IF former Valderrama, Antique Mayor Ray Roquero had visualized himself occupying the office of provincial governor of Antique after election 2025, it was because he was counting on the endorsement of Senator Loren Legarda and her re-electionist brother, Congressman Antonio “AA” Legarda. In fact, Ray had been going the rounds of radio
November 13, 2024
FORMER presidential spokesman Harry Roque, though unseen in public for over a month, continues to post Instagram videos that spill disinformation. For example, he called President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (PBBM) a “pinakamalaking loser” following Donald Trump’s election for the second time as President of the United States. “Dahil malapit nga ang dating Presidente Duterte kay Trump,”
November 11, 2024
AN updated report from National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) estimated the damage to agriculture due to tropical cyclones Kristine and Leon at P6 billion. The lion’s share of that loss is rice production at P4.2 billion. Because of those figures, we rightly fear that the country’s rice farms would
November 8, 2024
WHILE I was writing this, the TV newscast was warning about the entry of tropical storm Marce into the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR). The weather forecaster said, “It will move north-westward to westward at a slow pace over the Philippine Sea east of extreme Northern Luzon.” “Not again,” I muttered. There
November 6, 2024
IN January, I warned our readers against online advertisements selling a mouse-like, plug-in “energy saver” that would reduce electricity bills by half. Speaking from experience, I presented myself as a victim of deceit, having bought the device at five hundred (P500) pesos. Sad to say, these testimonial ads still persist. No doubt, the
November 4, 2024
DURING a recent dinner with a friend who had phoned to see me, he was uneasy. Thus, I encouraged him to tell me his problem. “Money is my problem,” he confessed. “I want to fly to Manila to visit my departed loved ones in the cemetery.” It bothered me that he had
November 1, 2024
WITH due respect to a traditional Christian belief, the Bible does not say anything about the dead waiting to be visited in their graves on November 1, All Saints Day. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, it was on May 13, 609 during the reign of Pope Boniface IV that the Roman Catholic
October 30, 2024
“THANK God, it’s over,” I told myself on Saturday morning as the sun was rising; and there was no indication that typhoon Kristine was “u-turning”. But just as I was turning on the TV early yesterday morning (Sunday), the weatherman was talking about another typhoon, Leon, roaring closer to Eastern Luzon, and
October 28, 2024
IT has been two months since the Sangguniang Bayan (SB) of Pavia, Iloilo passed a resolution dated August 14, 2024 urging MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) to ink a joint venture agreement (JVA) with the Iloilo Electric Cooperative (ILECO) I. When I asked MORE Power President/CEO Roel Z. Castro about
October 25, 2024
THERE was a time when I attended a seminar on foreign exchange or speculative trading of fluctuating currencies, basically pitting one currency against another. The lecturer started “catching” the audience with the sad reality that keeping money in the bank does not beget more money because its miniscule interest – at most
October 23, 2024
THERE was a time when former Senator Manny Pacquiao, an ex-Roman Catholic, earned the ire of the gay community when he condemned the latter for lobbying to legalize same-sex marriage. He quoted Bible verses, such as: “If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both
October 21, 2024
IN this corner a few weeks ago, I warned against Facebook ads selling “energy saver” online at ₱500, claiming that the mouse-like gadget could reduce electricity bills by as much as 50 percent. Not true. It’s a scam that has victimized buyers, including this writer. The manufacturer must have found this scam so
October 18, 2024