a union. The train company didn't anticipate that the Filipinos would eventually join the Black porters in forming the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Read all about it in https://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/how-black-and-filipino-unity-was-forged-in-the-pullman-workers-union

[Video of The Week] EDSA On My Mind

Anti-Asian Hate Watch

California Assemblymember Carlos Villapudua Bill Would Establish Greater Penalties for Felony Hate Crimes
https://goldrushcam.com/sierrasuntimes/index.php/news/local-news/54302-california-assemblymember-carlos-villapudua-bill-would-establish-greater-penalties-for-felony-hate-crimes

Group launches new campaign to fight anti-Asian hate
https://www.aol.com/group-launches-campaign-fight-anti-204000574.html

Seattle police officer who struck Jaahnavi Kandula won’t face charges
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/seattle-police-officer-who-struck-jaahnavi-kandula-wont-face-charges/?utm_source=marketingcloud&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=BNA_022124201042+BREAKING+No+charges+for+officer+who+struck+Jaahnavi+Kandula_2_21_2024&utm_term=Registered%20User

Man Pleads Guilty To Hate Crimes For Attacking Asian Family, Blaming Them For COVID-19
https://www.aol.com/man-pleads-guilty-hate-crimes-224853882.html

Asian hate: Attacker of elderly Filipina sentenced to 15 years
https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/558378/asian-hate-man-who-attacked-elderly-filipina-in-ny-sentenced-to-15-years

A New Chapter in Hell's Kitchen: The Resilience of Vilma Kari and the Fight Against Hate
https://bnnbreaking.com/breaking-news/crime/a-new-chapter-in-hells-kitchen-the-resilience-of-vilma-kari-and-the-fight-against-hate

More than half of Asian New Yorkers report feeling isolated or anxious, yet many don't seek mental health services: report
https://www.audacy.com/1010wins/news/local/more-than-half-of-asian-new-yorkers-report-feeling-isolated

Funding provided by the State of California.

As the US and the Philippines move towards real-time intelligence sharing, infrastructure may be a challenge: Analysts
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/us-philippine-defence-cooperation-guidelines-south-china-sea-realtime-intelligence-3464061

Sunlight Air Is Moving All Its Flights to Clark
https://www.spot.ph/things-to-do/the-latest-things-to-do/108063/sunlight-air-moves-operations-to-clark-airport-pampanga-a6247-20240215?utm_source=Facebook-Spot&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20240222-fbnp-things-to-do-sunlight-air-moves-operations-to-clark-airport-pampanga-a6247-20240215-fbold&fbclid=IwAR1rXKeNv3br_34dL19Z9bxXR2JAhUQxJkrXmeO7JPnH5HN_apJB77zggls

The Master Chief Trailer Sees Tensions Rise In The US Navy [EXCLUSIVE]
https://screenrant.com/the-master-chief-movie-chris-soriano-trailer/

What I’ve Learned: Ramon Ang
https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/what-ive-learned/ramon-ang-a2056-20231115-lfrm2?utm_source=Facebook-Esquire&utm_medium=Ownshare&utm_campaign=20240217-fbnp-long-reads-ramon-ang-a2056-20231115-lfrm2-fbold&fbclid=IwAR3bnexdwS089pspc5R9xHfFjfO77fIAZsFsDD35BNUpCQv3tl54w148Z5Y

February 21, 2024

Life Lessons

February 21, 2024/ Staff

Tinikling, the iconic Filipino bamboo dance, is as ubiquitous as lumpia, adobo, and pancit as shorthand for Filipino presence and identity in America. The dance, which calls for timing one’s steps to avoid being caught between two clashing bamboo poles, is also a metaphor for learning to navigate life in an adopted homeland, according to author Bobbie Peyton’s children’s book, Dancing the Tinikling. Contributor Claire Mercado-Obias reviews the book illustrated by artist Diobelle Cerna (“Living Through the Rhythm of the Tinikling,”).

February as African American History Month is also a timely reminder of our own political and organic links to Black America. Rene G. Ontal tells the story of Pvt. David Fagan, a Black American soldier who defected to the Filipino resistance during the Philippine-American War (Read Again “A Black Man’s Burden,”) warning, “To the Colored American Soldier: It is without honor that you shed your precious blood. Your masters have thrown you in the most iniquitous fight” as instruments of their ambition.

More contemporarily, Filipina African American writer Janet Stickmon shares insights on growing up in both cultures: “Identifying as only African American or Filipino American never felt right because it just wasn’t true. College and scholarship applications told me, ‘Please choose one,’ but categories like African American and Asian/Pacific Islander felt too constraining” (Read Again “Blackapina, Third Movement: The Blend”).

Meanwhile, in time for the coming California primaries on March 5, 2024, Filipino community leaders who have long learned the importance of political representation and empowerment are encouraging Filipino Americans to be engaged in democratic life, to vote for candidates from the community, and to hold them accountable while in office. Contributor Jun Nucum reports on Fil-Am movers and shakers who are gunning for California legislative posts (“Meet Fil-Ams Running in California Primaries ’24,”)

Back in the Philippines, human rights activist Robert Francis Garcia and peers from the Commission on Human Rights find that the human rights situation in Cotabato in Mindanao has improved such that they could enjoy unperturbed visits with friends and their innovative livelihood projects (“Catching Up in Cotabato,”).

