“A FRIEND in need,” says a hackneyed quotation, “is a friend indeed.” I cannot forget the quotation because of a ticklish experience I had with Manny, the entertainment editor of the defunct Daily Express in the mid-1970s when I was doing publicity work for a music-recording company in Manila. He was such an introvert
September 16, 2022
THE last time this writer interviewed Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas, he enthused about the ongoing “second phase” of rehabilitating the Jaro Plaza. If the first phase meant horizontal groundwork, then the second one must be restoration of the plaza’s historic physical attributes. As to how, there’s the rub. Old pictures of
September 14, 2022
I HAVE hooked myself to Internet videos promoting frugality or thrift as the best option to survive inflation, which has disabled wage earners from spending money “as usual”. The advocates preach “belt tightening” as the common solution or seemingly different solutions that meet half-way, all aimed at coping with galloping prices. .
September 12, 2022
“We are still the cheapest distribution utility in the Philippines.” That was how Ms. Maricel C. Pe – assistant vice president for customer care of MORE Electric and Power Corp. – answered our question on why the company would succeed in expanding its franchise from Iloilo City to Passi City and 15
September 7, 2022
YOU must have heard a seaman’s wife yell, “Yehey, more money for me!” That’s because the peso value of her dollar allotment has slid to its “highest” at ₱56.77 per dollar. But wait, is that ground for jubilation? Oh no, not so when a market-going housewife realizes that, while she may be better
September 5, 2022
WHAT has Pastor Apollo Quiboloy accomplished by “red-tagging” Sen. Loren Legarda in one of his radio-TV broadcasts? Nothing; he has zero credibility. He is a “KSP” or a “trying hard” for being “kulang sa pansin”. Since he is not worth quoting, I will not quote him. But if you happened to hear him
September 2, 2022
THIS corner commends the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for lifting the COVID-19 vaccination requirement for students and personnel attending in-person classes in colleges and universities. To quote CHED Chairman Prospero de Vera, “Students and higher education personnel, regardless of vaccination status, can now participate in face-to-face classes.” It would be too sweeping to
August 31, 2022
BIDA has driven a wedge between the two Aklan congressmen and the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP). But what is BIDA in the first place? BIDA, now a byword among Aklanons, is acronym for Boracay Island Development Authority to be created through BIDA-2 bill, which seeks to create a government-controlled corporation that would manage
August 29, 2022
WHILE I was writing this yesterday morning, August 25, Mayor Jerry P. Treñas was busy with final activities highlighting the celebration of the 85th anniversary of Iloilo City as a “charter city” on the theme “Forging Stronger Ties in the Community”. Two major guests, Vice President Sarah Duterte-Carpio and former President Gloria
August 26, 2022
IT did not shock rice traders anymore when a Manila-based newspaper scooped the story that about 38,400 metric tons (MT) or ₱1 billion worth smuggled rice from Vietnam had been unloaded from several ships at the Iloilo Commercial Port Complex in Iloilo City with the “blessing” of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) personnel.
August 24, 2022
YESTERDAY marked the 39th anniversary of the assassination of a hero. I will never forget that Sunday of August 21, 1983. I was then 33 years old. As early as 9:00 a.m., I was drinking beer and munching pulutan in a neighbor’s house in Lagro, Quezon City. We were celebrating; former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino
August 22, 2022