{"id":16555,"date":"2023-01-22T07:32:36","date_gmt":"2023-01-22T17:32:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/?p=16555"},"modified":"2023-01-22T07:32:38","modified_gmt":"2023-01-22T17:32:38","slug":"book-review-journeys-evolving-values-in-the-filipino-diaspora","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/2023\/01\/22\/book-review-journeys-evolving-values-in-the-filipino-diaspora\/","title":{"rendered":"BOOK REVIEW: JOURNEYS: Evolving Values in the Filipino Diaspora"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

by Rose Churma<\/em> \u00a0

<\/strong>This is the second volume on values in the Filipino Diaspora that the FAUW, a Hawaii-based nonprofit organization, has recently published.

Released last December 2022, this book is an anthology of writings by 24 authors who have ventured to different lands\u2014from Europe to the U.S. continent, including Hawai’i. The narratives and poems are about immigration and adaptation, covering universal values but also getting personal akin to mini-memoirs.

As noted in the book\u2019s back cover: \u201cThe authors\u2019 journeys tell of family, obligation, pluck, resilience, and determination. Beliefs and values are discarded, modified, and even strengthened as they navigate their life passages.\u201d

In the book\u2019s foreword, editor\u00a0Virgie Chattergy\u00a0explains how the book\u2019s concept came about. The organization that initiated this exercise has the mission to \u201ccultivate an understanding of Philippine history and culture.\u201d

And the essence of the Filipino, wherever they are, is best represented by what they value. She continues: \u201cValues provides us with a sense of identity, individually and collectively. They are a source of pride and create for us a social network\u2026connects us with our past, give relevance or meaning to our present, and can help direct us as we move forward.\u201d

Like the process used in the first book — Pinay: Culture Bearers of the Filipino Diaspora —<\/em>a \u201ccall for papers\u201d was sent out to those who have experienced living outside of the homeland, with instructions to contributors to share remembrances of Filipino cultural values, with the hope that the younger generation can be linked to their ancestral heritage.

Interestingly, one of the first submittals we received was from a high school student from Waipahu. AshleyValoissubmitted a short poem with the first lines: \u201cThat is not my dream, I say \/ \u201cGet money. Fast education. Become a nurse.\u201d<\/em>\u201d

And she ends the poem with a fiery: \u201cRipping away the hand that holds my throat \/ and say \u201cNo.\u201d\/ My dream will be my own.<\/em>\u201dAshley eventually majored in political science and intends to go to law school.

This topic is picked up in other articles. ElizabethJocson\u00a0narrates how her dad insisted that she take up nursing\u2014so she enrolled in a nursing course\u2014until she had to assist in surgery that involved stapling the stomach of an obese patient.

In\u00a0PepiNieva\u2019s \u201cJo Koy and Me,\u201d she dissects the comedian\u2019s popularity and the themes of his stand-up comedy act that pokes fun at his Pinay mom\u2019s quirks and other Filipino stereotypical propensities.

One of which is why Filipino moms want their kids to be a nurse. In his comedy acts, he would announce: \u201cThere are a lot of Filipinos here right now that are nurses. This is a good time to be injured in a show!\u201dCoincidentally, this anthology boasts of several authors who are nurses.\u00a0Lillian Ponce Manangan\u2019s paternal grandfather was one of Hawaii\u2019s sakadas who used his earnings to buy land and returned to farming in the Philippines.

Although\u00a0Divina Telan-Robillard is also a nurse, she does not mention this at all in her narrative, but her status as \u201cMistress, Madrasta, Ina\u201d is also the title of her piece.

Katherine Baltazar\u2019s paternal lineage (her father is Filipino while her mother is Swiss-German) is mostly in the healing field, so it was not surprising that she and her sister became nurses.

Another recurring theme is the Filipina immigrant’s ability to adapt, and even thrive because of their multilingual skills as described by\u00a0JosephinePablo\u00a0in her article \u201cBlessed Are the Bilinguals\u201d\u00a0where she admonishes others to \u201c\u2026Be multilingual and be thankful for your ability to speak two or more languages\u2026for you can have the best of many worlds.\u201d

This is reinforced by\u00a0MalouSotoReininger, a Filipina who now calls Vienna home. She confesses that she first spoke Tagalog when she was seven, which served her well in her education since English was the Philippines\u2019 medium of instruction. This also helped her learn German\u2014and her multilingual skills were put to good use when then-President Fidel Ramos and his entourage visited Vienna.

Rosemarie Mendoza\u00a0also relates how she was placed in an ESL (English as a Second Language) class at Kalakaua Intermediate when she first arrived in Hawaii\u2014an automatic placement if one is an immigrant, even if one is already fluent in English.

