410mm of rain fell over Northern Luzon, Philippines on September 25, 2009, leaving much of the country's capital and the surrounding regions submerged in water, reaching up to nine feet in some areas. As of latest coverage, over 100 were killed and 340,000 affected by the Typhoon. This amount has been the highest recorded amount of rainfall since the country's weather Bureau started recording rainfall levels in 1967, and exceeds the rainfall level of Hurrican Katrina (380mm). Two more tropical depressions could be under way in the midst of Ondoy's wake. As of now, there are still families stranded on the rooftops of their homes without food and potable water. Most relief aid is coming from volunteers. As for the country's president? She used the Php800M(USD16.8M) emergency fund for foreign trips. See the damage. International News Coverage: NYT Reuters CNN BBC [more inside]
posted by drea on Sep 27, 2009 - 23 comments

A giant carnivorous plant found only in Mount Victoria, Palawan in the Philippines, has been named Nepenthes attenboroughii, after renowned British naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough.
posted by Lush on Aug 12, 2009 - 33 comments

University of Iowa Creative Writing professor Robin Hemley on Guggenheim Fellowship in the Philippines first broke the news through a McSweeney's dispatch that the Bureau of Customs in the Philippines has begun to tax imported books, in direct violation of the Florence agreement. Concerned netizens rally against the government by spreading the news, causing #bookblockade to get trended on twitter. Neil Gaiman's tweet. More and more updates. An update from Robin Hemley. [more inside]
posted by drea on May 15, 2009 - 22 comments

Anthony Bourdain finally goes to the Philippines. Filipino blogger MarketMan was one of Bourdain's guides and made sure he had the celebrated lechon, which Bourdain now claims is the best whole roast pig he's ever had. Here is: MarketMan behind the scenes on the show. MM's top 30 Filipino dishes. Top 20 Filipino Desserts.
posted by AceRock on Feb 17, 2009 - 34 comments

The first female White House chef, a naturalized Philippina named Cristeta Comerford, was appointed by George W. Bush - who told Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, "I am reminded of the great talent of our Philippine Americans when I eat dinner at the White House." Despite the urging of American food icon Alice Waters, President Obama has left Comerford in charge of the White House kitchens - though he's keeping quiet about it. But on the basis of the wines served at Obama's Inauguration Day lunch, oenophiles are still hoping for change. (more First Food posts here and here )
posted by Joe Beese on Feb 7, 2009 - 56 comments

During the Philippine-American War at the turn of the 20th century, American soldiers used a torture method called "the water cure" to extract information from Filipino fighters. [via brijit]
posted by AceRock on Feb 21, 2008 - 26 comments

On October 28, the Pope will beatify (certify as Blessed) several martyrs of the Spanish Civil War, among them Gabino Olaso Zabala. Only thing is, Zabala is known to have participated in the torture of a fellow priest. Disturbingly, some Catholics are rallying behind a man who never publicly regretted his abusive past.
posted by micketymoc on Oct 17, 2007 - 62 comments

It's been covered elsewhere in the media (and on MetaFilter) before, but Jason DeParle's feature in the NY Times Magazine this weekend is a well-researched, clearly written, and evocative piece on the phenomenon of the Filipino overseas contract worker. Just don't get him confused with a balikbayan (who has a cultural spot all his own, with boxes named in his honor).
posted by sappidus on Apr 22, 2007 - 6 comments

Democratic presidential candidate rails against US imperialism. "The platform . . . condemns the experiment in imperialism as an inexcusable blunder, which has involved us in enormous expense, brought us weakness instead of strength, and laid our nation open to the charge of abandoning the fundamental principles of a republic."
A prominent American author who initially supported the conflict, changed his mind, calling it "a mess, a quagmire from which each fresh step renders the difficulty of extrication immensely greater.” The US is “the kind of World Power . . . that a prairie-dog village is . . . it is the duty of our Government to stand sentinel, with solemn mien, and lifted nose, and curved paws, on top of our little World-Power mound.”
posted by insomnia_lj on Mar 20, 2006 - 25 comments

Welcome to the subculture of the Balisong.

