Maniolas

First posted in PositivelyFilipino.com  My husband has invited three Filipino coworkers and their wives to dinner. That means we will be eight people total. I have been prepping and cooking for two days. Butternut squash bisque. Grilled salmon. Baby bok choy. Sesame honey chicken wings. Roasted eggplant and tomatoes. Steamed rice. Chocolate cake. Mango bars. Tea and coffee. The guests will be here any minute now. Husband: Are you sure you made enough?Wife: Are you kidding? There’s more than enough!Husband: But you’re sure?Wife: Yes! I’m sure.Husband: Well as long as you’re sure.Wife: Look … why don’t you go get some ice or something?Husband: Okay. Last minute touches to the table. Last minute touches to the guest bathroom. Last minute touches to my face. Return to kitchen where husband is returned and there are two foil bags on the counter. My last minute busyness immediately screeches to a halt. Wife: What is that?Husband: Two roasted chickens.Wife: What? Why?Husband: You know … just in case…. Glaring at him, I move towards the bags, fully intending to slam both to the floor and smash them into flatness … but the doorbell rings. Okay. I accept that it’s my fault. When we were newly married, well over two decades ago, my husband asked if he could bring his teammates home after a big game. Even though I’d never entertained a pro-basketball team, and Manang Loisa (family cook and fall-back person for all things culinary) was on vacation, I have always been a woman of Read More …

From left to right: Daniel Dromm, New York City Council Member; Therese R. Rodriguez, CEO of Apicha Community Health Center, receiving her award from Dr. Marjorie Hill, Chair of the New York State AIDS Advisory Council; Andrew Ronan and Alan Reiff, Co-Chairs of Queens Pride Committee. PHOTO BY QUEENS PRIDE COMMITTEE NEW YORK CITY — The Queens Lesbian and Gay Pride Committee, which organizes the second largest Pride celebration in this city after Manhattan, honored Therese R. Rodriguez, the Filipina CEO of Apicha Community Health Center, for her contributions to the LGBTQ movement. The Queens Pride Committee also gave awards to Melissa Mark-Viverito, Speaker of the New York City Council, and the Queens Community House, which provides thousands of Queens residents with programs and services, advocacy and community building, at its Winter Pride Dinner Dance held in Astoria World Manor in Astoria, Queens, on January 24. “Rodriguez is one of the most inspirational leaders in the LGBTQ movement in New York City,” said Dirk McCall, the director of external affairs for Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. McCall also praised the organization Rodriguez leads, stating, “Apicha diligently works to serve members of our diverse community in a culturally competent way, ensuring their dignity and access to health care.” This latest recognition of Rodriguez and Apicha testifies to their success in overcoming incredible obstacles. About to close down Apicha in the mid-2000s, then known as Asian and Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS (APICHA), was on the verge of closing down after over a decade of Read More …

popular James Yap gets confidence from missed shot, lifts Purefoods in OT Binay sneaking into Palace, says Bello Quiet love Up to 7,000 families in ARMM flee fighting of Army, BIFF — local officials $300-million revenues expected for Mayweather-Pacquiao bout Fighter-turned-witness worries gov’t, Moro panels Grief-stricken mother’s appeal: ‘Return my sons to me, dead or alive’ Purefoods loses huge lead, salvages win over San Miguel videos PBA: Ginebra’s LA Tenorio comfortable on the floor with Emman Monfort PBA: Agustin credits good defense, big men performance for win over Purefoods PBA: Warner’s maturity big thing for Globalport, says coach Gonzales Crime watchdog wants advisory body composed of bishops, inter-religious leaders Former Tarlac Governor calls Aquino to resign SAN FRANCISCO — One in three, that’s the proportion of California public school students who reported being bullied or harassed at school in the previous year, according to 2011-13 data just posted on kidsdata.org. School staff members recognize the issue, with 37 percent reporting in a related survey that bullying was a “moderate” or “severe” problem at their school. Race or national origin tops the list of cited reasons for bullying or harassment in all grades. Higher percentages of African American, Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander students reported incidents compared to students from other racial/ethnic backgrounds. Sexual orientation is the next most common reason cited, followed by gender, religion and disability.Bullying and harassment are associated with long-term negative outcomes for both the bullied and students who do the bullying. Even just witnessing bullying Read More …

Without a doubt, the Mamasapano tragedy must lead to a reexamination of the laws, rules, guidelines that are still being worked out as part of the peace agreement with the MILF. But those pushing for all-out war with the rebels keep missing a key point: All- out war doesn’t work. It never has. It never will. Ferdinand Marcos tried it 40 year ago, and the Moro movement simply grew stronger, forcing the dictator to sign a peace agreement that eventually fell apart. Believing that wiping out the MILF would be as easy as mowing down the bad guys in his movies, Erap gave it a shot during his disastrous administration. The military did take over Camp Abubakar and Erap and his allies, in a supreme example of political cluelessness, brought lechon and beer to the camp to celebrate. But 15 years later, the MILF is still there, looking even stronger. There’s another point the warmongers keep ignoring: The Moros are rebelling because their people have been bullied, abused, robbed and humiliated for decades. We keep forgetting that. The fact that key MILF leaders are talking peace suggests there’s a meaningful segment of the Moro movement that really wants to end the war. Are all of them for peace? Clearly not, for many reasons. Which is why the peace process is bound to be complicated going forward and both sides must proceed with caution, seeking ways to strengthen the hand of leaders, on both sides who genuinely want peace. But abandoning Read More …

St. Paul College, Quezon City Class of 1965’s reunion. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO The members of High School Class 1965 of St. Paul College Quezon City could hardly believe it. “What? It’s going to be 50 years since we graduated from high school!! You’re kidding!!” Well, part of it was denial that we’re that much older. Another part of it, or I’d like to think a large part of it, was because we had been regularly bonding with each other, enjoying each other’s company, and sharing each other’s joys and sorrows for years so that it was almost like it was just a short while ago that we left SPCQ and went on to college and beyond. Yes, despite the inevitable number of classmates who had somehow disappeared from the radar, there was still a group that managed to stay in touch. Here in Metro Manila, the “locals” would meet to mark the usual milestones — Christmas, birthdays, and visits from balikbayan classmates. The same applied for classmates living abroad, mostly in the US. What’s more, we didn’t allow geographical barriers to deter us — there would be some reunions where the “locals” would fly to the US to be with both the East and West Coast classmates. It was no wonder then, that we all looked forward to celebrating our golden jubilee. In the course of monthly meetings, countless email traffic, plus Facebook, Skype, Facetime and Viber tete-a-tetes, our vague ideas turned into semi-coherent plans, then our plans began to take Read More …