I was intrigued by an article by Eleanor Pinugu’s UNDERCURRENT, “Panata,” and the challenges of modern faith,” Philippine Daily Inquirer, April 10, 2023.   She relates her grandfather’s “Panata” ( Religious Pledge ) of providing free meals to his fellow farmers on Holy Thursday.  The grandmother and seven children were all involved in preparing morning dishes and distributing… Read More »

DURING my tenure with a First Nations School in Northern Ontario, the Governor General of the day would send a regular infusion of books for use by the elementary students of that school.  The books were quite apart from the regular ones prescribed and supplied by the Ministry. However, they provide further reading and library materials to school… Read More »

Dateline: Muntinlupa City, Metro Manila, Philippines When I used to be driven around by my wife’s family driver, before leaving the driveway, I would see him make a sign of the cross and then rub the head of some saint on the car dash while mumbling a prayer. I nearly surrendered my atheism while going through my first… Read More »

       The perils of being old(er) I watched Don Lemon’s interview with Clive Davis, Whitney Houston’s agent/record producer. He was 90 years old. I asked myself, would I be so lucky to be as smart and coherent as this man? There was no hint of him being a pre-boomer generation of older people. The man insists that retirement is… Read More »

JANUARY 2023. The first month of an odd year feels forebodingly hopeful. A bit contradictory, isn’t it? But that’s the feeling I have after a rough couple of years but now facing a more promising and encouraging prospect in the year ahead. What caused this optimism could be a natural response from the relaxation of COVID rules for… Read More »

DECEMBER.  It’s a month of significance for a lot of us. It is the time of the year of thoughts of another year past. I don’t know you, but for me, this time around is not like any other December.  Could it be that I have ended three-quarters of life and now heading to the final quarter that… Read More »

PART  II Ten thousand years ago, there was no such thing as corn, just a wild grassy plant called Teosinte.  Farmers started domesticating it by selecting seeds for planting.  Maize, as it was later called, then had an ear ( cob) 2 cm long with eight rows of kernels. From that lowly start, the corn has steadily transformed… Read More »

PART I In Newfoundland in the early seventies, a local hennery (egg-producing chicken farms ) would advertise in a local paper “laid out” ( known in the mainland as stewing chickens ) chickens for 0.25 cents apiece or five for a dollar ( yes, five live chickens for 1 dollar ).  At the end of the sale period,… Read More »

A recent commentary, ” Our Interconnected Crises,” by Cielito Habito of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, August 9, 2022, took my breath away. I thought our 2018 PISA ( Programme for International Student Assessment ), in which we placed last among 79 countries tested in reading and 78th in Math and Science, would be so tough to our national… Read More »

What do you remember about your great-grandparents?  I have talked to many, and for the most part, the answer was nothing.  It is academic to ask what one remembers about their great grandparents, other than what had been related by a grandparent.  But of course, if family history is kept, future generations can avail of the many extraordinary… Read More »