The Howie Severino Podcast

April rings in Filipino food month. Kapampangan Chef Claude Tayag describes Filipino Cuisine” as a symphony of sweet, sour, and salty in a single bite.

Catch the full episode here: 

https://open.spotify.com/episode/40jHRX3Ln6adjNU58z2Kdb?si=3tagRka0SOuijFgGnL

Dr. Eric Tayag speaks with Howie Severino on the eve of his retirement after 35 years of government service. 

He talks about how he started using his zumba moves in health campaigns and the challenge of preventing children’s deaths amid a global vaccine shortage. 

Is the pandemic over? When should we still wear masks? Why is there a pertussis outbreak? Why did many believe the anti-vaxxers? Dr. Tayag provides clear answers without having to dance.

Dr. Eric Tayag speaks with Howie Severino on the eve of his retirement after 35 years of government service.

He talks about how he started using his zumba moves in health campaigns and the challenge of preventing children’s deaths amid a global vaccine shortage.

Is the pandemic over? When should we still wear masks? Why is there a pertussis outbreak? Why did many believe the anti-vaxxers? Dr. Tayag provides clear answers without having to dance.

CREDITS Producer: Ivy Andrada-Bautista

Researcher: Jenica Villanueva

Editor: Jayr Magtoto

The end of the pandemic unleashed a flood of tourists around the Philippines that is wreaking havoc on fragile ecosystems. Environmental planner Chen Mencias has been advising local governments to aim for "high value, low volume," and involve local communities in tourism enterprises. She gives hot takes on the Chocolate Hills controversy and the Boracay model of development. And she lists the ways that Filipinos can be responsible tourists, and mentions two localities where local governments are managing their tourism sustainably.

The end of the pandemic unleashed a flood of tourists around the Philippines that is wreaking havoc on fragile ecosystems. Environmental planner Chen Mencias has been advising local governments to aim for "high value, low volume," and involve local communities in tourism enterprises. She gives hot takes on the Chocolate Hills controversy and the Boracay model of development. And she lists the ways that Filipinos can be responsible tourists, and mentions two localities where local governments are managing their tourism sustainably.

Links:

https://youtu.be/k5h6DmJUy-I?si=Ju0thUPfD_Db-K4n

https://youtu.be/Y2Xt6snaUk4?si=zL1W3zzk2P85b1lJ

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/85JY3SGrnW6rPZxc/?mibextid=TRmnTU&startTimeMs=3000

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqRJV3pJniU

Producer: Aubrey Delos Reyes

Researcher: Lilian Tiburcio

Editor: Jayr Magtoto

The British royal family has been the talk of the town. On March 22, 2024, Catherine Duchess of Cambridge, announced that she had been diagnosed with cancer following her abdominal surgery in January. In case you missed it, BBC Royal Correspondent Jonny Dymond shares his thoughts on covering the British Royal Family.

Listen to the full episode here:
Upload: March 7, 2024

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4J8IFbRKTNWAN7DlSCgHzT?si=i0FBg4GDSMidHDAC_xl_Jw

The pandemic locked down many and made them homebodies. But in 2022, married couple Celine and Dennis Murillo left home and spent more than a year on the road, traveling around the Philippines in a camper van they called Eli. They shared their awe at the wonders of the country on YouTube before Celine began a Tiktok series on the native trees and plants they saw on their journeys.

In this first part of her conversation with Howie Severino, Celine talks about the practicalities of life on the road – where did they shower and go to the toilet, did they ever feel unsafe, how did they earn a living?

Solving those issues enabled her to produce unique educational content about Philippine biodiversity, including showing live specimens of colorful species depicted in monochrome on the country’s money (“Saribuhay sa Salapi”).

Celine explains that focusing on the nation’s native species is part of her mission to “decolonize” the public’s view of nature.

