WHILE at home viewing the recorded concert of the late Nora Aunor at the Mandarin Hotel-Makati, I caught her belting out a duet with the late Victor “Cocoy” Laurel. They sang their favorite song “People.” It struck a chord in my memory, initially because they had died within two months of each
November 12, 2025
WHY do the words “graft” and “corruption” go together as if it were a singular word in exposing the evils in government? Graft, according to the dictionary, means the acquisition of money or any other material gain in dishonest or questionable ways for personal gain or advantage. Corruption refers to dishonest or
November 10, 2025
IT matters not that she is a political ally of former President Rodrigo Duterte. This was the cryptic message that Cebu Governor Pamela Baricuatro (PDP-Laban) imparted to Cebuanos when she blamed the former government for wasting most of the PHP 26.6-billion for either ghost or substandard flood control projects in the province
November 7, 2025
AS I was writing this yesterday while typhoon Tino was bringing heavy rains and winds across the country, I recall typhoon Yolanda that devastated the same areas in the same month 12 years ago on November 8, 2013. Let’s hope and pray Tino would not be so cruel. To recall, Yolanda swept
November 5, 2025
WHILE All Saints Day is supposed to be a solemn day to pay respect to the departed, it is also “enjoyed” as a celebration of Halloween in many countries, including the Philippines. Hallow simply means holy, as the Lord’s Prayer suggests (“hallowed be thy name”). “Halloween” stands for “All Hallows’ Eve,” which is the
October 31, 2025
IN anticipation of the commemoration of All Saints Day on Saturday (Nov. 1), I thought of reviewing the “Death, Be not Proud” poem of the famous English poet John Donne (1572 –1631), which begins, “Death, be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou are not so.” The
October 29, 2025
ALL roads lead to the cemetery on Saturday, November 1 — the traditional All Saints Day. It’s when we pay homage to the departed. Historians say it is a take-off from the Lemuria pagan festival, which the Roman Catholic Church first celebrated as a Christian holiday on May 13, 609 during the
October 27, 2025
IN a recent feature story written for ABS-CBN News, author Salve Ibañez called industrial tycoon Enrique Klar Razon Jr. “the new energy kingpin.” That label resonates with us in Iloilo City because it was here where he first planted the seeds of diversification to the energy sector. To quote the first paragraph
October 24, 2025
IS the Northern Negros Electric Cooperative (NONECO) losing? If that is so, more than 200,000 electricity users would suffer. Its coverage areas include the cities of Victorias, Cadiz, Sagay, Escalante, and San Carlos, as well as the municipalities of E.B. Magalona, Manapla, Toboso, and Calatrava in Negros Occidental. This corner agrees with
October 22, 2025
THE latest report from the Department of Health of Australia reveals that “one in six Australians have a drug addiction.” This was reported online last Thursday (October 16, 2025) by Dr. Kent S. Hoffman and Jessica Miller of AddictionHelp.com. The “country down under” has an estimated three million of its residents addicted
October 20, 2025
IN a press briefing, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. may favor divorce bill “if its provisions are sound.” She recalled that in 2022, then-presidential aspirant Marcos had expressed openness to legalizing divorce. The Philippines and the Vatican City are the only two countries with no divorce
October 17, 2025