Give Up Tomorrow: Paco Larrañaga's POV

If the other countries has a list of famous murders in history, in the Philippines, we have a controversial case that awakens the nation's memories of the cruel murder of the of two women filed against an innocent man who, until now, remains behind bars. A documentary film shows the other side of the story, the innocent man's POV.

Give Up Tomorrow

Here's the gist: like any suspense story, it started on a rainy night in Cebu. Two sisters leave work and never make it home. Paco Larrañaga, a 19-year-old culinary student, 300 miles away in Manila on the same night, is sentenced to death for their rape and murder, despite overwhelming evidence of his innocence.

Dubbed as the nation's "Trial of the Century", the film exposes shocking corruption within the judicial system and long-simmering class and racial antipathies among the population. Two grieving mothers--one mother becomes a media darling, the other waits for justice--entangled in a case that ends the country's use of capital punishment. To add more drama, a judge commits suicide and the young man remains behind bars but fails to free an innocent man, dedicate more than a decade to executing or saving him.

This documentary is directed by Michael Collins and produced by Marty Syjuco (who is a distant relative by marriage to the Larrañagas) spent more than seven years working on the first film. "Give Up Tomorrow" premiered last October 4, 2012 and has bagged the Audience Award winner, 2011 Tribeca Film Festival. It is also an Official Selection of the 2011 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. A co-production of ITVS, the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), and POV's Diverse Voices Project with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in association with the BBC.

Sources: http://www.pbs.org and http://laapff.festpro.com

Travel Korea through their dishes

Koreans cooking toppoki (rice cake) and odeng (fish)

The first week of October held a promise to Korean fans. Last October 3 to 7, SM City Cebu together with Korean Cultural Center in the Philippines, Cebu City Tourism Commission, Province of Cebu and Cebu Korean Association, Inc. [세부한인희] celebrated Korean Festival 2012 in Cebu.

This piece of interesting news captured K-pop fans--young and young-at-hearts. The five-day celebration was packed with different activities such as Korean Film Festival, K-POP Grand Finals, Korean Food Festival and Korean Cultural Show.

As a fan of the world culture, I spent my weekend tasting different Korean delicacies from the different Korean restaurants at the mall. Since the Philippines is never short of Korean tourists, Filipinos and K-POP fans indulged in the novelty of having Korean Festival in the country.

Spicy toppoki (rice cake)

My cup of toppoki with a few slabs of odeng (fish)

Skewered odeng (fish)

Pa Dak (crispy chicken)

Tteokbokki or topokki, is one of the popular Korean snacks--a braised dish made of sliced rice cake, eggs, meat and seasoning. Mine was swimming in a spicy orange sauce with slabs of odeng. Of course, they also have chicken cutlets in different versions of their spiciness. They have gang-jung (sweet with soy sauce and teriyaki sauce), pa dak (crispy chicken) and ganjang (sweet and spicy). I had gang-jung, though with the promise of sweet chicken, it has a subtle hint of spicy.

I also tasted their almost sold-out cold delights: Encho and Melona ice cream.

Melona ice waffle with chocolate syrup in fish shape (photo by Mayebillones.tumblr.com)

Encho ice cream which is similar to Pinoy's pinipig ice cream (photo by Thepurpledoll.net)

Aside from our limited experience of Korean culture through their culinary dishes and basic greetings, reading books and traveling will strengthen one's knowledge about their country. Apart from meeting Koreans and dining at your local Korean restos, read more about their culture and be informed. Let me end this post with a phrase from Exami.net: "the more you read, the more you know".