THIS writer was among the first to go to my favorite fish market yesterday to catch up with the few slices of Blue Marlin still available. Being a regular customer, I asked the vendor for a discount. The inflationary price tag indicated “P650 per kilo”. “Just between us,” the vendor whispered, agreeing
November 14, 2022
THIS writer did not vote Ferdinand “BBM” Marcos Jr. for President. But I agree with two of his unexpected moves. Let us discuss them. First, his issuance of Executive Order No. 07 is a step in the right direction. The EO allows for voluntary wearing of face masks in all indoor and
November 11, 2022
DOES Roy Mabasa believe that somebody “higher” could have influenced suspended Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director-General Gerald Bantag to order the October 3, 2022 murder of his elder brother, Perival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa? “Maaring mayro’n pang nasa likod ni Bantag,” Mabasa answered ANC-TV host Karmina Constantino without naming name. Bantag and BuCor Deputy
November 9, 2022
IN two previous columns, this corner expressed dismay over the inattention of Semirara Mining and Power Corporation (SMPC) to the prohibitive cost of power in the province of Antique. Why was the Antique Electric Cooperative (Anteco) charging the highest power bill in Western Visayas at P16.17 per kilowatt-hour (kWh)? Anteco blamed the sudden increase in
November 7, 2022
THE proverbial advice to “eat an apple a day to keep the doctor away” is believed to have appeared in print first in 1866. The vague reason stated then was that apple eaters paid fewer visits to doctors than the non-apple eaters. But what got me interested about apple was whether it
November 4, 2022
DO you believe in life after death? If there were no life after death, then human life would be no more than a hoax; therefore, not worth living. Belief in the afterlife enables us to conquer the fear of death. That “conquest” is best achieved by embracing a religion that promises immortality.
November 1, 2022
By Herbert Vego ALMOST nine years have passed since November 8, 2013 when super typhoon Yolanda wiped out thousands of buildings and killed thousands of residents in Leyte and Samar, and in lesser proportions in Iloilo, Aklan, Capiz and Antique. The tragedy repeated itself in the past three days as typhoon Paeng poured heavy rains
October 31, 2022
ALL roads lead to the cemetery on Tuesday, November 1 — the traditional All Saints Day. It’s when we pay homage to the departed. While its origin cannot be traced with certainty, history says it is a take-off from the Lemuria Feast of ancient Rome, during which the Romans performed rites to exorcise the
October 28, 2022
WHEN I heard the news that Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas and Iloilo Governor Art Defensor Jr. would not allow us — the unvaccinated against Covid-19 — to visit the cemeteries on All Saints Day, I thought I was luckier because my dead relatives await in Antique. Later, however, I read that
October 26, 2022
THIS is the case of an Ilonggo entrepreneur besting a French billionaire. Readers of this column will remember that I once wrote about a legal battle pitting our fellow Ilonggo and a French fashion magnate. If you are not old enough to remember Victor Martin J. Soriano, he was that young Ilonggo who
October 24, 2022
THIS writer wonders whether Antique Governor Rhodora “Dodod” Cadiao has read my previous column asking her to ask Semirara Mining and Power Corp. – which operates the open-pit coal mine in Semirara Island in Caluya, Antique – to play “patriotic” by selling coal at reduced prices to local coal-fired power plants. Hence, this
October 21, 2022
Solving the energy crisis IN the preceding two issues, this column called the attention of Antique Governor Rhodora “Dodod” Cadiao to the highest-ever cost of electricity imposed by the Antique Electric Cooperative (Anteco) on her people, allegedly because the price of coal in the world market had jumped from US $60 to
October 19, 2022