OF the 2.19 million Filipinos now working abroad, 97.9% are contract workers. As noted by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA), their primary motive is to secure higher income, better career opportunities, and improved living standards for their families. They are driven out by limited, low-paying local job options. An average of
April 27, 2026
HAVING tackled the imminent entry of MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) to the 1st District of Iloilo, this corner has been asked how it would affect the power-distribution business of Iloilo I Electric Cooperative, Inc. (ILECO I). Well, I can only safely say that the district’s representative, Rep. Janette Garin,
April 24, 2026
THE last time I met President Roel Z. Castro of MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power), he enthused about his dream of bringing about “One Iloilo, One Rate, One Service”” in electricity distribution. He said it would establish a gold standard of service across the province, ensuring that superior power reliability
April 22, 2026
DO you remember Jude Sabio, the lawyer from Misamis Oriental who first filed a complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte for crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in April 2017, only to withdraw it in 2020? It has been five years since Sabio passed away at age 57 on April
April 20, 2026
By Herbert Vego WHO is lying? Vice President Sara Duterte, or Ramil Madriaga? This is the only question that this column will comment on. “I don’t know him,” said VP Sara of the man who claims to have served as her bagman and political leader in 2022 when she was running for her present post,
April 18, 2026
ONE of the events I can’t forget as a young bachelor on a forgotten date in the 1970s was my first and only visit to an old house on Elizondo St. in Quiapo, Manila. I was then a news reporter covering the entertainment beat for the defunct Daily Express. Jun, the director
April 15, 2026
WILL MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) be given the chance to expand electricity distribution to the 1st District of Iloilo? MORE Power, Iloilo City’s distribution utility, has already gained an additional franchise to energize Passi City and 15 towns in the province. Further expansion to the 1st District municipalities of
April 13, 2026
THE will to survive is what keeps Jonathan Lupo, 53, in business as owner of two air-conditioned “modernized jeepneys” (actually mini buses) plying the Ungka, Pavia-Iloilo City route. He is one of the partners of the JJL Transport Services that operates 15 units. In a telephone conversation with this writer, he decried
April 10, 2026
WE feel the loss of a buddy in former Congressman Salvador “Buddy” Britanico, who passed into the afterlife on Good Friday, April 3, at age 88. He has lived a full life that reminds us of the Bible verse, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the
April 8, 2026
YOU may find this narrative beneficial. I never ate mammal meat during the Holy Week, but not for religious reasons. I still don’t. My sister Azucena, a physician, has asked me to further avoid high-fat and processed meats. My latest laboratory examination showed a very high level of triglycerides (excessive fat in
April 6, 2026
THE past few days have seen thousands of elementary, secondary, and tertiary Filipino students moving up and down the stage in a familiar ceremony known as “graduation.” At least three high schools in Iloilo City — Ateneo de Iloilo, Iloilo City National High School, and Sun Yat Sen High School — have
April 1, 2026
ANYBODY holy, according to Mr. Webster, is “exalted or worthy of complete devotion.” This week is Holy Week, the most sacred time of the year for Christians who remember the triumphant entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, his betrayal, trial, crucifixion, and resurrection. “Holy Week” is a term used to denote the
March 30, 2026