The day a man retires
Work is a mysterious thing. Many of us claim to dislike it at times, but it takes a grip on us that it captures our emotions and loyalties we never…
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Songs that my mother taught me
My first knowledge of the world and about life came to me through my senses. They were directed by my mother. She was the first person I saw, felt and…
The agony and ecstasy of divorce
LAS VEGAS— Come hell or high water, people flock here to untie the knot. Divorce is simply about the villain and the victim. It is who got cheated and who got…
The Presidential guards and the press
“Once upon a time, the US Secret Service had to be an all-embracing elite force—self-respecting, fearless and valiant. They took charge of the security and decorum of every event that the president…
The woman in black
IT happened faster than it took her to draw a breath. Anybody can become a widow—there are no special qualifications. It did not require planning to become a wife, mother, or…
Oh, if I were a man
A woman is not spared from humiliation, servitude and abuses. She could get raped in a dark street. She has to make use of a pretty face to be accepted…
Aboard a floating carnival
THE most interesting about spending time in an ocean voyage is that it is purely relative. Like a fragment in space, a moment is in time. We sailed in the…
One Sunday at FACLA
BBM-USA Chairman Fernandico Q. Gonong guided his guest, Greggy Araneta through a throng of folks, men and women alike, swathed in all shades of red. It was not a social…
Writing an unchaste novel
Do we seriously think writing is all joy? It is also half pain. Sometimes it is pain that makes us write. Think about the atrocious solitude of a room that…
When is writing not a joy?
DO we seriously think writing is all joy? It is also half pain. Sometimes, it is pain that makes us write. Think about the atrocious solitude of a room that…
Greggy Araneta’s winsome drop by at the BBM-USA Assembly
LOS ANGELES—We had big excitements in our neighborhood at the Historic Filipinotown last Sunday, Jan. 4. There were predictable enthusiasm, pleasant surprises and enterprising constancy. Most astonishingly, what we learned…
Rizal, the Literateur
HIS country absorbed him as affectionately as he absorbed it. His poems are easy to read, even to sing, to take to heart and put meaning into its ability to…
BBM-USA: A quest for a legacy
A FEW Ilocanos together gathered one Tuesday night, around six until over just before midnight, while the hardcore stayed up till 2 am. The spirit of Ilocandia joined us that…
Cheers to a new year!
Across America, given the fractured state of our collective hearts, attempts to embrace the New Year will be paddled with reverence, or a little whoop, a bit of holler and…
2016 wish list
In every wish, there will be glimpses of kind virtues, to encourage and console. It could be something modest or even mundane, something fantastic or utterly practical. It can take…
A Christmas wish
A week before Christmas, we’re crammed with Christmas wishes, checking them twice, the naughty or the nice part. It is a seasonal splendor of a heart’s wish for Christmas. I…
My Christmas box
IN both fiction and reportage, I’ve always made known that the winding down of autumn and ushering of winter put me in a heavy and philosophical mood. I’m thinking about…
The Apostolic mission of a lola
“IF you want to civilize a man, begin with his grandmother.” – Victor Hugo So, one moment you’re just a mother — and before you can blink and think that…
Battle of the bulges
WOMEN who are terrorized by tape measures and scales know that there is nothing relaxing about this kind of fight. The result is apparent: a race among women to be…
The world of gossip
Some love or hate it, others write or repeat it. But the obsession with gossip seems here to stay. From what we read about the unholy and unchanging trinity of…
The spellbound lure of awards
IT is not just the celebrity allure. It’s the cut above all. It’s the public acclaim, the attention, the limelight. Every time you turn around, someone’s winning an award for…
Six years of bruised souls
Yards and yards of written papers spilled into violent paragraphs. There were pitiless accusations and vehement invectives that tried to open the eyes of those who do not want to…
The Ampatuan massacre: A treason of the spirit
LOS ANGELES—This is a little back story. There are moments with such magnitude that they must be clearly remembered — whether you were sitting before the television set or reading…
The daughter in my mind
THE apple that fell far from the tree is one I could only dream of — a perfect newshen and God’s little pencil. I would have taught this daughter to…
Heaven’s silence for the ‘Children of a lesser God’
SANTA CLARA – It was a unique dance party that intermingled all the facility residents and their caregivers together into one big family — and dancing gaiety. The center’s low…
A day of thanks and giving
THIS great holiday of thanks and giving is not a date on a calendar, but a state of mind. It is about our capacity to realize things that we can,…
Memories from the police beat
The scene is in Quezon City. Almost everyday a citizen is shot, stabbed or beaten. At the center of this hurricane of crime is the Central Police District Command and…
A question of choice
IT is said that choice is destiny’s soulmate. It is not pre-destined; you have a choice to accept or refuse one turn down the crossroads to the future or another….
Dr. Christian Paquet: A splendid surgeon
He wore his scrubs as though they were a black tie and tails. One would think that he was born with a gold chain instead of an umbilical cord. Wherever…
Twice upon a time
I WRITE all the time. It’s a metabolic necessity for me to put words down. For me, it is more fun than anything else to feel that tactile, physical pleasure….