The spectacle of joie de vivre in the Filipino community
It is a knack of knowing how to live, the hearty enjoyment of life. It is the flush of happiness that can overtake a person anywhere. It took the French…
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People and politics, Philippines style
Welcome to the elections, Philippine style in 2016. As a lifelong spectator in an extremely politicized country in all these years, I can say that nothing much has changed. Politics had…
A tale of four boxers
CARSON, California—Every fight promotion takes on its character and you discover that there is more to the “who did what to whom.” What makes the fight world so intriguing is…
The consummate art of diplomacy at the Philippine Consulate
Emerging from their ink-stained asylum, LA-based media trooped to the Philippine Consulate General on Thursday, Oct. 8 for a briefing with Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose L. Cuisia Jr….
An old love story
Once upon a time, when life has been short on happily ever afters, they counted on love. But it is said that love is a spell so exquisite that everything…
Hollymont Castle’s celestial welcome for UST Medicine Class of ‘67
HOLLYWOOD – The human splendor of medicine and its myriad of varied arenas call for a clear mind, a kind heart and a dedication not only to science but also…
When a man turns 70
Today, he seemed only slightly older than himself. In his heart, he doesn’t judge the pace of time, only its effect on others. He knows age does not come in…
Francis, the people’s pope
PHILADELPHIA – From the moment that his plane, Shepherd One, landed, everyone was rewarded with a perfect, early autumn day. He came to America as planned. He said “Greetings, to…
The violation of a woman
It was my first police beat assignment. We felt that we had no right to do what we were doing. The killing of a fellow human being was repulsive and…
The rock star fascination with Pope Francis
Philadelphia—Pope Francis sits on the most exalted throne on earth with no army or kingdom, beyond a tight fist of land in the middle of Rome that is filled with…
Maestro Dexter Grey’s dexterity upon the magnificent sounding pianoforte
IT seems only last night when the Maestro gave an exhibition. Inside the Griffith Hall at the Beverly Hills Country Club, there was compelled admiration and awe from the elite…
Rosemarie Bell Mejia on what success means
THE alpha lunch, the stage setting for our first gathering at the Kapistahan, which lasted two hours, was no big deal. “This is good,” she said. I felt an instant…
The worship of style
I AM reluctant to write about fashion. It does not fascinate me; on the contrary, I find the subject repellent. But I did not choose the times I live in,…
Work from the heart
AT the Filipino American Service Group, Inc. (FASGI), work is love made visible as it charms, cajoles and caresses. There we find dreamers who do– those who don’t just entrust…
A sanctuary at twilight
This little piece takes us, not just to a place, but into the minds and hearts of those, who are in their twilight years, in a society that glorified youth….
The gift of heritage from yesterday, today and tomorrow
THEY are the sons and daughters of dramatic journeys and fantastic tales, their stories carried like treasures as they lay down a shadow of stunning proportions, shaped both by the…
The perpetual blood sport: bad news
I’m not impervious to bad news. In my years of crime reporting, I ate tragic, earthy and shocking news for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I had access to people’s emotional pains and tragedies. With…
The school: A gathering of gifts
THOSE that can, do; those that can’t teach…well, that is so insulting. Teaching is the most exalted position — that prestige will always be there. Teachers bring some kind of…
The riddle of sickness
It is called the pompous sickness — the spell which hushes the household, with its desert-like stillness felt through its innermost chambers. One in a world unto herself, her own…
Hope at FASGI is indescribable
Temple and Beverly Blvd. is a cross street that fully represents of Historic Filipinotown’s ambiance: traffic that congeals into puddings of irritability, food aroma that alone can elevate your cholesterol…
Has humor gone too far?
The vulgarity in entertainment THOUGH the few good TV shows back home in the Philippines are applauded, it is dismaying that these small islands of quality are almost lost in…
Celebrating the 13th annual Historic Filipinotown Festival
It was a grand show. It was like all-you-can-eat buffet style entertainment. For this special day, it was not about the plight of the poor or endurance of political turmoil…
The fast food of literature
Unlike the novelist, the poet nor a playwright, columnists are not performing center ring. They must be contented with their self-imposed role of being second-class citizens in the world of…
Where have all the soldiers gone?
IT was time once more to honor the men and women who died during moments of celebration despite the bloody cost, on Tuesday, July 28, inside the protective cocoon of…
The delightful minuet of interviewing
Interviews come in many ways. Some regard it as a battle, a delightful minuet; others call it theater piece. That is why I am reluctant to write about fashion, showbiz…
Women that walked in love’s shadow
They spoke of a time, a place, voices in language of love gone wrong…of frightful things that manifest itself in various ways of secrets, deceptions, obsession and violence: swathed in…
Embracing the loss of youth
Getting old is a natural thing and no one must be afraid of the natural. Trees, animals, and everything that is alive age. I am not afraid to look old….
The light in the Capital Dome
Washington as the world’s most powerful city is arguable. But no one is immune to the spell of this international city on the Potomac, where tastes, levels of energy, basic…
‘Not all of me shall die’
The bell tolls for many. It always does. They took their leave in poignant numbers. We loved them and we lost them—men and women who had the power to move…
The season of beauty pageants
Lovely July where the days are sultry, steaming, sweltering. The city is heaving like a tired beast. Time to shed expectations, along with commute, cellular phones, calendars as our wants…