IT boggles the mind that First District Rep. Janette Garin wants MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) to compete with the Iloilo 1 Electric Cooperative (ILECO 1) in all seven municipalities comprising her constituency – Igbaras, Tubungan, Oton, Tigbauan, Guimbal, Miag-ao and San Joaquin. What is the intent and spirit of
January 14, 2026
LTHOUGH this month of January is almost halfway through, some of us have yet to pay debts incurred last Christmas. As if that were not bad enough, we also grapple with rising prices of food and other basic commodities. The new price of cooking gas has gone up to PHP 1,085 per 11kg/cylinder.
January 12, 2026
IT’S not everyday that a young Filipino gets an invitation to work for the prestigious Boeing, the world’s largest manufacturer of aircraft. Such is the good fortune now befalling Leopoldo “Ajin” Moragas II, a 24-year bachelor from barangay Caitib, Miag-ao, Iloilo. As I was saying in a previous column, Ajin had passed
January 9, 2026
I have yet to hear an employee of Iloilo 1 Electric Cooperative (ILECO 1) hold on to the assurance of First District Rep. Janette Garin that she would withdraw her House Bill 6292 in exchange for cutting its residential rate by at least two pesos. Her bill provides for the grant of
January 7, 2026
THERE was a time when I asked a History teacher, Ireneo Angeles, for any idea why the months of September and October occupy the 9th and 10th places in the calendar, respectively. It’s because the month of September stems from the Latin word “septem,” meaning seven while October is from “octo” or
January 5, 2026
THE last red-letter day in our “outgoing” 2025 calendar is today, December 30, which commemorates the 129th death anniversary of our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal. This morning, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. will lead the Rizal Day rites at the Rizal National Monument in Manila. The theme of this year’s commemoration says,
December 29, 2025
Trade Secretary Maria Cristina Aldeguer-Roque could have avoided brickbats in the media had she been more accurate about “a family of four” celebrating the Noche Buena on a budget of PHP 500. Shouldn’t she have said “poor family of four” instead? But she made the impression that a housekeeper could buy spaghetti
December 22, 2025
YOU must have noticed that the Christmas season is not always one of good cheers for the less fortunate. Even we in the “middle class” grimace over rising prices of food, notably ham, which increases in price with each beginning of the Yuletide. It’s now impossible for a family of three to spend
December 19, 2025
ALL roads now lead to Christmas parties that celebrate the world-accepted birthday of Jesus Christ. Even non-Christians celebrate it. In fact, it was an American Jew, Irving Berlin, who composed one of the most popular Christmas songs, White Christmas – first recorded by Bing Crosby in 1942. On the other hand, there are Christian
December 17, 2025
DID I hear right that Iloilo 1st District Rep. Janette Garin would no longer push for the expansion of the franchise of MORE Electric and Power Corporation (MORE Power) to her turf if Iloilo 1 Electric Cooperative Inc. (ILECO 1) brings down its electricity rates? Good idea, yes, but her constituents fear
December 15, 2025