IT is my personal opinion that Iloilo 1 Electric Cooperative (ILECO 1) could not cope with competition if and when the bill of First District Rep. Janette Garin (House Bill 6292) passes into law. The bill would grant MORE Power and Electric Corp. (MORE Power) the legislative franchise to compete with ILECO
January 23, 2026
OVER coffee with businessman Alfonso Tan at Hotel del Rio, I asked him whether any of his hotels could still accommodate tourists coming to Iloilo City for the Dinagyang Festival on January 24 and 25. “Fully booked,” he quipped. As I was saying in a previous column, local and foreign tourists come
January 21, 2026
AS announced by Iloilo City Mayor Raisa Treñas-Chu, this year’s celebration of the Dinagyang Festival (Sunday, Jan. 25) heralds the theme “Bugay sang Ginoo, Bugal sang mga Ilonggo” (God’s Grace, Pride of Ilonggos). And so, the Iloilo Festivals Foundation, Inc. (IFFI) is maxing out Dinagyang’s “religiosity” through a “unity dance” by the seven participating
January 19, 2026
By Herbert Vego NOW showing on YouTube are contents about billionaire businessman Enrique “ Ricky” Razon Jr., who has filed a cyber libel complaint against Cavite 4th District Representative Francisco “Kiko” Barzaga at the Makati City Prosecutor’s Office. It all started when Barzaga posted on Facebook on January 9, 2026 an allegation that Razon had
January 16, 2026
IT boggles the mind that First District Rep. Janette Garin wants MORE Electric and Power Corp. (MORE Power) to compete with the Iloilo 1 Electric Cooperative (ILECO 1) in all seven municipalities comprising her constituency – Igbaras, Tubungan, Oton, Tigbauan, Guimbal, Miag-ao and San Joaquin. What is the intent and spirit of
January 14, 2026
LTHOUGH this month of January is almost halfway through, some of us have yet to pay debts incurred last Christmas. As if that were not bad enough, we also grapple with rising prices of food and other basic commodities. The new price of cooking gas has gone up to PHP 1,085 per 11kg/cylinder.
January 12, 2026
IT’S not everyday that a young Filipino gets an invitation to work for the prestigious Boeing, the world’s largest manufacturer of aircraft. Such is the good fortune now befalling Leopoldo “Ajin” Moragas II, a 24-year bachelor from barangay Caitib, Miag-ao, Iloilo. As I was saying in a previous column, Ajin had passed
January 9, 2026
I have yet to hear an employee of Iloilo 1 Electric Cooperative (ILECO 1) hold on to the assurance of First District Rep. Janette Garin that she would withdraw her House Bill 6292 in exchange for cutting its residential rate by at least two pesos. Her bill provides for the grant of
January 7, 2026
THERE was a time when I asked a History teacher, Ireneo Angeles, for any idea why the months of September and October occupy the 9th and 10th places in the calendar, respectively. It’s because the month of September stems from the Latin word “septem,” meaning seven while October is from “octo” or
January 5, 2026
THE last red-letter day in our “outgoing” 2025 calendar is today, December 30, which commemorates the 129th death anniversary of our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal. This morning, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. will lead the Rizal Day rites at the Rizal National Monument in Manila. The theme of this year’s commemoration says,
December 29, 2025
By Herbert Vego WRONG timing, I thought while rushing to a hospital on the day I was supposed to be attending a Christmas party. The culprit: a bout with vertigo. If you are one of the lucky ones who have not experienced vertigo, it is a deceptive feeling of movement, as in an earthquake, where
December 24, 2025
Trade Secretary Maria Cristina Aldeguer-Roque could have avoided brickbats in the media had she been more accurate about “a family of four” celebrating the Noche Buena on a budget of PHP 500. Shouldn’t she have said “poor family of four” instead? But she made the impression that a housekeeper could buy spaghetti
December 22, 2025