In a public high school in Iloilo City, a Grade 9 teacher scanned her class list and sighed. Out of 43 students, eight could not read a full sentence. Some had not returned since September. But come April, nearly all would receive identical report cards: promoted. In a school in Barotac
June 5, 2025
Walking the fine line between law and delay, Senate President Chiz Escudero is balancing the Constitution with a ticking clock. Calm and calculated, he has become the quiet centerpiece of the ongoing drama surrounding Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment. Yet the spotlight is slowly shifting from the accused to those possibly
June 4, 2025
It is one thing to read about the threats facing small-scale fishers; it is another to sit beside them, listen to their stories, and feel the quiet urgency in their words. Last Saturday, May 31, I had the privilege of attending the “Atin ang Kinse” forum at the UP Visayas Auditorium
June 3, 2025
Beyond all expectations, the war in Ukraine has persisted; hence, the issue of why Putin has not yet stopped it remains. Countless lives lost, a damaged economy, and military conflicts—why then continue? The solution seems to lie in a psychological trap called the “sunken cost” fallacy, whereby the more a nation
June 1, 2025
It was almost poetic. In 1925, the year when Pope Pius XI instituted the Feast of Christ the King to reaffirm spiritual authority during rising secularism, the average life expectancy globally hovered around 35 years. The world was recovering from war, electrification was still trickling into rural homes, and childbirth remained
May 31, 2025
It started with a faint mumble from across a cramped café table—someone sighing, “The elections are rigged anyway.” She said it not as a provocation, just a weary comment that barely rippled over the murmur of grinders and steaming milk. But somehow, the line stuck. Not because it was shocking, but
May 30, 2025
Last Monday, May 26, a TikTok clip brewed more heat than a steaming espresso shot at dawn. In it, content creator Euleen Castro, known as “Pambansang Yobab,” laid out what she felt about Coffeebreak, a beloved Ilonggo café chain. The punchline? “Walang masarap sa inyo? Puta.” It took seconds, but the
May 29, 2025
The word “youth” carries weight. It signals energy, hope, idealism, and rebellion. So when a group like Duterte Youth appears on the ballot, many assume it champions the voices of students, young workers, and those on the edge of adulthood. But in our kind of politics, names often conceal more than
May 28, 2025
It was more than a reshuffling; it was a recalibration. When President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. requested courtesy resignations from his Cabinet last Thursday, May 22, 2025, it was widely seen as a political necessity. Few anticipated that Sonny Angara—the unassuming, high-performing technocrat leading the Department of Education (DepEd)—would step down without
May 27, 2025
If politics were a school subject, the word “Trapo” would have been one of my first unforgettable vocabulary terms. I first heard it in a college class on Philippine governance in the early 1990s, scribbled on the board as shorthand for “traditional politician.” It sounded almost innocent—a mere acronym, something you
May 26, 2025
Every now and then, humanity comes across a profoundly transformed mind that makes the world never look the same again. As someone who has spent 23 years teaching physics in high school and college, Sir Isaac Newton is the ultimate example for me. Teaching his laws of motion or solving the
May 25, 2025
