Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Hampton Sides
Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World
War II's Greatest Rescue Mission
. Recounts the astonishing
and mostly forgotten story of the combined US Ranger and
Filipino guerrilla force that managed to free hundreds of
POWs from behind Japanese lines in 1944.
CULTURE AND SOCIETY
Sheila Coronel
(ed)
Pork and Other Perks
. Comprising nine
case studies by some of the country's foremost investigative
journalists, this pioneering work uncovers the many forms
corruption takes in the Philippines and points fingers at
those responsible. The topic is concerned mainly with what
happens to “pork”, the budget allocated annually to every
senator and congressman. It's thought that much of the
money goes towards hiring corrupt contractors who use
below-par materials on infrastructure projects, with the poli-
ticians themselves benefiting from the discrepancy between
the o
cial and actual cost of the projects concerned.
★
★
F. Sionil José
We Filipinos: Our Moral Malaise, Our
Heroic Heritage
. By turns deeply cynical and incredibly
patriotic in equal measure, this collection of essays from
the nation's pre-eminent writer is required reading for
anyone wanting to get under the skin of Philippine culture.
★
Manny Pacquiao
Pacman: My Story of Hope, Resilience,
and Never-Say-Never Determination
. Ghost-written?
Certainly. Full of corny sentiment? Perhaps. But Pacquiao's
story is so remarkable it's hard to put this “autobiography”
down, charting the tenacious fighter's rise from the back-
streets of Mindanao to boxing champion of the world and
multi-millionaire. Inspirational stuff.
Earl K. Wilkinson
The Philippines: Damaged Culture?
Written by a longtime expat, this topic explores the under-
lying reasons for the many maladies affecting the country.
Damaged Culture
is never pontificating or presumptuous,
but it is sometimes shocking in its revelations of corruption in
high places, highlighting a number of travesties of justice
which the author campaigned to put right. He also offers
solutions, arguing that the nation's entrenched elite could
start the recovery ball rolling by abandoning its traditional
antipathy towards free-market competition.
James Hamilton-Paterson
Playing With Water:
Passion and Solitude on a Philippine Island
. “No money, no
honey,” says one of the characters in Hamilton-Paterson's
lyrical account of several seasons spent among the
impoverished fishermen of Marinduque. This is a rich and
original book, which by turns warms you and disturbs
you. The author's love of the Philippine landscape and the
people - many of whom think he must be related to US
actor George Hamilton - is stunningly rendered. The diving
accounts will stay with you forever, as will the episode in
which H-P discovers he has worms.
ARCHITECTURE
Pedro Galende
San Agustin
. An evocative tribute to the
first Spanish stone church to be built in the Philippines,
San Agustin in Intramuros. The first part of the topic is a
detailed account of the church's history, while the second is
a walking tour, illustrated with photographs, through the
church and the neighbouring monastery.
Pedro Galende & Rene Javelana
Great Churches of
the Philippines
. Coffee-table book full of beautiful colour
photographs of most of the country's notable Spanish-era
churches. The accompanying text explains the evolution
of the unique “earthquake Baroque” style developed to
protect stone structures against earthquakes. The style
typifies Philippine churches and provides a reminder that
many of these stunning buildings are in a perilous state,
with little money available to guarantee their upkeep
and survival.
THE ENVIRONMENT
Robin Broad et al.
Plundering Paradise: The Struggle for the
Environment in the Philippines
. Disturbing but often inspiring
account of how livelihoods and habitats are disappearing
throughout the Philippines as big business harvests everything
from fish to trees, turned into packaging for multinational
companies and chopsticks for restaurants. The authors travelled
through the Philippines, recording the experiences of people
who are fighting back by working alongside NGOs and environ-
mental groups to police the environment and report illegal
logging, poaching and fishing, much of which is allowed to
take place through the bribing of local of
cials.
Gutsy Tuason and Eduardo Cu
Anilao
(Bookmark).
Winner of the Palme d'Or at the World Festival of
Underwater Images in Antibes, France, this hard-to-get
but stunning coffee-table collection of colour photographs
were all taken around Anilao, Batangas, one of the
country's most popular diving areas. What's remarkable
about the topic is the way it makes you take notice of the
small marine life many divers ignore; the images of bobbit
worms, ghost pipefish and sea fans are terrific.
FOOD
Reynaldo Alejandro et al.
The Food of the Philippines
.
Proof that there's so much more to Filipino cuisine than
adobo and rice. The recipes range from classics such as chilli
crab simmered in coconut milk to a fail-safe method for
that trickiest of desserts, leche flan. Every recipe details
how to find the right ingredients and what to use as a
