Senator Edgardo J. Angara’s rise to political power has largely passed unnoticed.  This may partly be ascribed to  his  non-confrontational and noncontroversial persona.  His style is that of the quiet consensus-builder; he threatens no one.  He is not a leader of great charisma.  But he gets things done.  He is an organizer, not an ideologue; … Read more

I first met Mang Pandoy in 1989. He grew all kinds of vegetables then on a strip of cogon land inside the UP campus, and  I was one of his regular customers.  I distinctly remember how this city farmer jauntily watered his plants, balancing a pole on his shoulders with two sprinklers on both ends. … Read more

Civility is the art of living with others.  It is also what we so terribly lack in this country.  Those who have money, power and technology go about their daily business, completely unmindful of the effects  they create on the life circumstances of others. The State, whose function it is ideally to balance these effects … Read more

It was as if a memory nerve had been activated, and it could not be switched off  even after the lights had gone out in the studio.  Lola Juanita’s sharing on Public Forum last Monday was the most gripping and also the most pained. We were talking of war memories and Japanese apology. Juanita Jamot … Read more

I am certain that the late Gerry Gil of the Standard would have postponed his death by at least a week if only so he could read what his friends and admirers have written  about him after his untimely passing.  But hasn’t this always been the unhappy side of dying?  That we do not get … Read more

Like most kids their age, my children love to watch TV.  But they’ve always dreaded the thought of ever appearing on it.  Until one late Wednesday evening at a restaurant, when Larry Henares came to our table to talk me and my 3 daughters into guesting in his talk show for 10 easy minutes. Those … Read more

It could have been just another typical traveling day for him, my younger brother Isaac.  As Senior Vice President of Filipinas Dravo Corporation, a Manila-based engineering and consultancy firm, Engr David has had to go to  Vietnam several times a year  on business. Last Tuesday, July 18, he left his house early, partly to avoid  … Read more

Soon after Hubert Webb was tagged a suspect in the Vizconde killings, the media became interested in his performance at school.  Was he average or outstanding?   Did he finish or did he drop out? What kind of schools did he attend? The answers to these questions were diligently sought almost as if his guilt or … Read more

What was popular British actor Hugh Grant (Four Weddings and a Funeral) trying to prove in picking up  a prostitute in Los Angeles recently? Was he trying to re-enact a scene from Pretty Woman? Grant was  arrested  by the police “for lewd conduct” while having oral sex with Divine Brown inside his parked car. This … Read more