By Alex P. Vidal “I may or may not win the crown. But one thing is for sure: I’m gonna make you proud.”—Rabiya Mateo, Miss Universe Philippines 2020 RABIYA Occeña Mateo, 24, described internationally as “Filipino-Indian model and pageant titleholder”, was relatively unknown before she was crowned as the Miss Universe Philippines 2020. Now, the
May 15, 2021
By Alex P. Vidal “News is what somebody somewhere wants to suppress; all the rest is advertising.”—Lord Northcliffe CALLING some investigative journalists. We are increasingly worried that because of the sustained and continuous media coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020, all over relevant and head-turning issues in government like graft and corruption, oppression, abuse
May 14, 2021
By Alex P. Vidal “You don’t pay taxes—they take taxes.”—Chris Rock IT’S a big relief that I beat the extended deadline for the filing of my income tax for 2020 despite some pesky “unforeseen circumstances”, which I managed to solve in the eleventh hour with the help of the magnificent TurboTax, a software package
May 13, 2021
By Alex P. Vidal “Letters had always defeated distance, but with the coming of e-mail, time seemed to be vanquished as well.”—Thomas Mallon I WAS a little bit worried when I recently received a letter from the Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service in Austin, Texas. I thought it had something to do with
May 12, 2021
By Alex P. Vidal “The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenements halls and whispered in the sounds of silence.” —Paul Simon in “The Sound of Silence” I WAS with a friend, Mario Lena, inside the Queens-bound F subway train from our chess rendezvous in Bryant Park, Manhattan when
May 10, 2021
By Alex P. Vidal “Climate change is happening, humans are causing it, and I think this is perhaps the most serious environmental issue facing us.” – Bill Nye WHEN friends and relatives tell us, “Puwerte na gid ka init diri subong (it’s so humid here in the Philippines)”, it’s the opposite here in New
May 7, 2021
By Alex P. Vidal “Explanation separates us from astonishment, which is the only gateway to the incomprehensible.” – Eugene Ionesco UNLESS they can provide a clear and logical excuse, Ilonggos will continue to demand a no-holds-barred and truthful explanation from minions of the Duterte administration why the $1-billion Iloilo-Guimaras-Negros-Cebu Link Bridge project burst like
May 6, 2021
By Alex P. Vidal “Keep going. Grind for what you want. Pray. Listen to your mama.”—Gunna MANY people are wondering why it was Senator Cynthia Villar who took the bullet for her son, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Mark Villar, in the monumental Iloilo-Guimaras-Negros-Cebu Link Bridge fiasco. Instead of bravely facing the
May 5, 2021
By Alex P. Vidal “The dead cannot cry out for justice. It is a duty of the living to do so for them.” — Lois McMaster Bujold THE cold-blooded murder of John Heredia, Pilar, Capiz municipal administrator in Barangay Lawa-an, Roxas City May 2 left so many questions than answers. The former newsman and
May 4, 2021
By Alex P. Vidal “For every good reason there is to lie, there is a better reason to tell the truth.”— Bo Bennett IN the past three years, I have been consistent with my point of view that the Duterte administration “was not sincere” and would never fulfill the building of the much-ballyhooed Iloilo-Guimaras-Negros-Cebu
May 1, 2021
By Alex P. Vidal “The difference between a hero and a coward is one step sideways.”—Gene Hackman IT’S useless to blame President Rodrigo Duterte why we “lost” the West Philippine Sea. In 13 months, he is no longer the President. Retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio was right when he agitated on
April 30, 2021
By Alex P. Vidal “Alcohol may be man’s worst enemy, but the bible says love your enemy.”—Frank Sinatra AS of April 27, some Filipinos who have been inoculated with one dose of COVID-19 vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) in our community in Elmhurst, Queens, NYC continued to debate whether alcoholic drinks can hamper the effectivity
April 29, 2021