Bangon, Pilipinas
MONDAY was met with a heavy heart, as the horrors of the tragedy that struck Central Visayas last Friday began to unfold. Whether firsthand experience at the site or at…
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An open letter to Pres. Obama requesting for Temporary Protected Status for undocumented Pinoys
PHILIPPINE officials say more than 10,000 Filipinos are feared dead, and about 800,000 are displaced because of super typhoon Yolanda. Despite all the local and international help being extended to…
Letter to the Editor
Dear Editor, AS I read in your paper (Asian Journal – Nov. 8-14, 2013 issue) Greg Macabenta’s column, “A Closer Look at Corruption,” it’s a sad thing to note that…
Something’s gotta give
THE PR temperature has cooled down a bit since Sonny Coloma took over as presidential spokesman. His explanations about happenings in Malacañang, that are not as laborious and convoluted as…
No holds barred
THE outspoken senator strikes again. While Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago was busy grilling Janet Lim-Napoles at the senate hearing on Thursday, her quips were also trending in social media. Leaving her…
Sagip Kapamilya from the wrath of Yolanda
OUR beloved Philippines has once again been tested by the wrath of nature, with the landfall of Super Typhoon Yolanda (International name: Haiyan), which meteorologists say may be the strongest…
While I’m young, I’ll start today
FUTURE LEADERS OF TOMORROW (I have a guest writer in this edition of my column. She is my 17-year-old daughter Katrina Relos, a senior high school student from San Mateo…
Senseless crime: Filipina kills her brother’s pregnant wife and unborn child
ALL Saints Day and All Souls’ Day, for many Filipinos who immigrated to America, are not so much about costume parties, nor trick or treating. It still holds the same…
Contradicting
ACCORDING to a report from Inquirer.net, President Benigno S. Aquino III’s speech on Wednesday left “more questions than answers,” when it was intended to provide “clarity and focus” on the…
A Closer Look at Corruption
I have just gone over a qualitative research study that confirms what most of us believe – that corruption in government is the root cause of the hardships that the…
Celebrating and challenging the Filipina
I HAD the privilege of meeting so many high achieving kababayan and kabaro in the Filipina Women’s Network Gala honoring the 100 Most Influential Filipinas in the World. It was…
Litography
SOME mischievous social media folks have been using a rather funny-sarcastic term when talking about President Noynoy Aquino: Litography. No, they’re not referring to a printing process. They mean someone…
Controversial Fil-Am mom asks: ‘What’s your excuse?’
ANOTHER Fil-Am mom created a firestorm online and on television because of her Facebook page picture, which showed her with her three very young sons, wearing a skimpy two-piece workout…
Higher stakes
THE stakes in uncovering the truth behind the controversial pork barrel scam just got higher. On November 7, the stage is set at a Senate public hearing, for a face…
The changing persona of the Filipina ‘lola’
IN the past, the epitome of the Filipina lola has been painted as an old woman in a rocking chair, gray hair in a bun (pusod), wearing eye glasses, a…
The cat and the hot stove
MARK Twain is said to have quipped, “A cat who sits on a hot stove will never sit on a hot stove again. But he won’t sit on a cold…
Destruction
THE magnitude-7.2 earthquake that struck central Philippines last Tuesday, October 15, has claimed 161 lives according to authorities. About 400 people were reported injured and some are still missing as…
Never too old to rock: Queen Lola continues to inspire
WHEN is a woman too old to rock? When a Filipina becomes a lola, should she stop taking care of her self as she used to in her younger years…
Honorary Filipino
ASKED what he would miss most about his home for more than three years, outgoing US Ambassador to the Philippines Harry K. Thomas recently told Inquirer.net that it would be…
Is the PH ready to grant equal rights to heterosexual and same-sex couples?
BEGINNING October 21, same-sex couples in New Jersey will be able to wed. This, after a New Jersey judge rejected the state’s appeal to halt same-sex marriages. Superior Court Judge…
Not Since Ramon Magsaysay
Jinggoy Estrada has apparently succeeded in diverting the attention of both mainstream and social media, from the P10-billion pork scandal to alleged anomalies involving Noynoy Aquino’s Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP)…
Wait and see
RECENTLY, the Filipino community was abuzz as news spread about a 63-year old woman who was allegedly detained and harassed by US immigration officers for six hours at the Seattle-Tacoma…
Filing a complaint against abusive immigration officers
FOR many kababayans visiting the United States, the most dreaded part of the trip is going through the immigration inspection. The recent news about a 63-year old Filipina being harassed…
PNoy, good second class
Innuendos concerning his association with alleged Queen of Pork Barrel Scams, Janet Lim-Napoles, his insistence on retaining his humongous presidential pork barrel-in-disguise, and recent allegations of bribery to ensure the…
Legal opinion: What to do when harassed at the US Immigration Port of Entry
YOU’VE got your US visa, excited to visit and tour around the United States, only to be subjected to harassing interrogation and threat of airport-to-airport deportation at the US immigration…
PNoy, Good Second Class
Innuendos concerning his association with alleged Queen of Pork Barrel Scams, Janet Lim-Napoles, his insistence on retaining his humongous presidential pork barrel-in-disguise, and recent allegations of bribery to ensure the…