On her popular nature vlog, Celine Murillo constantly identifies plants and animals by their scientific names aside from their common or local names. She stresses that having this knowledge is part of knowing your environment and can even save your life. Part of that essential awareness is why native tree species should be planted and not foreign species, such as the mahogany trees that are seen growing in many places, part of an ill-advised government reforestation program. Does she ever get tempted to call out those who do wrong to the environment? Celine shares her take on that and on her growing influence on TikTok and elsewhere. Producer: Eumer Yanga

Researcher: Jenica Villanueva

Editor: Jayr Magtoto

The pandemic locked down many and made them homebodies. But in 2022, married couple Celine and Dennis Murillo left home and spent more than a year on the road, traveling around the Philippines in a camper van they called Eli. They shared their awe at the wonders of the country on YouTube before Celine began a Tiktok series on the native trees and plants they saw on their journeys.

In this first part of her conversation with Howie Severino, Celine talks about the practicalities of life on the road – where did they shower and go to the toilet, did they ever feel unsafe, how did they earn a living?

Solving those issues enabled her to produce unique educational content about Philippine biodiversity, including showing live specimens of colorful species depicted in monochrome on the country’s money (“Saribuhay sa Salapi”).

Celine explains that focusing on the nation’s native species is part of her mission to “decolonize” the public’s view of nature.

Producer: Eumer Yanga

Researcher: Jenica Villanueva

Editor: Jayr Magtoto

This March, The Howie Severino Podcast celebrates National Women’s Month with extraordinary Filipinas like Hillary Dianne Andales.  In case you missed it, Hillary tells us how her love for science began at a young age.

Catch the full episode here:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0yOw8793TDdgQpATtD6Nl4?si=38QNbX5HTFWk3zOZ_oPT

2w

Retired UP professor Miriam Coronel-Ferrer won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for shepherding a peace deal between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, recognizing her as “the first female Chief Negotiator in the world to sign a final peace accord with a rebel group.”

Ferrer explains how she remained focused despite the Mamasapano massacre in 2015 which nearly derailed the peace process. She shares insights on how to get opposing forces to talk seriously about peace, referring also to ongoing conflicts in the Philippines and the Middle East.

She recalls the lessons of growing up with a famous lawyer-father, Antonio Coronel, who had clients and friends on the opposite side of the political fence as his activist-children.

Then-President Noynoy Aquino took a risk when appointing a woman as peace negotiator with the male-dominated MILF.  But the decision bore fruit with the historic “comprehensive agreement” with the MILF in 2014.  

Miriam Coronel-Ferrer talks about the cultural biases women face around the world, including the Philippines despite its high global rankings in gender equality indexes.  She explains how many Filipino women in Muslim Mindanao and elsewhere ended up in public office.  

“The more women are able to show the world that women can do it, (biases) become less and less of a problem,” she asserts. But she adds that their struggle needs the voices of feminist men. “Men need to hear from other men.”

Producer: Aubrey Delos Reyes Researcher: MJ Cerillo Editor: Jayr Magtoto

Retired UP professor Miriam Coronel-Ferrer won the Ramon Magsaysay Award for shepherding a peace deal between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, recognizing her as “the first female Chief Negotiator in the world to sign a final peace accord with a rebel group.”  

Ferrer explains how she remained focused despite the Mamasapano massacre in 2015 which nearly derailed the peace process. She shares insights on how to get opposing forces to talk seriously about peace, referring also to ongoing conflicts in the Philippines and the Middle East.  

She recalls the lessons of growing up with a famous lawyer-father, Antonio Coronel, who had clients and friends on the opposite side of the political fence as his activist-children.

Producer: Aubrey Delos Reyes Researcher: MJ Cerillo Editor: Jayr Magtoto

Former Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio has been the strongest and most consistent voice against China’s incursions into Philippine territory. He explains to Howie Severino the Chinese strategy of using intimidation to win control of the sea and what’s holding China back from even more aggressive behavior. 

But Carpio believes the Philippines still has space to maneuver in the maritime powder keg and proposes an approach to gain the upper hand, including building a lighthouse and other civilian facilities in disputed territory. 

