Our Editor-at-Large, Patricio N. Abinales, recommends: Policing America’s Empire: The United States, the Philippines, and the Rise of the Surveillance State by Alfred W. McCoy (Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2011)
Alfred McCoy lays out a different way of looking at modern Philippine history based on two interesting propositions: that the pedigree of today’s extensive American surveillance network is Filipino, tested by American colonial officials against nationalists and insurgents; and, that our elite’s political history was and continues to be intertwined with the netherworld of smugglers, drug lords, racketeers and murderers. This book is the latest gem by one of the most important scholars of Philippine studies and one who has consistently taken the side of the oppressed by exposing the dark souls of the powerful.
Our Senior Editor, Caroline Hau, recommends Si Amapola sa 65 na Kabanata by Ricky Lee (Philippine Writers Studio Foundation, Inc, 2011)
Si Amapola sa 65 na Kabanata is a comic-tragic tale, told in gay lingo, about a female impersonator who discovers that s/he is a manananggal and reinvents herself/himself as a masked, bewigged, and sequined Superhero(ine) activist-revolutionary. And did I mention that s/he has multiple personalities? If the self is
fundamentally divided, what more the nation?
We Recommend:
Planting Rice • www.plantingrice.com
Planting Rice is a useful resource for the goings-on in the art community, helping artists and those who closely follow them keep up with the latest exhibit openings by Filipino artists locally and around the
world, calls for artist residencies, and other news that extends beyond galleries and art spaces.
Craft Coffee Workshop • 66 Broadway Avenue, New Manila, Quezon City
Craft Coffee Workshop is a specialty coffee shop that serves a range of espresso-based coffee, as well as coffee made from a variation of different slow-brew methods. The shop sources their beans from a variety of regions and roasts them inhouse.