By Alex P. Vidal “Festivals cause diseases, since they lighten cares but increase gluttony.”— Apollonius of Tyana IT looked like we have surpassed the other festivals in the country venerating the feast of the historical child Jesus in many aspects. Unlike the other festivals, the Iloilo Dinagyang Festival has showcased not only the event’s cultural
January 27, 2020
By Alex P. Vidal “Think of the earth as a living organism that is being attacked by billions of bacteria whose numbers double every forty years. Either the host dies, or the virus dies, or both die.”— Gore Vidal INSTEAD of staying calm and enjoying the repackaged 2020 Dinagyang Festival, many sensitive Ilonggos are in
January 25, 2020
By Alex P. Vidal “This thing that men call justice, this blind snake that strikes men down in the dark, mindless with fury, keep your hand back from it, pass by in silence.” – Maxwell Anderson WE trust that forensic science will play a major role in helping identify the killers of Allen Muller and
January 24, 2020
aboveBy Alex P. Vidal “Think of the earth as a living organism that is being attacked by billions of bacteria whose numbers double every forty years. Either the host dies, or the virus dies, or both die.”— Gore Vidal WHAT the Ilonggos should fear most during the Dinagyang Festival and even beyond the celebration is
January 23, 2020
By Alex P. Vidal “When I hear about people murdering, I wonder, What has to go through your brain to say, I don’t want him breathing anymore? What makes you get that angry? How can you take someone’s breath away? That just blows my mind.” — Gilbert Arenas IT’S so sad that one of the
January 22, 2020
By Alex P. Vidal “All I want to do, ever, is play chess.”—Bobby Fischer MARIO Lawsin Rebano has done what other highly regarded Pinoy chess players campaigning in the United States have failed to do in recent memory: winning three chess championships in different high caliber tournaments in two years. A civil engineer by profession,
January 20, 2020
By Alex P. Vidal “You carry Mother Earth within you. She is not outside of you. Mother Earth is not just your environment. In that insight of inter-being, it is possible to have real communication with the Earth, which is the highest form of prayer.”—Thich Nhat Hanh IS nature trying to send us a message
January 18, 2020
By Alex P. Vidal “We know what we are, but know not what we may be.” – William Shakespeare WHEN Iloilo was hit by calamities like the super typhoons “Yolanda” and recently “Ursula”, assistance came pouring in from other regions and provinces in the Philippines. Because the world was watching, foreign assistance followed suit. Although
January 17, 2020
By Alex P. Vidal “I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough in me to confess my errors and to retrace my step” — Mahatma Gandhi THE late industrialist-politician Augusto “Buboy” Syjuco Jr. must have died a sad man. In
January 16, 2020
By Alex P. Vidal “We must bring the issue of mental illness out into the sunlight, out of the shadow, out of the closet, deal with it, treat people, have centers where people can get the necessary help.” – John Lewis ONLY the death recently of controversial former Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA)
January 15, 2020
By Alex P. Vidal “Superstition is to religion what astrology is to astronomy the mad daughter of a wise mother. These daughters have too long dominated the earth.” — Voltaire ACCORDING to some anthropologists, supernatural beliefs gain strength in natural disasters. Every time a disaster like the Taal volcano explosion occurs without an explanation, Filipinos
January 14, 2020
By Alex P. Vidal “Paranoia is just another word for ignorance.” — Hunter S. Thompson THERE’S nothing to worry actually. The Dinagyang Festival 2020 is in the safe hands. So far, it has been managed magnificently by the Iloilo Festivals Foundation, Inc. (IFFI), which was constituted under the Treñas administration last year. The Department of
January 13, 2020