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For the past 17 years, The Filipino Express has provided the Filipino American community the best news, arts and entertainment coverage from around the United States and the Philippines.
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The controversial Filipino priest in Virginia Beach
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We have closely monitored the controversial Filipino priest, Rev. Pantaleon Manalo, in Virginia Beach. The priest has been accused of financial improprieties by a small group of detractors who asked that he will be removed from his leadership role at San Lorenzo Spiritual Center and that the diocese last month will assume a stronger role in running the facility.
This week we have received reports that Bishop Francis Xavier DiLorenzo will maintain last month's decision of the diocese to terminate the 68-year-old Filipino priest, despite vocal opposition by many in the area's Filipino community.
There are two problems that we see here: One is that the diocese’s involvement is very strong, affectings its parishioners, and the other is that Filipinos have again shown a great divide.
Some Filipinos believe Manalo was an important figure in the establishment of the Spiritual Center and should be retained in the diocese. Others, however, feel disturbed and alarmed, particularly when follow-up reports came out that Manalo owns a condominium and a Mercedez Benz.
In our own view, Filipino members of the community should stick to the truth. The diocese will conduct an investigation on the matter, and whatever the outcome, the Filipinos should support the diocese.
And if Manalo were found guilty of financial improprities, it is the challenge for Filipinos there to hold on together and accept that a Filipino priest deserves to be punished. It is important for them to remember that the ultimate basis of supporting the diocese and attending its services is their faith in God --- and not their personal affiliation with the priest.
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Whenever some sappy Filipino love song by Ogie Alcasid or Martin Nievera comes on the radio in some Pinoy restaurant or establishment comes on, I am transported to another time and place. Part of me gets sick with nostalgia for my life in the Philippines – the good life, my family over there, beaches and bagoong. And then the other part of me just gets sick period – because I remember things that I gladly left behind – like sappy Filipino love songs forever on the radio, with annoying djs and “dedications” up the wazoo. I suppose OPM (Original Pilipino Music – if they still call it that) can be viewed as demons in my life or*duendes for inspiration depending on my mood. (*Spanish word for a creative force that inspires an artist, also a mischievous spirit in Filipino mythology.)
And speaking of demons, we all have them in our lives – those things that hinder our progress, bother us, and even challenge us. But rarely do we take time to really think about them, let alone write an entire book about a whole lot of them. But then few of us have the gift of Lynda Barry, who introduces readers to freaky boyfriends, shouting moms, and other things that have haunted her in her book “One Hundred Demons.”
If you’re idea of a comic book is shallow laughs like say Archie or Garfield, then this may not be for you because “Demons” is more than funny, it is gut-wrenching funny – funny because it is full of truths. And as we all know, the truth sometimes hurts. The author, who is part-Filipino, shares her childhood demons from “kuto” (head lice), “aswang” to boyfriends and music. She shares her life in colorful drawings and collages. She shows us glimpses into her wacky Filipino heritage – most notably her Filipino grandmother who is wont to say “Aie Nako!” and “My golly, eat! Eat!” And who among us didn’t have a lola like that, eh?
While all the Filipino-related anecdotes in her book, hit home for me – there really is much more going on. She calls the book an “autobifictionalography” because only some parts are true. But you get the feeling that the whole book is nothing but honest. And it hits you in the gut and makes you examine your own demons – that awful teacher, things you fear, people who’ve scarred you – and send you into years of therapy. Perhaps discovering your own demons through drawing as Lynda suggests at the end of the book, (complete with how to instructions) is therapy itself. But then again, you can just pick up the book and laugh. After, all laughter is the best medicine.
I’m on a Lynda Barry-trip now – after the Demons book, I read the young adult novel “The Good Times are Killing Me” and I’m about to start on the novel “Cruddy.” I first found her comic strips on Salon.com and enjoyed her take on life. I also thought, hey, she must be Pinoy because you know how we like to claim famous people like that. But I’ve converted my husband into a fan too, by leaving her books around the house. “Do people know about her?” he asks, wondering why she isn’t as popular as, say, her contemporary Matt Groening (The Simpsons/Futurama creator). I know she’s got her own fans that now include – us.
“One Hundred Demons” by Lynda Barry was published in 2002 by Sasquatch Books.
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