Yu Anthony News Today

Merry christmas! ho ho ho! merry christmas, everyone! ho ho ho! happy new year, too! >> anthony: despite initial appearances, the philippines is not all holiday cheer, warm hellos and dancing bugs. ♪ ♪ the filipino national martial art kali is among the most

Now youre both photojournalists. ben: yu >> anthony: based out of manila? >> ben: yeah, uh, me. marc lives in mindanao. >> anthony: mindanao. now does a journalist need to carry a firearm in this country? >> marc: for me, yes. >> anthony: in the philippines, a press badge is no defense, particularly in the south of the country where marc navales lives and works. >> ben: mindanao has been war-torn for the last how many years? because of the radicalization of recent years, this growing specter of ...

>> shane: filipinos are hospitable. everybody knows how to sing. they dont necessarily have to be in tune, but they want to sing, they like to sing. >> fritz: weve been listening to music from like a very young age. >> shane: im the drummer for the band, but im not actually formally trained. up to this day i dont even read notes, but i could memorize a song le if you gave it to me in a day i could play the whole thing out. >> anthony: well thats -- thats pretty much the -- you have to. right? i ...

Turned slowly, slowly on a spit over coals for hours. oh delicious, delicious lechon. ♪ >> patricia: you know, during this time of the year theres a lot of christmas parties and the lechon is always the star of the party. >> joel: you can gauge how grand the party is by the presence of the lechon. if you have two lechons, you must be a big shot! >> anthony: man, that is good pig. >> jimmy: so my name is jimmy belleza and im the hr director, and im also the happiness guru of the philippines. an...

Home put everybody here and many, many more through school, lifted them up to a more comfortable life. and you would have left family behind? >> aurora: yeah. >> anthony: to go out there and make money. thats never an easy decision, a painful, painful choice. auroras children, now middle-aged, are finally getting to know their mother. >> aurora: okay, okay, okay. bring in the food inside. >> anthony: many, many, many filipino women like you who had to leave their families, go abroad. >> aurora: ...

Through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. actually, thats not true at all. [ horns honk ] metro manila. bustling, sprawling south east asian capital city of the philippines. home to somewhere between 12 to 20 million people. the worlds most densely populated city. ♪ i light a candle, put the presents around the tree ♪ but it is christmas. a twinkly, festive wonderland where the mostly catholic population take their holiday season very seriously. >> woman: hello! merry...

Ill build it. ill make it myself." >> ben: right. >> anthony: theres a lot of poverty in this city, that is for sure. but theres not a sense of hopelessness or rage. you know they decorate. you know, they may not have much but they decorate. they sweep the street. >> ben: yes, they sweep. theres still a sense of humble ownership in the sense that this is my home and its going to be safe. its going to be fine. >> male news anchor: this is a super typhoon and that means sustained winds well above ...

Best, abusive or worse. >> emy: im a single mom with my two grandchildren. i really cried a lot, especially this holiday season. >> anthony: still, due to lack of opportunity at home, many filipinos have little choice but to go. somewhere far away. find a job, money. but hopefully in a few years, you think they come back? >> emy: yes. i really asked them to go home because im not getting younger anymore. i need them with my side. i tell them, several times they call me up, please get home soon. ...

>> karla: hi maam! jolly afternoon! >> anthony: did i mention its christmas? the 7,000 plus islands that make up the philippines rank number one according to internet "scientitions" when it comes to celebrating the jolliest time of year. holiday cheer begins a full 100 days before the 25th of december, which means theres a lot to do in this town. especially if you like crashing other peoples parties. all right. the party starts! welcome to the seven continents travel and tours corporate christma...

An icy, milky, technicolor concoction of sundry boiled sweet mung beans, candied fruits, and gelatins. >> woman: sweet coconut. >> anthony: oh yeah. >> woman: milk! delicious. delicious. >> anthony: this is a wonderful creation. its got that kind of like, i feel like the fruit loops marinate in the milk for a while, and the milk kind of tastes like this. yeah, you want one? >> woman: thank you, you say thank you! >> anthony: its okay! very satisfying. yeah, i recommend it. ♪ ♪