Northern Exposure

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While definitely dwarfed in number by Filipino Americans (conservatively around 5 million strong), Filipino Canadians (a little less than a million, as of 2021) are nonetheless emerging as a significant new force in a country of only 40 million. (In contrast, the US has 333 million; the Philippines 115 million. Canada's population of 39 million is almost the same as California's.)

Fil-Cans represent 2.5 % of Canadians and is the third largest Asian immigrant group in the country, surpassed only by Indians and Chinese, according to a Wikipedia entry. But they are the largest in terms of Southeast Asian ethnicity. Most are college-educated professionals, Tagalogs, and, earlier on, women. The majority live in the urban areas of Canada, with the biggest group residing in the Greater Toronto Area, followed by Metro Vancouver.

While the collective voice of Filipino-Canadians have not yet been as resounding as Fil-Ams, our kababayans in Canada have nevertheless made significant inroads in most, if not all aspects, of Canadian society. In health care, in business, the academe, arts and literature, social services, culinary arts and in politics, Fil-Cans have shone. Two have already been elected to the Canadian Parliament and appointed to the Cabinet.  

We have two new stories from Canada in this issue and we're reposting some from previous issues. We'd like more though so we're reaching out to Filipinos in Canada to send us their stories about living in the second largest country in the world (in land area).

Read Again:

https://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/bayanihan-community-centre-victoria-bc-a-success-story                                                                       

https://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/rizal-honored-in-ontario

https://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/jason-pires-bc-newsroom-rising-star

https://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/in-this-corner-kanto-by-tita-flips

Video of the Week: Construction worker makes sculptures from coconut and driftwood

Anti-Asian Hate

Governor declares May ‘Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month’
https://www.yahoo.com/news/governor-declares-may-asian-american-211814972.html

OpEd: 2 states sending threatening messages to Asian Americans
https://asamnews.com/2024/04/18/alien-land-laws-anti-china-xenophobia-land-restrictions/?emci=9db24e2a-8006-ef11-96f3-7c1e521b07f9&emdi=af6b9a30-8006-ef11-96f3-7c1e521b07f9&ceid=28649

Statement: Stop AAPI Hate Condemns House Passage of RISAA, Urges Senate to Vote Against Warrantless Surveillance Expansion
https://stopaapihate.org/2024/04/18/stop-aapi-hate-condemns-house-passage-of-risaa/?emci=9db24e2a-8006-ef11-96f3-7c1e521b07f9&emdi=af6b9a30-8006-ef11-96f3-7c1e521b07f9&ceid=28649

Students from India uneasy after 11 deaths in U.S.
https://asamnews.com/2024/04/29/indian-nationals-deaths-mental-health-stress-hinduphobia/

Funding provided by the State of California.

In The Know

Want to go to Boracay or Iloilo? Go to Antipolo and hop on a P2P bus.
https://www.rappler.com/life-and-style/travel/things-to-know-p2p-bus-antipolo-boracay-iloilo/?

Weaved Lives: The Rich Cultural History of The Tnalak Fabric Woven By The Tboli People
https://vogue.ph/lifestyle/culture/the-rich-cultural-history-of-the-tnalak-fabric-weaved-by-the-tboli-people/

The First Asian American Settlement Was Established by Filipino Fishermen
https://www.history.com/news/first-asian-american-settlement-filipino-st-malo 

Where The Clouds Settle: How Zamboangeños Care For Their Land And Heritage
https://vogue.ph/lifestyle/how-zamboangenos-care-for-their-land-and-heritage/?

Anygma Unpacks What Makes A ‘Classic’ FlipTop Battle, The Best Bars, And What Hip-Hop Tells Us About Society
https://billboardphilippines.com/culture/of-multis-flows-and-personals-the-legacy-of-fliptop-anygma-interview-hip-hop-2024/ 

Lost to Science for Over 70 Years, the Mindanao Treeshrew is Rediscovered
https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/mindanao-treeshrew-a00203-20230308?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_campaign=Echobox-Ownshare

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Staff

More on Adobo: Are We Hungry Yet?

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Nothing shouts Filipino food louder than adobo. And nobody has researched, collected stories and written about adobo more than the chef/author/artist Claude Tayag.

In his seminal 2022 book The Ultimate Filipino Adobo: Stories through the Ages, Claude begins: "Mention the word 'adobo' to any Filipino, wherever he may find himself in the world, his mouth will start to salivate for that taste of home. It will titillate his palate like a symphony of subtle sour, salty, garlicky, and peppery linamnam, or yummy flavors like no other. Eaten with hot, steaming rice, sinangag (garlic fried rice), pandesal or even baguette or ciabatta, nothing will beat this combination any time of the day or night. Just a sniff of this aromatic, comforting dish wafting in the air will bring him to his childhood back home. It is the link that connects generations through food like an unbroken chain."

