[COLUMN] Planned obsolescence
NOW is a good time to ponder about the end. It is a grim thought, I admit, but it seems appropriate when taking stock of the year about to be…
Category: Lifestyle Columnists
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[COLUMN] Christian Bables wins best actor at MMFF, ‘Big Night’ wins best picture
IT was a fruitful night for “Big Night,” as it won a bevy of awards at the recent Metro Manila Film Festival 2021’s Gabi ng Parangal. The Jun Robles Lana-directed…
What is life? My 2021 Christmas column
WRITING this Christmas column is neither easy nor difficult. However, it required deeper thinking after almost two years of coronavirus-induced changes in our lives. There is a myriad of unexpected…
[COLUMN] The gift of family
A warm Christmas greeting to you and your families! I hope you’re enjoying the Christmas season and keeping yourselves in good health. This Sunday’s Feast of the Holy Family falls…
Mon David’s homecoming concert: The floodgates of his creative intelligence, unleashed
“Mon’s performance at Catalina was the alarm clock [that] my jazz spirit needed to wake from its catatonic dormancy throughout the pandemic! It was a great jolt of jazz as…
[COLUMN] 4th COVID-19 shot?
OMICRON is super-contagious and skyrocketing across the nation, while the virus continues to replicate and mutate mostly in the bodies of those more than 50 million unvaccinated people in the…
[COLUMN] Remember the wonder
YEAR after year without fail at around this time, December days and nights seem to slip from our grasp like fine grains of sand. The hours seem to hurtle through…
[COLUMN] Greetings!
WE’RE in the fourth week of Advent, and it will be Christmas next week! Are you prepared? Prepared to welcome the celebration of the birth of our Savior, Jesus? As…
[COLUMN] Miss India Harnaaz Sandhu is new Miss Universe
MISS India Harnaaz Sandhu, a Bollywood actress and model, was crowned as the 70th Miss Universe Pageant winner in rites held in Eilat, Israel on Sunday, December 12. She becomes…
[COLUMN] A Christmas story: The Innkeeper’s untold tale
JOSHUA was excited with his new job at the inn. It sure beats having to herd sheep this time of the year when the cold nights chilled his bones on…
[COLUMN] How we can be joyful
JOY! It’s the theme for this Third Sunday’s Advent Liturgy. As a matter of fact, the third Advent candle symbolizes hope. And so, this Sunday’s Scriptures speak loudly about it….
[COLUMN] Cruelty to our planet
IT does not take an Einstein to understand that clean air, pure water, and unpolluted environment are conducive to health and longevity. In certain parts of the world, like in…
[COLUMN] The second candle of the Advent wreath: The light of faith
WE are now journeying into the Second Sunday of Advent. Last week, we lit the first candle that symbolizes hope—hope for the world and the Church in these challenging times!…
[COLUMN] Edu confirms relationship with Cherry Pie
ACTOR, TV host and politician Edu Manzano confirmed that he is in a relationship with actress Cherry Pie PIcache. Prior to the admission, there was a lot of speculation from…
[COLUMN] Whatever happened to happily ever after?
(Excerpted from the conclusion of a 3-part article) … There is news of suicide that hits you harder because you personally know the person who took his own life. By…
[COLUMN] Reflecting on a grateful heart
Nick Ortner of The Tapping Solution writes this story: “A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign…
[COLUMN] Great medical news
A cardiologist friend of mine in Indiana, who had referred countless patients for open-heart surgery to me in the 80s and 90s, had a freak accident at home that broke…
[COLUMN] Internationally known boxing champ Manny Pacquiao heads list of famous December birthday celebrants
FOR the merry month of December, internationally known boxing champ, Philippine senator and presidential aspirant Manny Pacquiao heads the list of prominent celebrities who will be celebrating their birthdays this…
[COLUMN] Two magical words
Part 2 of 2 (Continued from last week’s issue…) Let’s do a reality check. So okay, your partner is the consummate slob and you have to pick up after him….
[COLUMN] The Kingdom of God in the ‘here and now’
I LIKE Gerald Darring’s down-to-earth description of the Kingdom of God in his book, To Love and Serve: Lectionary Based Meditations. He states: The Kingdom of God is a space….
[COLUMN] Rayver-Janine, Alodia-Wil breakups surprise showbiz watchers
IT seems like the holiday season this year is becoming breakup season when it comes to showbiz couples. First, Rayver Cruz and Janine Gutierrez, whose relationship became public in 2017,…
[COLUMN] Politics deadlier than COVID
WHY the COVID-19 pandemic will most likely be with us for years is vividly demonstrated by the following well-publicized news: “A federal appeals court has called President Joe Biden’s vaccine and testing…
[COLUMN] Two magical words
Part 1 of 2 MANY years ago, on a visit to my father’s grave site on a quiet, lush, manicured patch of Forest Lawn Glendale, my husband, daughter and I…
[COLUMN] Every moment: a precious and fragile gift
THE Gospel Reading from Mark 13:24-32 this Sunday (November 14) provokes a sense of vigilance and urgency in us with the following words: Learn a lesson from the fig tree….
[COLUMN] Maureen Montagne wins Miss Globe 2021
CHALK up another win for the Philippines in the world of pageantry! On the heels of Cinderella Faye Obeñita’s win at the Miss Intercontinental 2021 in Egypt, fellow Binibining Pilipinas…
[COLUMN] The only way to win
MY grandson Colin, 11, finally got his first COVID-19 vaccine last Thursday, November 4, after eagerly waiting for months “because someone ahead of him had opted out,” his mother, my…
[COLUMN] Philippines: Five hundred years without love
March 16, 1521 is one date that is known by students of Philippine history, as it’s the date when Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese national but worked as a mercenary of…
[COLUMN] The curious case of Stephen C. Davis: Ghost story
(Continued from last week …) Half a lifetime later and half a world away, I have forgotten much about the murdered American soldier. Buried in the mists of time, his…
[COLUMN] Fr. John Cordero: Truth, light and God’s resonating words beyond the coronavirus pandemic
“Correct leadership is not a divine right, but a duty of service. We are known as Christians by our service. We have to remember our roles as servant leaders… to…
[COLUMN] The synod on synodality
SOME of you must have heard of Pope Francis’ call for a “synod on synodality.” And you might have asked what it’s all about. First of all, synod (from Greek synodos, assembly)…
