The Best of Philippines

President Noynoy Aquino's Inaugural Speech

2010-11-04T18:50:00.000-07:00

With every election comes new hope. Hope for a new beginning.

Charise with Celine Dion

2010-06-24T14:37:00.000-07:00

Philippine National Treasure - Charise singing with Celine Dion.
It started two years ago, and now the whole world knows Charise.

For all those times you stood by me
For all the truth that you made me see
For all the joy you brought to my life
For all the wrong that you made right
For every dream you made come true
For all the love I found in you
I'll be forever thankful baby
You're the one who held me up
Never let me fall
You're the one who saw me through through it all

You were my strength when I was weak
You were my voice when I couldn't speak
You were my eyes when I couldn't see
You saw the best there was in me
Lifted me up when I couldn't reach
You gave me faith 'coz you believed
I'm everything I am
Because you loved me

You gave me wings and made me fly
You touched my hand I could touch the sky
I lost my faith, you gave it back to me
You said no star was out of reach
You stood by me and I stood tall
I had your love I had it all
I'm grateful for each day you gave me
Maybe I don't know that much
But I know this much is true
I was blessed because I was loved by you

You were my strength when I was weak
You were my voice when I couldn't speak
You were my eyes when I couldn't see
You saw the best there was in me
Lifted me up when I couldn't reach
You gave me faith 'coz you believed
I'm everything I am
Because you loved me

You were always there for me
The tender wind that carried me
A light in the dark shining your love into my life
You've been my inspiration
Through the lies you were the truth
My world is a better place because of you

You were my strength when I was weak
You were my voice when I couldn't speak
You were my eyes when I couldn't see
You saw the best there was in me
Lifted me up when I couldn't reach
You gave me faith 'coz you believed
I'm everything I am
Because you loved me

I'm everything I am
Because you loved me

Anak (Child) in English by Freddie Aguilar

2010-01-05T08:11:00.000-08:00

I first heard of Freddie Aguilar when my Canadian friend told me about a famouus Filipino singer that she heard, and the famous song "Anak" which means Child. This song was translated into many languages and is well loved universally.

Born in the year 1953, Ferdinand Pascual Aguilar, better known as Freddie Aguilar, is a folk musician from the Philippines. He is best known for the hit "Bayan Ko", which became the anthem for the opposition to the Marcos regime during the 1986 People Power Revolution. He is heavily associated with Pinoy rock.

He is well known internationally, and within the Philippines and Asia-Pacific region, claiming fame as one of the best musician-songwriters of the Philippines.

Freddie Aguilar left family and school unfinished at the age of 18. His father, who had wanted him to be a lawyer, was disappointed. Freddie travelled to far-away places carrying with him, solely, his guitar. With no one to guide and discipline him, he got into gambling. Realizing and regretting his mistakes five years later, Freddie composed Anak, a remorse song expressing apology to his parents. He went back home and asked for forgiveness from his parents who welcomed him with open arms. After his father read the lyrics of Anak, the two became closer to each other. The homecoming proved timely as soon after, his father would pass away.According to Felipe de Leon, Jr., an authority in Philippine Music, the song was composed in a Western style but have the aspects of pasyon, a theme that many Filipinos can identify with.

Anak became a finalist in the first MetroPop Song Festival. It went on to become very popular in the Philippines and eventually abroad. The song generated a hundred cover versions, was released in 56 countries and in 26 different foreign languages, and it has sold 30 million copies.

A Brief History of Chinese in the Philippines

2009-10-12T09:13:00.000-07:00

Award winning Chinese-Filipino Canadian journalist in Canada, Jayson Go prepared this video on a brief history of Chinese in the Philipines.

Today, many Chinese have intermarried and assimilated into the Filipino society. Many famous Filipinos today are of Chinese descent including Corazon Aquino.

Open letter to Julia Child

2009-08-29T17:20:00.000-07:00

Dear Julie and Julia:
With this movie called "Julia and Julie", there is renewed interest in the art of cooking. We watch with delight how Julie tried to cook live lobsters and debone a duck. Now, Julie, how about roasting a pig. We'd like to show you how it is done in the Philippines.

Here are the instructions, just follow closely.