The former Supreme Court justice is calling for building up the nation’s self-defense force and forging closer military ties with regional neighbors.

Carpio warns that another Trump presidency in the US could introduce changes in global alliances unfavorable to the Philippines.

“If you don’t fortify your defenses, you will be erased from the map. That has happened to many countries. And it could happen to us.”

With sea level rise, Carpio argues, the Philippines’ “exclusive economic zone” will only get larger. “So all we have to do is hang on to our claim. Never, never give up our claim because everything will be underwater in that area by the end of the century.”

CREDITS:

Producer: Ivy Andrada-Bautista

Researcher: Jenica Villanueva

Editor: Jayr Magtoto

Former Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio has been the strongest and most consistent voice against China’s incursions into Philippine territory. He explains to Howie Severino the Chinese strategy of using intimidation to win control of the sea and what’s holding China back from even more aggressive behavior.

But Carpio believes the Philippines still has space to maneuver in the maritime powder keg and proposes an approach to gain the upper hand, including building a lighthouse and other civilian facilities in disputed territory.

CREDITS:

Producer: Ivy Andrada-Bautista

Researcher: Jenica Villanueva

Editor: Jayr Magtoto

Among the BBC’s leading journalists, Jonny Dymond recently came to the Philippines for one of the British broadcaster’s flagship programs, World Questions, and spoke to Howie Severino about what makes the Philippines interesting to outsiders. He also talks about his coverage of the British royal family (“a surprisingly hard job”) and Russian President Putin (“His mission is about Russia, not communism”).

Dymond explains how the BBC has been able to stand up to the British government despite being funded by taxpayers.

In the face of various threats to journalists around the world, he urges media colleagues to keep believing in their mission. “If you don’t have people who are prepared to call out the government, who are prepared to report on the government’s successes and failures, then it’s impossible to say that you really have a functioning democracy,” Dymond asserts.

“It’s easy to be cynical, but coming to the Philippines where I know journalists have been under so much pressure, it kind of straightens my back. It makes me believe again in what we do.”

BBC’s World Questions in Manila moderated by Jonny Dymond airs in the Philippines on BBC Radio on March 9 at 8 P.M.

The panelists on the show:

Atty. Antonio Carpio – Former associate justice of the Supreme Court Dr. Roberto Galang, Dean of the Ateneo de Manila University Gokongwei School of Management Ms. Rafaela David – President of the Akbayan Citizens' Action Party Professor Richard Heydarian – Columnist and senior lecturer at the University of the Philippines

LINK: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0380g6d

BBC WORLD QUESTIONS episode link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct59td

CREDITS: Producer: Aubrey Delos Reyes Researcher: Lilian Tiburcio Editor: Jayr Magtoto

The eminent writer is also an avid antique typewriter collector. Butch Dalisay talks to Howie Severino about a bygone pre-internet era when these analog machines were the tools of trade of writers and journalists. Despite the advantages of his laptop, Dr. Dalisay says there’s still a romance and even practicality about typewriters. “Wala kang distraction, you can’t surf,” he says. “It’s much more intimate... You’re disconnected from the world.” 

After collecting for years, he’s still searching for one antique model typewriter that was developed specifically for Tagalog writers. He knows it exists because of a trove of 1950s love letters from prison by a Tagalog poet. That typewriter has become, in Butch’s words, his “holy grail.” 

The eminent writer is also an avid antique typewriter collector. Butch Dalisay talks to Howie Severino about a bygone pre-internet era when these analog machines were the tools of trade of writers and journalists. Despite the advantages of his laptop, Dr. Dalisay says there’s still a romance and even practicality about typewriters. “Wala kang distraction, you can’t surf,” he says. “It’s much more intimate... You’re disconnected from the world.”

After collecting for years, he’s still searching for one antique model typewriter that was developed specifically for Tagalog writers. He knows it exists because of a trove of 1950s love letters from prison by a Tagalog poet. That typewriter has become, in Butch’s words, his “holy grail.”

