THIS is a true story of an overseas seaman who aspired to marry his girlfriend but figured in an accident that aborted that aspiration. To protect his privacy, let us hide his first name. Having just finished his nautical course, Totoy Alcabaza of Calamba City considered himself lucky to have qualified for
August 29, 2025
THIS writer does not know Engr. Roy Pacanan from Adam, but I can empathize with him over his decision to snub the invitations of Mayor Raisa Treñas-Chu and the Iloilo City Council. Why would he show up when the council had declared him a “persona non grata”? He called the label “degrading” and
August 27, 2025
IF you are a public works contractor aching to run and win for mayor of Pasig City, would you pay ₱10 million for an interview by a rated TV host/vlogger? Would Korina Sanchez-Roxas and Julius Babao bite such a tempting amount if offered? While this corner would give Korina and Julius the
August 25, 2025
ACCORDING to the IBON Foundation, a family of five residing in the city should have at least ₱26,033 per month to make a decent living. For government personnel on a monthly wage, that is more or less what they make. But for the manual laborer on daily wage, ₱645 per day is no
August 22, 2025
THE first time I heard and saw Cezarah Rowena “Sarah” Discaya on video was months before she declared she was running for mayor of Pasig City against the popular incumbent, Vico Sotto. In that vlog hosted by TV personality Julius Babao, she and her husband Pacifico “Curlee” Discaya talked about their “luck”
August 20, 2025
IT must have been more than a score ago when the late businessman Jose “Pepe” Layson granted my request for an interview on how he found his wealth from garbage. As every Ilonggo knows, he was the sole garbage-collection contractor in Iloilo City. As it turned out, however, garbage collection had never
August 18, 2025
IT’S not impossible. We heard this opinion from lawyers who believe that the Supreme Court (SC) may reverse its controversial ruling declaring the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte “unconstitutional”. The SC, they say, might have wrongly interpreted Article XI, Section 3 (4) of the Constitution: “In case the verified complaint
August 15, 2025
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has, at last after three years in Malacañang, lost his cool over expensive flood control projects gone awry, allegedly due to conspiracy between congressmen and contractors. In a press conference on Friday, he lamented, “There are 6,021 projects worth more than ₱350 billion that do not specify the
August 13, 2025
YOU have probably heard this famous quotation attributed to 17th-century English poet Samuel Butler: “Spare the rod and spoil the child.” As a child, I first heard it from my late father Juan, a Seventh Day Adventist, who would often spank us kids whenever we came home beyond our 6 p.m. “curfew”. He
August 11, 2025
WHAT is wrong with the Iloilo Electric Cooperative 1 (ILECO 1) in the eyes of electricity consumers in Miag-ao, Iloilo? Why is there a public clamor for the privately-run MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) to compete with the cooperative, of which they are “owners”? MORE Power is better known as
August 8, 2025
AS of yesterday, the exchange rate of the US dollar against the Philippine peso had climbed to P57.80. Good news for the dollar earners? Unfortunately, inflation is an illusion that has made our peso one of the “worst-performing” currencies in the world today. It means weaker buying power. The economists interpret it
August 6, 2025
FORGOTTEN number of years ago, this writer – who is now 75 — criticized an actor for appearing on a TV ad endorsing a branded mucolytic while showing a woman sweeping lagundi leaves into a dustpan. “Obviously,” I wrote, “the manufacturer of that mucolytic wants us to absorb a subliminal message that
August 4, 2025