With it's origins in 1700's France and later moving to the Philippines, this knife has now become very popular with a thriving community of seriously bent, obsessive, not to mention masochistic, collectors and tricksters.

Video evidence of their mad crazy knife flipping skills can be found here, here and (do NOT miss this one) here. (I find this girls knife skills utterly hawt, is that wrong?)

And if you insist on learning yourself, buy a bushel of band-aids and start here.
posted by Parannoyed on Aug 22, 2005 - 36 comments

Wedded by the revolution...
"Dare to struggle, dare to win ... as married gays. After raiding a few Army camps, two communist guerrillas hid in a forest gorge and fell in love. Deeply. That was three years ago. On Friday, under a romantic drizzle in a muddy clearing in Compostela Valley province in Mindanao, Ka Andres and Ka Jose exchanged vows in a heavily guarded ceremony before local villagers, friends from the city and their comrades in arms.
They are considered the first homosexual couple in the New People's Army (NPA) who were wed by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)."
Some reactions. A wedding picture.
posted by talos on Feb 22, 2005 - 30 comments

Asia Grace
posted by euphorb on Jul 21, 2004 - 6 comments

Six million dollars and a hostage is free. Now others are asking the Philippines for similar arrangements.
posted by four panels on Jul 20, 2004 - 63 comments

In 1898, the United States made a major move in the direction of colonial imperialism with the acquisition of the Philippine Islands from Spain. President Bush, in a recent speech in the Philippines, pointed to that country's story as a model for rebuilding Iraq. Perhaps a history lesson about the American and Filipino experience in this occupation is in order for both us and our President. The atrocities committed during the Filipinos' struggle for independence (including the use of concentration camps), the high death toll (between 250,000 and 1,000,000, according to this article), and the American occupation which spanned six decades lead me to question whether Bush is just ignorant of the associations made in this comparison, or if it's a subtle way for the administration to set the stage for what possessing Iraq is actually going to entail. (Most links courtesy of the outstanding BoondocksNet, a collection of primary and secondary sources related to American imperialism.)
posted by UKnowForKids on Oct 22, 2003 - 25 comments

The last World War Two Japanese soldier surrendered in the Philippines in 1980, ending a stream of holdouts. This is their story.
posted by ewagoner on Aug 5, 2003 - 10 comments

Gay Pride events are taking place worldwide this month, and PlanetOut has got a number of interesting features to mark them: most fascinating to me are a series of coming out stories from other, mostly third world, countries. The first a tale of someone growing up gay in Bosnia, and today from someone in the Phillipines, with more to follow each day this week. There's also an article commemorating the 25th anniversary of the rainbow flag (which is getting back in the pink). Good, if not terribly in-depth, stuff. Be careful when following the links, you might run into some gay/lesbian/non-vanilla NSFW stuff.
posted by WolfDaddy on Jun 3, 2003 - 10 comments

At the Wallow of the Military Order of the Carabao, our nation's military leaders smoke Cuban cigars, sing racist songs about Filipinos, and suck up to the defense industry.
posted by xowie on Jan 29, 2003 - 13 comments

One Nation, Overseas Wired Magazine on the Philippines as one of the world's leading labor exporters. Hearing the words "flexible, industrious, and frequently skilled" applied to Filipinos is certainly encouraging to us, but... (more inside)
posted by brownpau on May 29, 2002 - 8 comments

Climb a mountain, fall under a curse? The ethnic spirituality of the Ibaloi tribe meets Philippine environmental politics as President Macapagal makes plans to take a mountain-climbing trip to Luzon's highest peak. While I understand the environmental concerns involved, especially with her entourage of suckups local gov't officials, there's definitely something amusing about the line, "cursed by Pulag’s pantheon of Ibaloi gods." Nice pictures from Mt. Pulag here. I've been there once; it's worth the climb.
posted by brownpau on May 22, 2002 - 3 comments