Links: https://cms.philstarlife.com/geeky/313514-rizal-s-typewriter#google_vignette https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/opinion/content/177163/tribute-to-a-typewriter/story/ Producer: John Eumer Yanga Researcher: Jenica Villanueva Editor: Jayr Magtoto

Three months after being released on bail, former senator and prisoner of conscience Leila de Lima describes in graphic and terrifying detail the day in prison when she was held captive by an Abu Sayyaf inmate known for beheading hostages. 

She reveals that after the hostage taker was shot dead and she was rescued, she received a concerned call from President Marcos, an early sign that his alliance with the Dutertes could be cracking. 

That was her scariest moment, she says, but not among her darkest, which were the times she wasn't allowed a furlough from jail to attend the wakes of close friends, including PNoy. 

Not originally a cat lover, she adopted stray cats in prison to keep her company. She took several home after her release and one of them insisted on joining her for this interview. 

Otherwise, she was in solitude for nearly seven years while imprisoned in Camp Crame and one of the rare VIP inmates without a mobile phone. "I wanted to follow the rules," she tells Howie Severino. She also was not allowed access to the Internet, so she kept up with the outside world through print newspapers and printouts of online articles delivered by her senate staff. 

She says she never lost faith in the judicial system, which she's confident will vindicate her and declare her innocent of all charges. 

Yet for the alleged crimes of former President Rodrigo Duterte, she says the only recourse is the International Criminal Court because there is a "clear demonstration of the unwillingness and inability" of the Philippine justice system to investigate. 

"That's one of the reasons why nagwawala na si Duterte. Out na ang antagonism niya kay President Marcos because I think he suspects the BBM administration is really cooperating with the ICC."

Meanwhile, as she vows to assist the ICC gather evidence, de Lima is back to teaching law and spending time with her aged mother, who was never told by her protective family what her famous daughter went through. 

Three months after being released on bail, former senator and prisoner of conscience Leila de Lima describes in graphic and terrifying detail the day in prison when she was held captive by an Abu Sayyaf inmate known for beheading hostages.

She reveals that after the hostage taker was shot dead and she was rescued, she received a concerned call from President Marcos, an early sign that his alliance with the Dutertes could be cracking.

That was her scariest moment, she says, but not among her darkest, which were the times she wasn't allowed a furlough from jail to attend the wakes of close friends, including PNoy.

For the alleged crimes of former President Rodrigo Duterte, she says the only recourse is the International Criminal Court because there is a "clear demonstration of the unwillingness and inability" of the Philippine justice system to investigate.

"That's one of the reasons why nagwawala na si Duterte. Out na ang antagonism niya kay President Marcos because I think he suspects the BBM administration is really cooperating with the ICC."

Meanwhile, as she vows to assist the ICC gather evidence, de Lima is back to teaching law and spending time with her aged mother, who was never told by her protective family what her famous daughter went through.

The Howie Severino Podcast reached out to former President Rodrigo Duterte’s camp. As of posting, there is no comment yet from his office.

Producer: Aubrey Delos Reyes Researcher: MJ Cerillo Editor: Jayr Magtoto

Not originally a cat lover, Leila de Lima adopted stray cats in prison to keep her company. She took several home after her release and one of them insisted on joining her for this interview.

Otherwise, she was in solitude for nearly seven years while imprisoned in Camp Crame and one of the rare VIP inmates without a mobile phone. "I wanted to follow the rules," she tells Howie Severino. She also was not allowed access to the Internet, so she kept up with the outside world through print newspapers and printouts of online articles delivered by her senate staff.

She says she never lost faith in the judicial system, which she's confident will vindicate her and declare her innocent of all charges.

