It all started over coffee, iced choco, and a cake named “Better than Sex”—not a formal memo, just a spark of an idea between colleagues at Coffeebreak. “Let’s gather the M.Ed. alumni,” Dr. Jonny Pornel of the UPV Division of Professional Education said during the casual talk. That small moment has
July 18, 2025
“Stop being offended by Facebook posts, by a piece of art, by people displaying affection, by what someone said to you. Be offended by war, poverty, greed, injustice.” This quote by Sue Fitzmaurice landed like a slap and a mirror at once. But it was the longer version shared by my
July 17, 2025
Not all graduation speeches shout. Some speak in quiet truths. And this year, those truths echoed all over the country—of hardship, survival, and questions that do not end with a diploma. Valedictorians gave us a picture of success with cracks in it, asking, “What does winning mean if you barely survived
July 16, 2025
There is a strange silence that surrounds the West Philippine Sea issue, especially among many Filipinos who live far from its shores. Some say, “Wala man kami dya sa Palawan,” or “Di naman kami mangingisda.” But if there is anything our recent history—and hard-earned victories—have taught us, it is this: the
July 15, 2025
Some speakers deliver data. Others stir something deeper. Professor Naqi Azam, President of Mylynx International Cambodia, did not bring slides to the 2025 Augustinian International Research Conference. What he brought instead was quiet clarity. Known across Asia for his work in digital transformation and cross-cultural leadership, Azam did not dramatize the
July 11, 2025
Just as Kaos is starting to gather steam, Netflix has canceled it; it seems as though Zeus himself knocked down something holy before it could peak. Drawn to its clever, chaotic interpretation of Greek mythology, fans hung about and demanded more. Netflix pulled the plug despite critical acclaim and a strong
July 9, 2025
It is almost instinctive for people to view promotions as rewards for hard work and competence. One works tirelessly, masters the responsibilities of a position, and is rewarded with the golden ticket—advancement to the next level. Yet, this upward mobility often leads not to continued excellence but to eventual stagnation. Laurence
July 6, 2025
There is something gut-wrenching in listening to a teen struggle through reading aloud of one sentence of a textbook. It is not so much the question of being off in syllables or of violating the rules of punctuation—it is the moment of silence, the heavy-with-embarrassment classroom, and the silent looking down
July 5, 2025
Some victories are quiet. A midwife from a state college opens a birthing center in the mountains. A student from Samar borrows a neighbor’s phone for online classes and finally passes the board. A public university secures clean water for its drought-hit town. These moments rarely go viral. They are not
July 4, 2025
