Maniolas

Years ago, Abe Ignacio was surfing on eBay when he was stunned by one item for sale. It was a cover of an 1899 issue of Judge magazine showing President WilliamMcKinley scrubbing what was supposed to be a Filipino child, saying, “Oh, you dirty boy.” The caption read: “The Filipino’s first bath.” That discovery led Ignacio, in cooperation with three other Filipinos — including Jorge Emmanuel, Helen Toribio, Abe’s late wife, and Enrique de la Cruz — to write “The Forbidden Book,” a compilation of racist portrayals of Filipinos during the Philippine-American War. I wrote about a 2001 exhibit in Berkeley based on the collection for the San Francisco Chronicle. Abe has continued digging since then, finding a rich gold mine of information and photos at the San Francisco Main Library, where he is now a guest scholar. One of the items he found recently offers a different portrait of San Francisco, which is now considered one of the most liberal and open-minded cities in the world, where Filipinos have one of most vibrant and established immigrant communities. Just last month, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee announced that Tagalog is now the third required language, in addition to Chinese and Spanish, covered by the city’s language access ordinance. It showed the respect the Filipino community commands in San Francisco. Well, that wasn’t always the case. This was evident in a shameful, though forgotten, chapter in the city’s history. It happened 109 years ago, in 1905, when a group of 25 Read More …

Agence France-Presse 5:15 am | Friday, May 23rd, 2014 Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak delivers a keynote speech at the 20th International Conference on The Future of Asia in Tokyo, Thursday, May 22, 2014. Najib Razak has distanced himself from escalating maritime disputes in Asia, telling a Japanese newspaper that the territorial conflicts should not jeopardize the “strategic importance” of his country’s ties with China. AP PHOTO/KOJI SASAHARA TOKYO—Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has distanced himself from escalating maritime disputes in Asia, telling a Japanese newspaper that the territorial conflicts should not jeopardize the “strategic importance” of his country’s ties with China. “We must look at the big picture and not define relations with China on a single-issue basis, but look at the broad spectrum of the relations and recognize the strategic importance of our bilateral relationship with China,” Najib told Japan’s Nikkei daily on Thursday. “We do not want [the territorial] issue to be an impediment to the growing ties between Malaysia and China,” the Malaysian premier, who is on a visit to Japan, said in an interview with the business daily. Najib’s comments came as Vietnam and the Philippines—which along with Malaysia are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations—are embroiled in separate rows with China over control of parts of the South China Sea. Tensions remain high in the region after an eruption of deadly anti-China riots in Vietnam over Beijing’s controversial plans to drill for oil in contested waters. Kuala Lumpur and Beijing have their Read More …

By Matikas SantosINQUIRER.net 11:32 pm | Thursday, May 22nd, 2014 DFA spokesman Charles Jose: Concern for Thailand. AP FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines on Thursday expressed hopes for the return of democracy and normalcy in Thailand where the military declared a coup d’etat Thursday afternoon. “The Philippines notes the latest developments in Thailand. In line with previous statements of the Asean Foreign Ministers, the Philippines supports a peaceful resolution of the present situation,” Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesman Charles Jose said in a statement. “The Philippines likewise hopes for an early return to normalcy consistent with democratic principles, the rule of law and the will and interest of the Thai people,” the statement added. The Thai military previously declared martial law following almost seven months of political instability that saw former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra removed from office by the Constitutional Court of Thailand on May 7, 2014. Follow Us Other Stories: 3 Koreans found dead in Cebu restaurant For Asian immigrants, mental health issues are an ‘invisible problem’ Local Fil-Am makes good as mayor of Cerritos, California San Francisco’s ’14 drive to place 7,000 youths in jobs launched Recent Stories: Complete stories on our Digital Edition newsstand for tablets, netbooks and mobile phones; 14-issue free trial. About to step out? Get breaking alerts on your mobile.phone. Text ON INQ BREAKING to 4467, for Globe, Smart and Sun subscribers in the Philippines. Factual errors? Contact the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s day desk. Believe this article violates journalistic ethics? Contact the Read More …

• Longest PH Independence Day parade outside the Philippines • Miss World, OPM stars, other celebrities at the celebration • Street fair, floats, stage show, grand ball Miss World Megan Young (Photo by Rolan Gutierrez) NEW YORK, New York — It’s all systems go for the annual Philippine Independence Day Parade, the 116th celebration, featuring an all-day street fair and cultural festival stretching from 38th Street to 23rd Street and Madison Avenue, on Sunday, June 1, from 11:45 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The festivity is highlighted by the largest Philippine Independence Day parade outside the Philippines, hosted by the Philippine Independence Day Council Inc. (PIDCI), a nonprofit organization, which is celebrating its silver anniversary this year. Among the stars of the celebration are: First Filipina Miss World Megan Young, who with PIDCI raised funds for the victims of super typhoon Haiyan in central Philippines; Original Philippine Music (OPM) icons Kuh Ledesma, Cecile Azarcon, Edlyn Peregrina and Ogie Alcasid; First Filipina Carnaval Queen in Brazil Bessie Badilla; Grand Marshals Drs. Emilio and Felicisima Quines—both longtime medical mission volunteers. Nearly 200 Filipino American-related nonprofit and for profit organizations, are participating. Leading the daylong celebrations are AARP’s Asian American and Pacific Islander arm and My Shelter Foundation, which promotes solar bottle bulbs called “Liter of Light.” Attendance is likely to peak at 100,000 people, mostly Filipinos and Filipino Americans from the New York Tri-State area, Pennsylvania, California, Canada and the Philippines. Riding the many festive floats are PIDCI’s Goodwill Ambassadors 2014 Mrs. Kalayaan Read More …

AMBASSADOR AHMAD: We are there for them, we care about them. In this basketball-crazed nation, one intrepid diplomat is hoping to literally change the game. British Ambassador to the Philippines Asif Ahmad, an impassioned football fan, is marching on with his advocacy of propagating the world’s most popular sport still fledgling in the country by playing coach for one day to a local team of underprivileged children from a Taguig village. “This is a world first. I am coaching football in Filipino,” the Tagalog-savvy Ambassador said in jest on the sidelines of the training under the sweltering noontime heat on Wednesday at the tennis court in his Forbes Park residence. “In the Philippines, sometimes this sport of football is known for being only for rich people and their rich children. What we’re saying is, football is for everyone. And by choosing this team in this competition, we’re making sure the game is played in every barangay. The excitement that it will generate will be fantastic,” Ahmad said in an interview. Ahmad, who describes himself as a fan of the Liverpool Football Club on his official Twitter account, is keen to convert the Philippines from the court to the pitch, broaching the idea to President Benigno Aquino III during their first official meeting shortly after the envoy’s appointment to Manila last year. “I said to him, ‘Do you know the Azkals are now one of the highest-rated teams in Asia?’ And his adviser said, ‘Yes, that’s true Mr. President.’ I said Read More …