Producer: Aubrey Delos Reyes Researcher: MJ Cerillo Editor: Jayr Magtoto

The military has banned TikTok among its personnel, according to the new AFP spokesperson, Col. Francel Padilla, an expert on cybersecurity. While being vague about how the AFP intends to enforce its directive, Col. Padilla explains how Filipinos' immersion in social media has made the country vulnerable to "social engineering" tactics by adversaries. She cautions her audiences to be wary of platforms that request access to their cameras, microphones, and contacts, especially Tiktok which is allegedly owned by China.

She explains what it means to be a "certified ethical hacker," one of her credentials as the nation's first woman spokesperson of the armed forces.

---

Producer: Ivy Andrada Bautista

Researcher: Jenica Villanueva

Editor: Jayr Magtoto

Col. Francel Padilla is accustomed to being a pioneer. She was among the first women to graduate from the Philippine Military Academy. Now as the armed forces' first woman spokesperson, she has seen many barriers fall as women soldiers are now serving even in combat roles.

Col. Padilla has become the most visible face of the Philippine military at a crucial time, when the country is pivoting from the insurgency to the external threat of China. As an expert on cybersecurity, she brings an uncommon skill set to her new role.

She talks to Howie Severino about the challenges of being a woman in a male-dominated institution. She opens up about having to start a sensitive mission guarding a visiting head of state just after losing her husband, a fellow PMA graduate, in a helicopter crash. "Grieving is a lifelong journey," she says in a candid moment, sharing how she raised two young sons in the wake of their loss.

Soon after assuming her position as spokesperson, Col. Padilla had to field questions about former President Duterte's effort to rile up the military against the current administration. "We are professional, united, and non-partisan," she assures. "We do not want to break the trust of the people."

---

Producer: Ivy Andrada Bautista

Researcher: Jenica Villanueva

Editor: Jayr Magtoto

After being misdiagnosed and enduring a long journey to healing, breast cancer survivor Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala says what troubled her most was not the pain or even the prospect of dying young. She tells Howie Severino there was something even worse. But there were also blessings.

As we mark World Cancer Day on February 4, we revisit Kara’s inspiring message about surviving cancer and the need for her to give back after defying the odds.

Long before the Internet, one could disconnect completely by going to places like Sagada, an alluring mountain town nestled in sublime vistas. Howie Severino remembers the many trips he made to that Sagada, sometimes alone.

Her father’s jeepney is exactly her age and named after her. All of her young life, it was the same jeepney that sustained the family through her father’s long days and nights driving polluted routes, before catching a few hours of sleep inside the jeepney.

All of her father’s hard work enabled Hya Bendaña to focus on school and graduate college valedictorian of Ateneo de Manila University in 2019.

Now she’s paying it forward by speaking out on behalf of jeepney drivers as the government phases out jeepneys as part of its contentious modernization program.

Hya talks to Howie Severino about the challenge to achieve despite her poverty and offers an insider’s view of the world of the iconic jeepney.

Her father’s jeepney is exactly her age and named after her. All of her young life, it was the same jeepney that sustained the family through her father’s long days and nights driving polluted routes, before catching a few hours of sleep inside the jeepney.

All of her father’s hard work enabled Hya Bendaña to focus on school and graduate college valedictorian of Ateneo de Manila University in 2019.

Now she’s paying it forward by speaking out on behalf of jeepney drivers as the government phases out jeepneys as part of its contentious modernization program.

Hya talks to Howie Severino about the challenge to achieve despite her poverty and offers an insider’s view of the world of the iconic jeepney.

--

Producer: Eumer Yanga

Researcher: MJ Cerillo

Editor: Jayr Magtoto

If the Department of Transportation has its way, more than 30 percent of jeepneys will be off the road starting this year. Those are the vehicles that private operators did not include in new jeepney cooperatives and corporations required by the DOTr. That will be the first stage of the government’s controversial jeepney modernization program. The older, decrepit vehicles will then be replaced by newer models, some no longer resembling the iconic back-entry designs of the traditional jeepney.

