IS it to draw public attention away from bigger scandals in the government? An “overkill” is how I see the media hype heaped on “sexy dancing” performed by female entertainers at the command conference of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) at the Diamond Hotel in Manila recently. Everybody knows that sexier scenes unfold
July 12, 2023
Agreeing to disagree WAY back when I was a child in the 1950s, religious “debates” at our plaza were in vogue – usually between ministers of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) and those of other Christian sects. I still remember that one pitting an INC minister against a layman of the Iglesia
July 10, 2023
“I will sign it as soon as I get it” was the last statement we heard from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., referring to the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) bill that had breezed through the Senate and was adopted by the House of Representatives. Since he could not articulate on the vague provisions
July 7, 2023
By Herbert Vego WHILE it may be true that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos has often lied, he replied “incomplete” when asked how he rated himself in his first year in office. How can we disagree? Until now, he has not appointed a sensible Secretary of Agriculture, having concurrently assigned himself to that position. His move
July 5, 2023
“ANO ang balita?” LIKE me, you have been asked this instinctive question on meeting a friend by chance. We take this to mean that we are all interested in, to quote Mr. Webster, “any information about a recent event in a particular area” – which is what the word “news” means. I
July 3, 2023
IF you are familiar with two 20th century American novelists, Francis Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, then you must have read of their exchange of words. “You know,” Fitzgerald said, “the rich are different from you and me.” Hemingway bantered, “Yes. They’ve got more money.” On researching about that conversation via the website quotecountequote.com,
June 30, 2023
TIME was when we heard employees of Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco) deploring the operational losses of the distribution utility to the tune of ₱20 million a month. Right? We fear it’s no longer right. “Ceneco is now losing ₱40 million per month,” said our friend Jonathan Cabrera in an interview with this writer
June 28, 2023
IN a past column, I warned nubile girls against becoming “June brides” for no other reason than “better luck”. This time, I would like the boys to learn a lesson from a failed marriage. I was only 22 years old and in my third year as a journalist in Manila when I
June 26, 2023
YESTERDAY, the wife of a seafarer phoned me the “good news” that the US dollar had climbed to ₱55.60 and expected me to rejoice. That seemed logical because in 2021, I bought green bucks from her at ₱51 per dollar in preparation for a flight to New York City. But I still have not
June 23, 2023
THERE appears to be little hope for the SOGIE (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) equality bill to pass into law even if its supposedly noble intention is to prevent and penalize discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression. Discrimination, to cite an example, is when an
June 21, 2023
RECENTLY, my doctor prescribed a medicine for cardiomegaly or enlarged heart. Was I supposed to be appeased by her assurance that it was “slight” and I could recover? Oh no! If you are one of us senior citizens, you would not always welcome the discount privilege on expensive prescription drugs. An old
June 19, 2023
WHILE researching on the involvement of the police in the illegal drug trade, I stumbled upon a 2019 newspaper clipping which quoted the then Senate President Tito Sotto on the entry of shabu and cocaine from China: “The Chinese government has the same headache that we have. Meth precursor substances might be
June 15, 2023