PRESIDENT Donald Trump has threatened to cut off federal aid to California, home to the biggest population of Filipinos in the United States. Almost 100,000 acres of wildfires have been raging across the state since the last week of October alone, beginning with the Kincaid fire in Northern California. As the Independent reported, “more than…
PICTURES and videos of friends in costumes partying and kids trick or treating on Halloween flood my newsfeed on social media. I must admit, my husband and I never got to own this American Halloween tradition, never decorated our home to look spooky, and never went to Halloween parties in costume. Yes, for the sake…
BREAKING NEWS: PBS reported, “The U.S. House of Representatives plans to hold a formal vote Thursday, October 31, on the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump over his alleged abuses of power while in office.” “In a letter explaining the decision, Speaker Nancy Pelosi told House Democrats that she wanted to push back on claims…
ONE of the pillars of true public service who made his light shine upon others has been called back to heaven by our Creator. His life’s purpose has always been to serve and not be served, to sow a seed of honor, justice, faith and compassion in our lifetime so that the future generations may…
Remember that sick joke about how fast the cops arrived at a crime scene? Cops in other countries were said to arrive in just a few minutes. But Pinoy police were said to be at the scene of the crime at the moment it was being committed. That’s the bad news. The worse news is…
KABABAYANS who are loyal fans of President Donald J. Trump have been contending that the launching of an impeachment inquiry into him is doing the country a disservice because it takes away valuable time and resources from Congress that should otherwise be spent in writing legislation that will help the life of ordinary hardworking Americans….
LENI ROBREDO was sworn in as vice president of the Philippines after winning in the 2016 elections, defeating her political rival Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. by just 263,473 votes. This prompted the son of the deposed dictator to allege that he was “cheated” and therefore filed an electoral protest against her, the widow of the popular…
We had a hectic month-long journey to France including Lourdes where we visited once more the shrine of our Blessed Virgin Mary, then to Qatar in the Middle East, and in the last few days back to our home province of Pangasinan. With wife Gina, we spent five days until yesterday with our former constituents,…
(Part 2 of 2) We were then a young aggressive entrepreneur, and decided to bid as prime contractor for the Port of Jeddah, the largest then in the Arab world, which was opened for bidding to manage the port, Saudi Arabia’s main entry point in the Red Sea. We had signed a joint venture agreement…
“HOAX” and “witch hunt” — that’s how President Donald Trump has always called any investigation into him. He has gone further by instructing officials and staff in his administration NOT to cooperate with and ignore subpoenas from the Constitution-mandated congressional impeachment inquiry/investigation. He has been attacking and accusing Democrats and the media of being behind…
IT HAS BEEN a part of the Filipino culture to think not only of one’s self, but what will be good for the family. This is also a very Asian value — that communal feeling and mindset that makes one’s personal dreams and desires take a back seat to the what is the consensus among…
(Part 1 of 2) We were in Paris with wife Gina when former French President Jacques Chirac passed away. He was 86 years old. World leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and Russian President Vladimir Putin joined French President Emmanuel Macron in paying tribute to Chirac, with Macron hailing the…
DESPITE impeachment fatigue reflected in previous polls, it looks like the recent Ukraine scandal has pushed the American people to a tipping point. President Donald Trump effectively confessed to the scandal through his administration’s “transcript” memo and his own defense of his communications with the Ukrainian officials. According to the recent Washington Post-Schar School poll,…
AS NEWS HEADLINES banner the contentious dealings President Donald Trump had with foreign countries to dig dirt against his political opponents for his personal gains just to win elections and stay in power, a lot of our Kababayans are asking what the 45th president of the United States did to deserve the threats of impeachment….