And here’s an actor to watch: Red Concepcion. Within a decade, Concepcion has made it from college theater productions in the Philippines to the world’s biggest stage – Broadway. Concepcion just debuted as gullible car mechanic Amos Hart in the long-running musical Chicago, the second-longest running show on The Great White Way (“Actor Red Concepcion Takes on ‘Chicago’ on Broadway,”).

[Video of the Week] Panagbenga Festival 2024

Anti-Asian Hate Watch

U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Releases Translated 2023 Statutory Enforcement Report, The Federal Response to Anti-Asian Racism in the United States
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-commission-on-civil-rights-releases-translated-2023-statutory-enforcement-report-the-federal-response-to-anti-asian-racism-in-the-united-states-302058779.html

Reported Hate Crime at Schools: 2018-2022
https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:VA6C2:2c0e00e0-6190-470a-94a5-b4524c9fc435?utm_source=CA+vs+Hate

The Web of Misinformation
https://scotscoop.com/the-web-of-misinformation/

Anti-Asian hate crimes are down in S.F. So why do AAPI communities feel unsafe?
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/aapi-hate-crimes-18655173.php

SF city leaders, community coalition discuss fighting AAPI hate
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/san-francisco/sf-city-leaders-aapi-hate/3448039/

Man gets 30-year sentence for attacks on Asian Americans at West Baltimore stores
https://www.hastingstribune.com/ap/national/man-gets-30-year-sentence-for-attacks-on-asian-americans-at-west-baltimore-stores/article_6294eb09-0d67-5280-890e-2706e33674e4.html

The Roque Family Struggling to Survive Months After Assault Case Ended
https://sanfernandosun.com/2024/02/07/the-roque-family-struggling-to-survive-months-after-assault-case-ended/

Funding provided by the State of California.

2023 OFW remittances hit all-time high
https://www.bworldonline.com/top-stories/2024/02/16/576105/2023-ofw-remittances-hit-all-time-high/

Ube: What does it mean when a traditional food becomes a trend?
https://www.salon.com/2024/02/07/ube-what-does-it-mean-when-a-traditional-becomes-a-trend/?fbclid=IwAR3uO4-RZbMbFZBYQyObWzB3lSACIG6R4-nOiEfJDihT_qSZc4mIePGkHW4

The Day Ambeth Ocampo Toured Us Around Jose Rizal's Binondo
https://www.spot.ph/arts-culture/108026/rizal-binondo-a2962-20240211-lfrm

Tattoos, street signs, artworks: Filipinos devise ways to make ancient Baybayin script cool again
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/tattoos-street-signs-artworks-filipinos-devise-ways-to-make-ancient-baybayin-script-cool-again

February 14, 2024

Of Love and Money

February 14, 2024/ Staff

No question about it: Filipinos consider Valentine's Day a holiday-of-obligation, second only to Christmas in pomp and kitsch, and in the traffic jams it creates in already jammed Metro Manila.

Here's a timely tidbit: A majority of Filipinos (58%) claim to be very happy with their love life, according to a December 2023 survey by the Social Weather Stations. The number is the highest since 2011, when a record 59% said they were very happily in love. It would have been interesting to find out what brought about this increase but the survey didn't cover reasons.

As for Valentine's Day gifts, money, love and flowers topped the most wished-for list, with men wanting apparel and any gift from the heart the most. Women prefer getting money and flowers, though both genders desire love and companionship equally.

In the spirit of V-Day, we have two love stories for your kilig pleasure this week.

PF Correspondent Myles A. Garcia perused YouTube videos and zeroed in on the love journey of Darlene Bumacod of Pangasinan and Boris Kuznetsov of Russia, as documented in Darlene's travel vlog.

It's never too late for love, and octogenarians Emilio Quines and Angie Cruz, both medical doctors in New York, prove it when they married last year. The Filam.net founding editor, Cristina DC Pastor, tells us their story.

Filipinos of a certain age will remember child movie star Tessie Agana, once dubbed "the Shirley Temple of the Philippines." Now in her 80s, she has lived in the US for decades and raised three children with husband Rodolfo Jao. One of the three is Fr. Radmar Jao, a Jesuit priest, who moonlights as an actor. Here's the story of his interesting life.

In Seattle, PF correspondent Anthony Maddela sought out a 61-year-old Elvis tribute performer (as opposed to a mere impersonator) named Tony Colinares, who entertains with his band, Gracelandmanila.

We're now on the 55th edition of our list of Fil-Ams Among the Remarkable and Famous, and our publisher, Mona Lisa Yuchengco who does the compilation, is not stopping anytime soon. So many standouts lifting up our heritage.

[Partner] National Arts Month
[Video of the Week] Baguio Night Market