The memo was simple: wear pink, assemble early, ride the van, and head to the Iloilo Freedom Grandstand for the One Billion Rising campaign. For many, it looked like just another school activity squeezed between quizzes and deadlines. But the words “one billion” stayed with me. It is not just a
February 14, 2026
At a Senate hearing meant to protect young Filipinos online, the conversation drifted in a strange direction. Instead of data or policy, Senator Robin Padilla opened with a blunt line: the youth today are “weak.” He said it almost apologetically, as an uncle at a reunion who knows his remark might
February 13, 2026
February 11, for me, has a strange way of arriving in Panay like a double bell: one tolling for a man we lost in public, and another ringing for a mother who, by sheer stubborn love, kept us from being lost in private. On paper, it is Evelio Javier Day—a special
February 11, 2026
By February each year, a familiar dilemma returns to schools: should Feb. 25 be treated like any other busy Tuesday, complete with quizzes and late submissions, or should it become a moment to slow down and remember something larger than the day’s lesson plan. As the 40th anniversary of EDSA approaches,
February 11, 2026
There was a time when the idea of a fourteenth month pay did not sound radical to me at all. It sounded practical. At Ateneo de Iloilo, where I once worked, it was something we quietly campaigned for, discussed in hallways, justified in meetings, and eventually enjoyed. It came midyear, modest
February 10, 2026
There is a reason the word diskarte feels familiar even before it is explained. Most Pinoys meet it early, long before it appears in essays or debates. It shows up in kitchens where budgets are stretched, at jeepney stops when the last ride leaves too soon, and in classrooms where teachers
February 9, 2026
I went to the fifth Iloilo screening of Tigkiliwi last Sunday afternoon, February 1, because a friend invited me, and because the title itself sounded like a dare. Rynshien Joy Olivete – a spirited colleague from Dakila Collective – invited me to come, and I did, partly out of support, partly
February 8, 2026
“Decriminalize libel” sounds, at first hearing, like the sort of phrase that makes careful people clutch their pearls and careless people clutch their phones. Some imagine a lawless internet where anyone can malign anyone, then walk away laughing. Others imagine a healthier democracy where public criticism stops being treated like a
February 7, 2026
There is a reason the word diskarte feels familiar even before it is explained. Most Pinoys meet it early, long before it appears in essays or debates. It shows up in kitchens where budgets are stretched, at jeepney stops when the last ride leaves too soon, and in classrooms where teachers
February 6, 2026
When systems reward pretense and call it kindness (Last of two parts) That is why EDCOM 2’s parallel discussions on mass promotion and grade transmutation feel connected to the proficiency collapse, not as side issues. In several reports carried by national media, EDCOM 2 points to institutional pressure to promote learners
February 5, 2026
When numbers begin to speak back (First of two parts) Some statistics slap harder than a failing grade. EDCOM 2’s latest snapshot is one of them: by Grade 12, only 0.40% of learners were tagged “proficient” or “highly proficient” in national assessments, roughly four in every 1,000. If you want to
February 4, 2026