In order to be placed in regular English classes, she volunteered to serve as an interpreter and translator\u2014which eventually helped her as a human resources professional in the visitor industry.

FeBaran\u2019s daughter,\u00a0CatalinaLehrer, on the other hand, lamented the fact that her mom never taught her and her sisters Cebuano or Tagalog. \u201cI would have loved to be brought up bilingual,\u201d she writes, considering that her mom taught English as a second language.

The most memorable piece is the poem by\u00a0NildaBoland\u2014written with passion and fury after a high-ranking official in the Philippines\u2019 foreign service disparaged the use of Tagalog\/Pilipino. Written in the Philippines\u2019 national language, the poem\u2019s English translation is also included.

Two of the writers tackled the issue of \u201clooking different\u201d or the physical features that make it difficult to blend in.

Gloriani \u201cKeeyan\u201d Lontoc, a thirty-something Filipina now based in the UK writes, \u201cMy accomplishments, my beauty and successes as a person sat dormant in the shade of the pressure to be light,\u00a0to be pretty<\/em>.\u201d

Rene Brock, who was adopted by Caucasian American parents at 13 days old and now lives in suburban New York, describes herself as an American woman in a Filipina body. She recalls being bullied while in school because of her Asian features, and her desire to look like a pretty American girl\u2014blonde and blue-eyed, just like her Barbie doll.

This anthology is an interesting mix from a diverse group of authors. Rolando Santos,\u00a0the only male in the group summarizes his article thus: \u201c\u2026analyzes with heart and humor the dynamics of the transmission of traditional Filipino values.\u201d

To some degree, this description covers the musings of the other authors whose journey beyond the shores of the motherland had strengthened them and made them appreciate more the threads of their being that are uniquely Filipino.

The book\u2019s cover is local artist\u00a0EddieJoaquin\u2019s portrait of \u201cRosa Maria.\u201d It reflects the duality of Filipinos who must adapt to their new lives while holding memories and values of their homeland close to their hearts.

For those interested in meeting the authors, a virtual \u201cmeet and greet\u201d event is planned for January 24, Tuesday at 4 p.m. HST or January 25, Wednesday at 10 a.m. in the Philippines. For additional details and Zoom links, please email kalamansibooks@gmail.com<\/a>.

ROSE CRUZ CHURMA<\/strong> established\u00a0Kalamansi Books & Things\u00a0three decades ago. It has\u00a0evolved from a mail-order bookstore into an online advocacy with the intent of helping global Pinoys discover their heritage by promoting books of value from the\u00a0Philippines\u00a0and those\u00a0written by Filipinos in the Diaspora. We can be reached at <\/em>kalamansibooks@gmail.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Rose Churma \u00a0 This is the second volume on values in the Filipino Diaspora…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16542,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/BR-Journeys-color_01212023.jpg?fit=390%2C606&ssl=1",390,606,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/BR-Journeys-color_01212023.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/BR-Journeys-color_01212023.jpg?fit=193%2C300&ssl=1",193,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/BR-Journeys-color_01212023.jpg?fit=390%2C606&ssl=1",390,606,true],"large":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/BR-Journeys-color_01212023.jpg?fit=390%2C606&ssl=1",390,606,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/BR-Journeys-color_01212023.jpg?fit=390%2C606&ssl=1",390,606,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/BR-Journeys-color_01212023.jpg?fit=390%2C606&ssl=1",390,606,true],"ultp_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/BR-Journeys-color_01212023.jpg?resize=390%2C606&ssl=1",390,606,true],"ultp_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/BR-Journeys-color_01212023.jpg?resize=390%2C570&ssl=1",390,570,true],"ultp_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/BR-Journeys-color_01212023.jpg?resize=390%2C606&ssl=1",390,606,true],"ultp_layout_square":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/BR-Journeys-color_01212023.jpg?resize=390%2C600&ssl=1",390,600,true],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/BR-Journeys-color_01212023.jpg?resize=390%2C606&ssl=1",390,606,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/BR-Journeys-color_01212023.jpg?resize=390%2C500&ssl=1",390,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/BR-Journeys-color_01212023.jpg?fit=390%2C606&ssl=1",390,606,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/BR-Journeys-color_01212023.jpg?resize=349%2C340&ssl=1",349,340,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/BR-Journeys-color_01212023.jpg?resize=217%2C250&ssl=1",217,250,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"Features<\/a>","tag_info":"Features","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/BR-Journeys-color_01212023.jpg?fit=390%2C606&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16555"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16555"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16555\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16556,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16555\/revisions\/16556"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}