Pictorial History of the Filipino People

2009-02-16T09:58:00.001-08:00

The Modern Filipino today is a blend of many cultures.
Yet one thing remain constant, and that is the warmth and gentility of the Filipino people. Filipinos are known to be fun-loving and hospitable. In fact, there is a saying, if you marry a Filipino, you marry the entire barrio. This is because Filipinos are very family-oriented, and take care of one another. 10% of Filipinos today work abroad and send remittances to the relatives at home. Many of them work as nurses in foreign hospitals, stewards in cruise ships, entertainers in the nightclubs of major cities.

Filipinos love music. Music and dance is part of the school curriculum and everyday life. It is no wonder that there are many internationally known Filipino musicians incluing Lea Salonga and Arnel Pineda (vocalist for the band Journey)....

Here are some famous Filipinos of today:

Quick History of Philippines

2009-02-15T21:50:00.000-08:00

Quick facts about the Philippines
- an archipelago of 7,107 islands in the South China Sea
- situated between Taiwan to the north and Borneo to the south.
- Just 2,000 of its islands are inhabited
- only 500 are larger than a kilometre square.
- The nine largest islands of Luzon, Mindanao, Palawan, Panay, Mindoro, Samar, Negros, Leyte and Cebu make up 90% of the nation's land area.

Quick Overview of the early people of Philippines

2009-02-15T21:24:00.000-08:00

Early Inhabitants
The first human beings probably reached the Philippines about 40,000 years ago at roughly the same time as they reached Australia and New Guinea.

The earliest human bones found in the Philippines were on Palawan of modern type and date to 22,000 B.P. although stone tools from Palawan date back to 30,000 B.P.

The original people of the Philippines were the ancestors of the people known today as Negritos or Aeta.

Later inhabitants came from Malaysia and Indonesia. Prior to the arrival of the Spaniards, Arab, Indian and Chinese traders have long been visiting the Philippines. Many of the local chiefs of the Philippines at the time of Magellan's arrival had Chinese blood. Today's Filipinos are made up of many ethnicities including Chinese, Spanish, and American.

Tinikling Dance - Traditional and the Modern

2009-02-15T20:38:00.001-08:00

Tinikling is always a fun dance to watch. The audience shares the excitement as they watch dancers hop through the bamboo poles. Any misteps can cause serious injury. The music starts out slow and progresses to a fast pace, and audience starts clapping along. Here are two video clips of the dance. One in the traditional format and another is a modern rap version of the dance.

Tinikling - Philippine's National Dance

2009-02-15T20:32:00.000-08:00

Tinikling is Philippine's national dance. The word "Tinikling" is derived from the word "tikling" a bird. The Tinikling dance originated in Leyte among the Visayan islands in central Philippines. (For those who are not familiar with Leyte, this is where Imelda Marcos comes from, and it is also the place where General MacArthur landed when he liberated the Philippines) The dance is an imitation of the tikling bird dodging bamboo traps set by rice farmers. The bamboo is also used as a percussive instrument as it is banged against the ground (or a piece of wood to make it easier to hold) and each other in a pattern. When the bamboo closes it has to be hard enough to make a sound and the dancers must be quick enough to not get their foot (or feet) caught. As the dance continues the banging of the bamboo becomes faster and harder , the sound of clashing bamboo thrills the crowd and the quickness of feet demonstrated by the dancers awes them.

Lechon a Philippine Specialty Dish

2009-02-15T20:06:00.000-08:00

Lechon means "roasted pig" and typically refers to pig roasted on a spit. It is a popular Filipino dish and is always present in any party celebrations.

The typical Filipino method of roasting involves placing the pig on a spit and roasting it over charcoals while wiping the skin with a brush made out of leaves drenched in water and the pig's own fat. This makes the skin "pop" and become crunchy.

The term "lechón" is also now used to refer to meat cooked on a spit (often whole) such as "litsong baka" (beef) and "litsong manok" (chicken). In fact, there are numerous brands of litsong manok stalls found scattered in the metropolis. The pig had always been the center of communal feasts in pre-Hispanic Philippines, and "lechón" is the normal manner it is prepared.

Today, anywhere there is a Filipino community or a Filipino caterer, you can count on having lechon.

There are many imaginative ways of using the roast pork leftovers, and one of them is the Lechon pizza.