“In the world of diplomacy, some things are better left unsaid.” —Lincoln Chafee THERE we go again. Hardly had the tension brought by U.S. Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s controversial visit in Taiwan two weeks ago simmered down, a five-member U.S. congressional delegation arrived in Taiwan on August 14, or less than two
August 16, 2022
“I hate admitting that my enemies have a point.”—Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses THE first international event I tackled in the Oddsmaker, title of my first newspaper column in 1988, was about the The Satanic Verses, not the book, but the news about the issuance by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then Supreme
August 15, 2022
“Sometimes the strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws.” —Barbara Kingsolver THERE are two reasons why I won’t be seeing Serena Williams anymore when the U.S. Open 2022 unwraps at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City on August 29. One, I have decided to
August 13, 2022
“For a time, at least, I was the most famous person in the entire world.” —Jesse Owens I WAS high school student when I started to seriously fall in love with three sports—chess, boxing, running (marathon and track and field); I did not just fancy these disciplines, I played them all,
August 12, 2022
“At any given moment, public opinion is a chaos of superstition, misinformation and prejudice.” – Gore Vidal THERE is a need for all of us to continue the fight against misinformation and disinformation. Everyone should be involved, especially those with easy access to the Internet and other communication technology. They could
August 11, 2022
“A million lights are dancing and there you are, a shooting star An everlasting world and you’re here with me, eternally.”—Olivia Newton-John in her song, Xanadu SOMETIME in 2005 in Iloilo City, Philippines, then 12-year-old Sharmane and I sent by air mail our photo together holding a VCD of the blockbuster
August 10, 2022
“Those who know, do. Those that understand, teach.” ― Aristotle THE National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers—Panay Law Students (NUPL-PLS) Chapter did not only oppose the appointment of First Lady Louise “Liza” Araneta Marcos as a faculty member of the West Visayas State University (WVSU) College of Law, but also “vehemently denounced
August 9, 2022
“Thank God men cannot fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the earth.” —Henry David Thoreau THE wave of scandals and man-made catastrophes we face everyday is too much for the human mind and heart to bear, thus we are “wounded.” Shocking corruption stories involving high government officials, family
August 8, 2022
“The judicial system is the most expensive machine ever invented for finding out what happened and what to do about it.”—Irving R. Kaufman IF we stand on a neutral ground, either we will view the conviction of WNBA star Brittney Griner in a Russian court as “wrongful” or “correct.” But if
August 6, 2022
“When you don’t take a stand against corruption you tacitly support it.” —Kamal Haasan SIXTEEN million and five hundred pesos or P16,500,000 in equivalent to Philippine money based on the current exchange rate to $300,000, the funds of the Philippine Independence Day Council, Inc. (PIDCI) that reportedly went missing since 2017.
August 5, 2022
“Truth emerges more readily from error than from confusion.” —Francis Bacon LET’S not be confused by the videos circulating in the social media that purportedly report about “Asian hate” incidents involving Filipinos particularly in New York—unless they have been officially reported as such and properly verified and documented by authorities. I
August 4, 2022
“At any given moment, public opinion is a chaos of superstition, misinformation and prejudice.”—Gore Vidal THERE is a need for all of us to continue the fight against misinformation and disinformation. Everyone should be involved, especially those with easy access to the Internet and other communication technology. They could be used
August 2, 2022