Claude's second book, The Ultimate Filipino Adobo: Stories + Recipes from the Heart, Second Edition comes out next month. With more than 30 new adobo stories, testimonials from non-Filipino celebrities, recipe ideas and even a music sheet for "Adobo ni Inang," a song composed by Nonoy Gallardo and sang by Celeste Legaspi, this new volume is both food for the soul and the heart.  As author/food writer Elizabeth Ann Quirino writes this week in her review of the book, "And like the adobo your mother cooks, the stories’ flavors mellow in time, the tart sourness of descriptions turn smooth, and if you close your eyes in reverie, the garlic aromas stay indelible in your thoughts."

Are you hungry yet?

Stories This Week

Adobo’s Never-Ending Story by Elizabeth Ann Quirino

Fil-Ams Among The Remarkable And Famous, Part 56 by Mona Lisa Yuchengco

Kumander Sisa – Hukbalahap Anti-Japanese Guerrillas’ Top Woman Leader In WWII by Cecilia I. Gaerlan

Impossible Things by Ian Layugan

Read Agains: 

Remembering Nora Daza, the Philippines' first celebrity chef  by Noel Anonuevo: https://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/remembering-nora-daza-1929-2013

An Intro to Ilocano Cuisine by Micky Fenix
https://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/soup-tales-and-big-breakfasts

[Video of the Week] At Seattle's historic Pike Place Market, she's the queen. Mama Lina is everyone's inspiration, savior and Mother Earth figure. A badass Filipina lola with a heart of gold.  Mama Lina

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Staff

Treasuring Mindanao

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For most of us who came of age in the 20th century in Manila and surrounding provinces, Mindanao has always been a frontier land -- remote, unknowable, somewhat scary. And violent. Our elementary and high school teachers glossed over Mindanao, foreign governments warned against visiting. What a shame!

In the last few decades, as Mindanao enjoyed relative peace, both domestic and foreign tourists have discovered the richness of the Philippines' second largest island -- its indigenous cultures, its natural beauty, its biodiversity, the wealth of opportunities it offers to water sports, and many other attractions that we missed out on when we were mired in prejudices against Mindanao.

In this issue, we have put together stories about Mindanao, with the hope that the lingering biases that may still inhabit readers' minds will finally be laid to rest.

• A Muslim Mindanaoan visits Tawi-tawi, the Philippines' southernmost province, and finds kinship.

• A Fil-Am cultural worker and his group is hosted by cultural groups in Cotabato for an unforgettable cultural immersion.

• A Manila-based community activist does a whirlwind tour of Zamboanga and discovers treasures.

From our archives, enjoy reading:

• A travel writer's visit to Sarangani, the district that Manny Pacquiao used to represent in Congress: 
https://www.positivelyfilipino.com/magazine/discovering-pacquiaos-sarangani

• A Mindanaoan academic debunks the myth that our Moro kababayans are prone to violence: Why Our Moro Brothers and Sisters Will Never Turn Fundamentalist — Positively Filipino | Online Magazine for Filipinos in the Diaspora

Also in this issue, our Earth Day offering on how an entrepreneurial couple has committed to the global environmental sustainability effort by setting up a sustainable, organic farm in Coron, Palawan.

And our Fil-Am compatriot, Rob Bonta, who is California's incumbent Attorney General, talks about the challenges in convicting hate crimes. 

[Video of the Week] Chef Rex De Guzman

Anti-Asian Hate Watch

3 senior advocates attacked in alleged hate crime
https://asamnews.com/2024/04/10/anti-asian-hate-racial-comments-san-francisco/

Asian American Community Reflects on Deadly Atlanta Shooting Three Years Later
https://www.theknightnews.com/2024/04/15/asian-american-community-reflects-on-deadly-atlanta-shooting-three-years-later/

AAPI coalition continues the fight against gun violence
https://asamnews.com/2024/04/13/gun-violence-politics-suicide-survivior-trump-civil-rights-asian-shooting-texas/

The FACC celebrates 70 years of Filipino culture and community in Colorado
https://www.cpr.org/2024/04/13/facc-celebrating-70th-anniversary-filipino-culture-community-in-colorado/

Man charged with hate crime in assault of Asian person in S.F.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/man-charged-hate-crime-assault-asian-person-s-f-19394662.php

Muslim American students allegedly punched & mocked
https://asamnews.com/2024/04/09/hate-crime-attack-university-of-texas-austin/

Funding provided by the State of California.

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Staff