Sneaky! Grr . . . A few months ago, while surfing for wreck diving info, I stumbled upon this page as a main link entitled Nightlife in the Philippines. Because it promotes outright trafficking of women, I made a ruckus and sent an email complaining about it to the site admin and our government's Department of Tourism. (Prostitution, BTW, is illegal in the Philippines.) Shortly afterwards, the site admin removed the main link. So how come it's still on the site via this page? I know Southeast Asia (the Philippines second only to Thailand, I think) has a rep for cheap beer and women, but I HATE the fact that many foreigners (like the owners of this shop,) feel that they can buy anything they want while on vacation in third world countries, and that it's alright to perpetuate the trafficking of Filipino women under the guise of tourism. Bah.
posted by lillitot on Apr 13, 2002 - 31 comments

Be careful how you sing "My Way" After being ridiculed for an off-key version of My Way, the irate singer kills one heckler and wounds another. Philippine karaoke bars have begun to remove the song from their playlists as this was the climax of several violent incidents when this song was played.
posted by Lanternjmk on Feb 19, 2002 - 8 comments

One of the most amusing Javascript special effects I've seen in a long time; brought to you by Nestea Phillipines. What other Javascript tricks brought a smile to your face?
posted by SilentSalamander on Nov 21, 2001 - 28 comments

"A plan to hijack US commercial planes and slam these into targets like the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Langley, Virginia, was first uncovered in Manila in 1995 after police arrested four suspects in a plot to assassinate Pope John Paul II." So perhaps what happened yesterday shouldn't have been an entirely unforeseeable event.
posted by lia on Sep 12, 2001 - 5 comments

Erap to be arrested today. Filipinos might be interested to know that a warrant of arrest has been issued to deposed Philippine president Joseph Estrada for the non-bailable offense of economic plunder. A few thousand of his supporters have gathered around his residence in the affluent subdivision of North Greenhills, and there have already been untoward incidents. My family lives there; Mom says anti-riot police are roaming the streets.
posted by brownpau on Apr 24, 2001 - 23 comments

If only United States law were this comprehensive. I got it! Ahhh. . .that's why the US media would even cover stories like this, and as high rated newsreader headlines. . .duh. Reverse propaganda I sez it is.
posted by crasspastor on Apr 16, 2001 - 7 comments

When Headlines Go (Nearly) Right The world's most unfortunately named cleric makes a cameo appearance in a row over sex scenes in a film. Can someone persuade me that the Pope didn't make Bishop Sin a cardinal just for these moments?
posted by holgate on Mar 27, 2001 - 7 comments

the wit and wisom of Imelda Marcos Often regarded as merely a woman with enough wealth to own a huge collection of shoes, Imelda, it seems, has the wit of a Gore Vidal, the incisevness of a Paglia, and the ability to refer to essentials that can be found in Pascal. Click on her nose to find the path to her brain...a trip worth the taking.
posted by Postroad on Mar 25, 2001 - 1 comment

Revolution in the Philippines! The Secretaries of Defense and Finance, the National Treasurer, and the entire administration of the Armed Forces have joined the giant People Power Rally II in the streets to bring down the corrupt Estrada administration.
posted by lia on Jan 19, 2001 - 10 comments

Remember last year's story about the plane hijacker in the Philippines who jumped with a home-made parachute and died? Here's the story from the point of view of the crew and the flight attendant who pushed him off of the plane.
posted by lia on Jan 14, 2001 - 5 comments

Gosh, this is strange: US Congressman Robert Aderholt (R, 4th District of Alabama) wrote to President Clinton asking him to postpone the upcoming visit of the Philippine president to Washington, "citing certain businessmen close to Mr. Estrada with alleged ''strong ties to the communist Chinese.''

The funny thing, for me at least, is that the people the oh-so-smart Rep. Aderholt named aren't just CAPITALISTS, but are among the richest men in Asia!

Errr, since when did having a chinese surname make someone a communist? And doesn't China have most favored trading status with the US anyway?
posted by lia on Jul 10, 2000 - 17 comments