I attended a baby shower a few days ago. It was a joyous occasion with plenty of goodies to eat and bags galore of presents. I heard that this is only one of the gatherings for the same purpose. There were other two on the other side of the family and of friends of the mother. The expectant… Read More »
The observation of Remembrance Day on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of this year was deeply touching. I watched that one held in Ottawa over the television. It was preceded by a two-minute silence, followed by the singing of the national anthem with the Canadian flag up high and four armed forces… Read More »
Barrio Fiesta was a much- awaited yearly event, for its locale would give it an indigenous flavor and local color. The barrio folks would wait this occasion with heightened expectancy due to its religious significance. The early Spanish missionaries must have given the barrio a patron saint to guide its destiny and progress, which must therefore be honored… Read More »
It was ominous and clear as day…. The November issue of the iconic Time Magazine, in its Asia edition had him as the cover ….an honor only afforded rulers of state, pop stars like Michael Jackson and even the Philippines’ Icon of Democracy” the late president Corazon Aquino. Matter of fact, Manny Pacquiao is the only Filipinos boxer… Read More »
My family has always been optimists- Papa Porfirio, Mama Brigida, brothers Tony and Hec, sisters Tesi and Joy. It is no wonder that this outlook in life is the same thing that allows the new generation of this family to cope up beautifully in the most trying of circumstances. We were taught to make ‘diskarte’ of situations that… Read More »
It was sheer joy to meet old friends and relatives. They all say how good I looked and how I never aged at all. I foresaw all these and of course I was prepared. I have gifts for everyone, small momentous for remember me by. After the usual round of meeting friends and relatives, and old friends… Read More »
When I was working in Connecticut, I saw a woman in her 20s (let’s call her Nena) who was brought to the hospital emergency room for medical assessment. Apparently, Nena was shopping in the mall. Without any warning, she suddenly felt terrified and developed shortness of breath, fast heart rate, hot flushes all over her body, and chest… Read More »
I had expected Sen. Francis Escudero to withdraw his candidacy during a press conference he had scheduled last week at the Club Filipino in Greenhills. This was based on earlier reports that his patron at the Nationalist People’s Coalition, businessman Danding Cojuangco, had decided to patch up differences with his estranged cousin, Peping Cojuangco, to support… Read More »
While America was upholding the result of decades of battle for civil rights by electing an African American to the presidency, tens of thousands of Californians were institutionalizing inequality, injustice and bigotry by passing Proposition 8, which sought to ban gay marriages in California. They wanted to include in the state constitution a provision that would deprive a… Read More »
If there were one subject barrio people loathed in discussing, it would be about the dead. Call it part of religion and folkways so that when someone would pass away, the concern was how to inter the body, which should not be beyond three days. In the barrio, the family of the dead had two choices for the… Read More »