When the Americans occupied the Philippines in 1898, they also encountered the Chinese problem. To know the situation of the Chinese in the Philippines and help it formulate policies toward the Chinese, the first Philippine Commission created by US President William McKinley conducted a series of hearings to which it invited resource persons to share […]
Our online petition for people to sign our manifesto elicited 1,000 plus signatures. Here is a selection of their reactions from all over the world: This is another injustice to the Filipino “comfort women”. only a handful are still alive, but they have not yet gotten their demands for official apology from Japan, recognition in […]
My husband and I had a plan: take a family trip abroad when our little one turned one. We were confident we could handle a 1-year-old baby on board a plane. I researched extensively about babies and planes. There are many horror stories about screaming babies on planes. A family friend shared that one time, […]
Hokkien, on the tongues of Tsinoys, has grown and evolved, taking on a life of its own. Sometimes words simply fail us. With some creativity, Tsinoys have strung together words to form colorful phrases that simply hit the bull’s eye. Here are some expressions unique to Hokkien as favored by Tsinoys. 人吃米粉 你喊燒 lang tsia […]
Japanese rescued, 3 face kidnap raps Japanese national Yuji Nakajima, of Tokyo, was rescued from his kidnappers in Plaridel, Bulacan on April 5. Suspects Miyashita Takashi, of Tokyo, and Filipino cohorts –siblings Roberto and Reggie Reyes, both of Pasig City – were nabbed. The victim, traveling with business partner Yusuke Obara, was kidnapped on arrival from Japan […]
The Chinese mestizo culture in the Philippines is a rich and colorful blending of the Malay and Chinese culture. The unique religious syncretism practiced here, the fascinating mixture of traditions, customs and beliefs on life rituals from marriage, birth and death are living testaments to this. This hybridization and indigenization of Chinese and Malay culture […]
The Ming Dynasty imperial eunuch Cheng Ho (Zheng He in pinyin 鄭和 1371-1433), with his mighty fleet of 300 ships, sailed seven times to the Western Ocean from China from 1405 to 1433. The fleet visited countries in Southeast Asia, Indian Ocean, Middle East and all the way to Africa. His ships were so big, […]
Zhu Zi Qing (朱自清) was a well-known prose writer of modern China. His famous works, “Moonlight at Lotus Pond (荷塘月色)” and “Image of the Back (背影),” were included in the Chinese literature textbook used by the Chinese schools in the Philippines in the 1960s. One day in June 1948, Wu Han (吳晗), a famous scholar, […]
I first heard of Malacca from the stories about Admiral Zheng He’s expeditions across Asia and Africa. When my traveling companions invited me to join them for a trip to Malaysia, I suggested a side trip to this intriguing city. From the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, we traveled 142 kms southwest for two hours to this […]
Are we still a democracy? Is there still respect for democratic institutions? As the nation’s highest court, the Supreme Court is supposed to be the vanguard in safeguarding our sacred and inviolable principles and institutions, among them the rule of law, the principle of separation of powers, the bill of rights, freedom of speech, government […]