Tomorrow is another day
I believe that good is manifested from every experience that comes into our lives. Cancer is not a death sentence and I’ve been battling it for ten years, six months…
Read More
When love dies
WHAT people call love between a man and a woman is a season…and if it is at its flowering, this season is a feast of greenery; at its waning, it is only…
We’re the last leaves on the oak
WE who are old know that age is more than a disability. It is an intense and varied experience, almost beyond our capacity at times, but something to be carried…
An old love story
GOOD news and bad news, examination and treatments, even death happened in full view of everyone; as you are admitted at the triage of LAC-USC Medical Center. It was an…
Who takes care of the caregivers?
IN private homes, we learn yet of another world — of quiet angels with gentle hearts, who, back home, used to be teachers, bank tellers, office workers, civil engineers, registered…
The ‘write’ stuff for column writing
WHAT does it take to be a columnist, a weakness for words? Every writer scrounges for inspiration in different places. I poached from current events and embellished to suit my…
What makes men interesting?
IF you were born a man, you wouldn’t worry about being unsafe, especially at night. You wouldn’t have to make use of a pretty face to hide your intelligence. You…
Embracing the loss of youth
YOU want to be young? But you can’t be — older is what we all get. Getting old is a natural thing and we must not be afraid of the…
Remembering President Cory Aquino
I covered the presidential term and sailed through its choppy waters while chronicling President Cory Aquino’s wavy patterns of success and glory, laughter and grief, loss and devastation, troubles and…
Happiness is knowing how to celebrate
SOCIETY reporting is nothing you can plan, polish or perfect—beyond the Fil-Am community stage or gossip about their world of charity, music, fashion, cuisine and other many things of splendor. …
The ballad of the significant boxer
LAS VEGAS – The odyssey of foibles and fallibility starts from the time they were lightweights, who labored in the anonymity of boxing vineyard — from the greatest names in…
The photo is the message (Part 1 of 2 series)
WORDS are mere grace notes, all my life I’ve dealt with words. They are adequate for many of our purposes, even indispensable for most. They can (of course) be immeasurably…
Summertime in Las Vegas
“Summer is a high, candid definite time.” VEGAS Mc Carran Airport was crowded with people determined to get an early start on the long weekend rush. Las Vegas is already…
The camera never blinks (Part I of II)
IT is hard to find words to describe photographers. They work long and hard on their photos that tell a story and accompany their dreams of becoming good press photographers….
Coming out of the end zone
SHE can remember no raging against the night, no anger about what Yeats described, “a decrepit age that has tied to me… like a dogs tail.” She just grew old,…
LA Fil-Ams’ sparkling fellowship with Gov. Hermilando “Dodong” Mandanas
BATANGAS Governor Hermilando “Dodong” Mandanas came swathed in a summer coat of understated elegance and a miscellaneous smile. No blush, no bluster, no braggadocio — only a beguiling mixture of…
Honor thy father
MY father is the kind of man I’ve always dreamed of: kind to the weak, fierce to the arrogant, generous to those who loved him, ruthless to those who will…
The president and the Malacanang press Ccorps
WHENEVER I suffer lesions of depression that I allow others to mercilessly inflict on me, nothing beats my reflections of the Malacanang Press Lounge where some of my fondest thoughts…
An evening at the opera
I CAN never quell a stir of fascination, dread and longing when the house lights dim and the curtain parts. But the enjoyment of an opera can begin, not with…
Aboard a floating carnival with my first born
THE most notable about time in an ocean voyage is that it is so purely relative. While fragment is in space, a moment is in time. We sailed in the…
The birdman of Woodland Street
THIS might as well be a story for the birds — light, gay and cheery. I can’t recall any other welcome in my whole life as I had in Alan…
Smiles and tears of motherhood
TO be a mother is not a trade. It is not even a duty. It is only one right among many. What an effort it will be to convince others…
The makings of a presidential journey
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte’s foreign trips were something else. Their outcomes were not foreseeable, and at the outset, no promises are made. The government does not wish to risk inflating expectations. …
Voices of spring as heard by artists
ARTISTS are those whose gifts set them apart as their talent, wisdom and integrity are superior. They make beauty, unlock mysteries, serve the truth, create life out of the matter…
The fascination with the Bible
“It ain’t those parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bothers me; it is that part I do understand.” – Mark Twain IT is the time I prepare…
The flowers of spring
SPRING has sprung. It is upon us in a scent that grows deeper, dizzying, improbable. It is too heady, too provocative to be diminished. Seeping through open windows, under doors, as you…
Happy birthday, Mr. President
What used to be the valued gentility of the old school political aristocrats, courtly and polished; were rudely rapped by the rowdy new age of Duterte as legends sprang up…
The interview: The license to ask virtually anybody in the world
INTERVIEWS come in many ways. Some regard it as a battle — others call it a theater piece, even as a delightful minuet. But the disdain shown for what is…
If I could interview Jesus Christ
LENT is that season of words with the teachings of Christ presented in a thousand pulpits across the nation — self-righteously, mournfully, nasally, coldly, feebly, flamboyantly, blandly and violently. If…
The daughter in my mind
THE apple that fell far from the tree…one I could only dream of. A perfect newshen. God’s little pencil. I would have taught her to begin each work by having a…