HOW many Filipinos are there in the Philippines today? It is a question that has different answers from different sources. But if we base it on the 2024 Philippine census by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the national population in that year was 112,729,484, making our country the 14th most populated nation on
December 12, 2025
THERE was a time when this corner exposed the lament of Central Philippine University (CPU) over the millions of pesos it had not collected from the pre-need College Assurance Plan (CAP) on behalf of beneficiaries who had availed themselves of its pre-need education plan. The late CPU President Juanito Acanto confirmed the
December 10, 2025
THE residents of the 1st District of Iloilo are waiting with bated breath for the passage of a bill filed by Congresswoman Janette Garin. House Bill 6292 is aimed at expanding the franchise of Iloilo City’s distribution utility (DU), MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) to her constituency, which includes the
December 8, 2025
AS the editor of a weekly newspaper in the 1990s, I would often meet with the late Palanca awardee and English professor Dr. Leoncio Deriada, who happened to be one of our columnists. He would often transmit “visual” thoughts to readers through idiomatic expressions. An idiom is a group of words in
December 5, 2025
SOMETIME this year during a chance meeting with former ABS-CBN TV newscaster Nony Basco at Hotel del Rio, I greeted him warmly over its “reopening” as a franchised mainstream network. “Not true” was his answer. I was to learn later that no less than ABS-CBN president Carlo Katigbak had already debunked the
December 3, 2025
ONE recalls that on July 2 this year, Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa refiled a bill that had failed to pass in 2019. Senate Bill No. 1343 seeks to reinstate capital punishment through lethal injection for large-scale traffickers of illegal drugs. In a press conference with Senate reporters, Dela Rosa said, “While putting behind bars
December 1, 2025
WILL Iloilo 1st District Rep. Janette Garin succeed in passing her bill seeking to expand the franchise of MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) to her constituency? Her constituency includes the towns of Igbaras, Tubungan, Oton, Tigbauan, Guimbal, Miag-ao and San Joaquin. If we heard her right, she filed House Bill
November 28, 2025
WHAT if Central Negros Cooperative (CENECO) were still the power-distribution utility in Bacolod City and the rest of Central Negros when super typhoon Tino lashed the island, packing gustiness of up to 220 kilometers per hour? What if Negros Electric and Power Corporation (NEPC) had not come in? To recall, typhoon Tino’s
November 26, 2025
WHILE shopping for condiments in a public market, I momentarily thought my eyes were “lying” after seeing the price tag of red onions at PHP 300 per kilo, a big jump from the previous PHP 230. I exclaimed, “Wow, it costs more than meat!” I could only blame the decline in value of the
November 24, 2025
LOOKING closely at the video images of Senator and presidential sister Imee Marcos speaking at the Iglesia ni Cristo rally at Rizal Park on Monday evening, I shook my head wondering how she could have betrayed her younger brother, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. It would be an understatement to say that
November 21, 2025
AROUND this time in 2024, the IBON Foundation revealed its finding that a family of five residing in the city would need to earn at least PHP 26,033 per month to make both ends meet. Today, the average Filipino family would have to earn PHP 50,000 to PHP 80,000 per month to
November 19, 2025
AN ink blot stains the surface it spills on. The pun of it all is that it reminds us of the “ink blot” that is now smearing the image of the INC (Iglesia ni Cristo) as a Christian sect because of its interference in political affairs. The INC as a religious organization
November 14, 2025