Having recently launched my book, “Confusions of a Communications Man” (recounting my experiences in over half a century as a communications practitioner) I was invited to speak before students of Mass Communications at St. Scholastica College in Manila. Before my talk, the students shared their perceptions of the media and communications profession. Their comments were liberally sprinkled…
NO ONE is above the law. Not even the president of the United States. The impeachment hearing that may lead to the ouster of Donald J. Trump will begin as early as this week, according to the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Chair, Rep. Adam Schiff. While this may sound like déjà vu of…
The Philippines is where my wife and I would love to retire in, but I decided to check out other so-called retirement havens for comparison. An interesting source of information is “Cheapest Destinations Blog” by noted travel writer Tim Leffel. One particular blog – “The Cheapest Places to Live in the World – 2019”– caught…
Having been born and raised in Las Vegas, I’m so thrilled to see our community’s growing diversity. I’ve watched an engaged and thriving Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community take root and enrich my hometown. So many of these proud Nevadans are small business owners, educators in our schools and advocates for a stronger and…
HISTORY has again and again documented how the youth has been the driving force of change in society through many generations in different parts of the world. The youth and young adults ignited the spirit of the French Revolution that overthrew the abusive monarchy and established a republic in France. The youth and young adults…
SEPTEMBER is National Suicide Prevention Month in the United States. In my effort to help spread awareness on this health crisis that is now the 10th cause of death in America and the second among teenagers and young adults, I wrote an article on the risk factors, warning signs and how to help people who…
It’s remarkable, what a long-unopened filing cabinet can yield. On this trip to Manila, we found a faded document with the ambitious heading: “CONCEPT PAPER: A PASIG-BASED COMMUTER TRANSPORT SYSTEM FOR METROPOLITAN MANILA AND ENVIRONS.” I had just been introduced to Commodore Brillante Ochoco, Commandant of the Philippine Coast Guard. Upon learning that I was…
SUICIDE — the act of taking one’s own life. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that in 2017, the 10th cause of death in the United States was suicide. Worse, suicide is the second leading cause of death for adolescents 10 to 19 years old. Suicide follows heart disease, cancer, unintentional injuries,…
KABABAYANS are fired up after reading my article pushing for the government, in the Philippines and the United States, to bring back life skills subjects that have unfortunately been taken off the curriculum because of budget constraints. They strongly agree that subjects that used to be mandatory like home economics, practical/industrial arts/home repairs and gardening…
IN September 2011, for the Global Summit of Filipinos in the Diaspora convened by the Commission on Filipinos Overseas, then CFO Chair Imelda Nicolas, asked me to write a poem, “We Hear Our Motherland Calling,” as a response of overseas Filipinos to the call of Inang Pilipinas to her children in foreign lands. I had…
STUDENTS of today’s generation are so well trained and proficient in a lot of high-tech skills like computer and internet use, camera techniques, music mixing, editing, online publishing and social media distribution — skills that the older generation is just coming to terms and even struggling with. However, we notice that there seems to be…
TERRORISM, as defined by Britannica, is the systematic use of violence to create a general climate of fear in a population and thereby to bring about a particular political objective. The Federal Bureau of Investigation describes “domestic terrorism” as “perpetrated by individuals and/or groups inspired by or associated with primarily U.S.-based movements that espouse extremist…
WHEN I read the post in social media that Senator-boxer Manny Pacquiao had proposed crucifixion as a method of imposing the death penalty, my automatic response was to suggest, “Crucify him!” I’m afraid I got carried away by someone else’s misinterpretation of Pacquiao’s proposal. As an aggressive proponent of the reimposition of the death penalty,…
I AM proud to be one of these scholars, having graduated cum laude from the UP College of Mass Communication in 1984, and continued on with my Master’s Degree in Communication, though I was not able to finish because my family immigrated to the United States. My husband was also “Iskolar ng Bayan,” having graduated…
ENOUGH of gun violence and mass shootings in America! This is the overwhelming sentiment of Americans as revealed in a new Quinnipiac Poll conducted on August 21-26, 2019. After the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio — added to the already troubling strings of massacre using guns in the United States —Americans…
Scientists from the University of Minnesota have discovered “a powerful new strain of fact-resistant humans who are threatening the ability of Earth to sustain life”. The research “identifies a virulent strain of humans who are virtually immune to any form of verifiable knowledge, leaving scientists at a loss as to how to combat them.” “These…
