Sunday, August 21, 2005

welcome!

first, i want to bid all the new students welcome to usc and troy philippines.

as i said when i first started doing this, the troy phi culture blog is an effort to better emphasize the culture aspect of the organization. throughout the year i'll be writing about random filipino/filipino-american culture topics of interest, current events, local celebrations, and announcements. i'd want others to contribute to this blog as well. if you have anything to contribute to this blog, email me your post at tpcultureblog@gmail.com and i'll post it up for you.

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so ever since i started the blog i've been putting up links to various sites on the internet that serve as a good resource to anyone that wants to know a bit more about filipino/filipino-american culture. here's a brief overview on all of them:

philippine news sites: philippine daily inquirer, manila times, philippine star, manila bulletin, malaya, abs-cbn news, philippine center for investigative journalism

-- these are the main philippine news sites. once you start reading them on a regular basis, you'll see some of their biases on whether they're pro-administration or not, etc. they're the best way to keep up with what's going on in the philippines. the pcij site goes more in-depth on the subject of philippine politics; i first got the now infamous "gloria-garci" tapes from this site.

(btw, garciliano fled the philippines and everyone's in a big uproar over that; first to singapore, then to the uk, as confirmed by the dfa, the department of foreign affairs. now sen. pimentel claims he's in new jersey w/ his daughter. article here.)

fil-am organizations: sipa, fil-am arts

-- sipa (search to involve filipino americans) is based in historic filipinotown (north of usc). their mission is "to enhance the quality of life of Filipino Americans and other communities through youth development, health, economic, and social services." we volunteer a lot w/ sipa; one of the events we help them out with is sipa halloween, where we set up a haunted house for the children around historic filipinotown.

-- filam arts is an association that works for the advancement of filipino arts and culture here. their biggest annual event is the festival of philippine arts and culture (which we volunteer in every year), which is held in pt. fermin, san pedro (south of usc) on sep. 10-11. on the 11th we're getting a bus to get volunteers to pt. fermin from 1-6pm. if you're interested in volunteering email me at raymond@troyphi.com.

multimedia / entertainment: eradioportal.com, philmusic.com, gma 7, abs-cbn

-- eradioportal.com gives free access to several philippine am/fm radio stations. the news stations dzbb and dzrh are the best way to keep up w/ any breaking news that's going on in the philippines. you can hear a lot of filipino singers / artists in the other stations here. philmusic.com is an excellent resource on past and present philippine singers / artists. gma and abs-cbn are the two biggest tv networks/ entertainment powerhouses in the philippines.

other sites of interest: hagonoy, bulacan, philippine consulate general los angeles, social weather stations

-- these were random websites i found interesting. hagonoy, bulacan is my ancestral hometown. if you can read tagalog, it's a great way to get a sense of what a philippine provinical town is like. the philippine consulate general los angeles is pretty self-explanatory. if you have passport issues etc., you'll want to go here. social weather stations conducts many polls that include presidential satisfaction ratings, how people feel about poverty, corruption, and other issues in the philippines today.

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so i'll be adding more links as i find them.
until then, take care.
first general meeting's on 9/1 5:45pm @ SGM 123.

Monday, August 15, 2005

cooking for the president










image from
superchefblog.com.

we send our congratulations to filipina-american cristeta comerford, who on the 14th became the first woman to be named white house executive chef. first lady laura bush selected her after a 6-month evaluation/selection period. the article from the new york times detailing the selection can be found here.

she came to the united states from the philippines when she was 23, having earned a bachelor's degree in food technology from the university of the philippines. she also studied french cuisine working in austria.

as executive chef, she's basically the private chef of the bush family. she'll also get the chance to showcase her culinary talents in state dinners; however, the bush administration has held very few state dinners (only 5). comerford did prepare the menu for the state dinner in 2003 honoring president arroyo when she made her state visit to the united states that year.

so maybe she can get president bush to like filipino food...then again, he is a known health nut, as he loves to exercise and eats only light meals.

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

the jueteng problem

there's a long and detailed article in the front page of the la times today (8/9) entitled "filipinos miss the jackpot" by bruce wallace. you can find an online version of the article here (use bugmenot to bypass registration).

the article is pretty accurate. jueteng is an illegal numbers game that is commonplace in the philippines. an overview of how the game works can be found here. it's more prevalent in the provinces. this game is very powerful indeed; it made those who run the games extremely rich, sucking income from the poor (as many critics say), contributed to the downfall of former pres. erap estrada and potentially the downfall of pres. arroyo.

jueteng plays a huge role in the politics of the philippines. the current impeachment charges levied against arroyo accuse her of accepting jueteng payoffs to finance her 2004 presidential campaign. her husband and son are accused of accepting payoffs too.

in 2001, erap was forced out of office amid allegations that he accepted jueteng payoffs. the whistleblower who called him out, luis "chavit" singson, is a self-acknowledged jueteng lord. and no, he isn't in jail for that; he is currently the governor of ilocos sur province, and his family remains a political dynasty in the province.

so the question remains: how do you solve the jueteng corruption problem? some people have gone as far as suggesting its legalization....

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just a reminder, "the great raid" opens on aug. 12....i've emailed everyone in tp about it, so again, if you want to come watch it w/ me and other members that night, email me at ople@usc.edu. showtimes for theatres around here aren't available yet; i'll let you all know about it when i find out...

--- update (8/10): for those who are going, we are going to watch this movie friday, august 12, at the Glendale Exchange 10 (128 n. maryland ave. glendale ca 91206). Showtime is at 10:00pm. if you haven't done so, please email me at ople@usc.edu if you want to go just so i know how many people are going. also email me if you need directions.

if anyone's up for dinner before the movie, there's a bunch of restaurants around the area....zono sushi...tony roma's...manila buffet...maurizio's italian kitchen.....if any of you are interested, email me your preference and when you want to meet....

Monday, August 01, 2005

regarding "the great raid"; rescue at cabanatuan

some of you may have seen the ads for this already, but if you haven't, a movie entitled "the great raid" is opening in us theatres on aug. 12. the movie is about the most daring and successful raid done by american rangers and filipino guerrillas in world war ii: the rescue of allied prisoners of war from the japanese at a prison camp in cabanatuan, nueva ecija province. (imdb link of the movie is here).

this movie had been delayed for a couple of years, but it's finally out. an article from malaya about its premiere on 7/28 is here. a very detailed account of what actually happened is here -- a very good read.

notable filipino actors that are in this movie include cesar montano (played jose rizal in the 98 movie and fredo in muro-ami/reef hunters) and paolo montalban (raul in american adobo and the prince in the 97 cinderella tv movie -- the one w/ brandy). in this movie montano is capt. juan pajota, the filipino guerrilla area commander at cabu.

from watching the trailer, the major emphasis of the movie seems to be the heroism of the american rangers and the raid itself. looks like there's a love story in this film too. it'll be interesting to see how much screen time the filipinos get in this film as well as how everyone (american, filipino, and japanese) is portrayed.

again, the film comes out on aug. 12...if anyone in tp wants to watch it w/ me that night, drop me a line.