Modernization is more than new vehicles, Transportation Secretary Bautista is quick to emphasize in his conversation with Howie Severino. Public transport routes will be studied and “rationalized,” so that the number of public utility vehicles will be adjusted according to the volume of commuters along those routes.

Despite the reduction of jeepneys plying existing routes, Bautista assures that there will be no commuter crisis, as he says the remaining jeepneys will be more than enough to handle the demand. Even with the modern jeepneys, Bautista asserts that the future of public transport lies not in road vehicles but in trains, as he gives us an overview of the rail projects in the pipeline.

Isn’t it a disadvantage for chauffeur-driven officials like him to be making decisions about public transport? Secretary Bautista has a ready answer.

Metro Manila Film Festival Best Director awardee for the film “Gomburza,” Pepe Diokno, shares his surprise at how a serious movie about history has drawn mainstream audiences.

He talks to Howie about researching how the idea of a Filipino nation was born and how faithfully his movie tries to portray history.

They discuss the challenge of dramatizing historical events without battlefield heroes and the need to set the record straight about what happened in the 1872 Cavite Mutiny which led to the martyrdom of the three priests Gomes, Burgos and Zamora. The executions inspired Jose Rizal’s life work.

Pepe addresses the Majoha reality-show brouhaha sympathetically and what it says about the way history is taught. Howie asks him how coming from the illustrious Diokno family influences his choice of subject.

“Gomburza” is the 36-year-old Pepe’s first film in eight years, after a period of self-doubt about his career. Audience response in recent weeks seems to have restored his faith.

Metro Manila Film Festival Best Director awardee for the film “Gomburza,” Pepe Diokno, shares his surprise at how a serious movie about history has drawn mainstream audiences.

He talks to Howie about researching how the idea of a Filipino nation was born and how faithfully his movie tries to portray history.

They discuss the challenge of dramatizing historical events without battlefield heroes and the need to set the record straight about what happened in the 1872 Cavite Mutiny which led to the martyrdom of the three priests Gomes, Burgos and Zamora. The executions inspired Jose Rizal’s life work.

Pepe addresses the Majoha reality-show brouhaha sympathetically and what it says about the way history is taught. Howie asks him how coming from the illustrious Diokno family influences his choice of subject.

“Gomburza” is the 36-year-old Pepe’s first film in eight years, after a period of self-doubt about his career. Audience response in recent weeks seems to have restored his faith.

After a ten-year career as a theater actress in Miss Saigon and other international productions, Lissa Romero de Guia was living a joyful family life in Baguio with two young children when she suddenly lost her husband, the filmmaker Kidlat de Guia, who died in his sleep while visiting Spain in 2022.

When he died, Lissa had just taken a workshop on grieving after losing a close friend. She had also been doing yoga and meditation, and had experience counseling traumatized typhoon victims. A newspaper columnist and author, she has been writing openly about her grief and offers an example of how to deal with such a devastating loss. "I don't cope, I just allow," she tells Howie Severino. "You should allow that crucible of pain, that experience to shape you, to change you... I feel like that is the gift."

She and her two children, now 10 and 8, remember Kidlat every day, so they still feel his presence.

"My joke is that Kidlat couldn't have died at a better time in my life because in my 50 years here on earth, I've gravitated towards practices that are really about soothing the highly anxious child inside."

In this revealing conversation, de Guia talks about those practices, but also about the importance of writing to "right things" and adjusting to life as a single parent. She shares advice on how to talk to people going through loss. She quotes another writer who said, "Every love story is a ghost story." She explains what that means in this episode.

Howie Severino reflects on the adventure tale and stunning visual feast that begin in a Manila slum and descend on a magical island. The movie received multiple awards in the 2023 Metro Manila Film Festival including Best Screenplay and Best Picture.

In case you missed ti, curator Marian Pastor reveals the stunning story behind Rizal's last signature before he was to be executed.

Listen to the full episode here:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6csUGLWqT6rQqQKIbLn2Qi?si=27cd5499ab1a4652&nd=1&dlsi=e8bd47e4cebe4c57