Travelogue: Israel sojourn, the Holy Land Diary
(Part 1 of 3) The agonizing fear that kept me tossing on my bed for countless nights prior to my Israel trip (due to the never-ending destabilization attacks and constant…
Category: Lifestyle Columnists
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Stress tests save lives
Almost 4 million people in the United States alone have undiagnosed heart disease. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 735,000 Americans have a heart attack…
The message of ‘Passport to Heavenly Life’ by Camilo C. Graza
In the Bible, in both the Old and New Testament, it is said that it can be read in many ways. For some, it is the purest literature we have…
The world in dire need of douloi — servant-leaders
“WE are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.” — (Luke 7:10) I heard the above words from someone, not word for word, but in a…
A night of the scribes and lensmen with Consul General Adelio Cruz
IT is said that when God wanted to separate light from darkness, day and night were created. When media men had a similar itch, they bonded together. One can count…
Djoanna Garcia-Kocher: On faith, fame and success
A great Athenian playwright named Euripides wrote this about friends: “Friends show their love in times of trouble, not in happiness. “ I have not read Euripides’ work but his…
Glutathione caution
THE glutathione craze seems to have spread to various countries, including the Philippines, inspired mostly by the desire for a fairer complexion and quest for the fountain of health and…
An evening at the opera
I can never quell a stir of fascination, dread and longing when the house lights dim and the curtain parts, but the enjoyment of an opera can begin, not with…
Giving is good for the soul
“ONCE our wealth reaches a certain point we need to begin to give some of it away—not because others need it but because our own health and happiness will begin…
Age Beautifully Cookbook wins Gold in Living Now Awards
Recognizing the year’s best books for better living LOS ANGELES—The 8th Annual Living Now Awards for the year’s best books for better living were announced by the Jenkins Group this…
Inside the death chamber
It was my first police beat assignment and we felt that we had no right to do what we were doing. The killing of a fellow human being was repulsive…
Why my heart breaks over Brangelina’s split
What could have been a wonderful day to welcome the fall season became a day of mourning. It was indeed the start of the “fall”– only, I wasn’t talking about crisp leaves and…
Queries from readers
Is there a vaccine that prevents cancer? Yes, there is. It’s called Gardasil, a vaccine that prevents cervical cancer, found to be “effective 100 percent, in the short term, at…
Bicolandia celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of Penafrancia
It was a day on the brink of autumn that came with ribbons of mist under an impossibly blue sky. Clear and temperate burnished it as a perfect day to…
On being faithful stewards of our dreams
ONE night my brother Randy, my brother-in-law Ed, and I were sitting around the dining table at our family’s home, talking about work, travels, and other personal plans. Our discussion…
Ivy Violan on a night of love, rhythm and variations
Last Saturday, Sept. 10, an enchanting indoor concert with a profusion of unique talents in the musical world of songs, settled briefly at the Envision Center in Van Nuys, California….
Director Lav Diaz’s ‘Ang Babaeng Humayo’ wins top prize at the 73rd Venice Film Festival
I have always been a fan of our indie films. So many of our great actors and actresses started out with playing lead roles in such an interesting movie genre….
BCBP’s persuasion moves Lasylee & Jerome Marte to rekindle connubial bond
Overoptimistic and starry-eyed romantics are conscientiously defensive and closely guarded with their loved ones and whatever relationships they have kept for years. They value life and treasure every minute not…
Healthful tips
Acid reducers and their side effects Preliminary studies suspect Proton Pump Inhibitor (PPI) and H2 Blockers, which reduce the secretion of stomach acid used by millions to treat gastro-esophageal reflux…
Sen. Manny Pacquiao: ‘Public service is my calling but boxing is my passion’
BEVERLY HILLS — The essence of boxing is what we seek to capture and record. It might be the decisive moment which makes the bout last in your memory, or…
Mercy instead of hate, life instead of death
BUT Moses implored the Lord, his God saying, “Why, O Lord, should your wrath blaze against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with such great…
A paradise for the misbegotten
LAS VEGAS — On a hot, dry day in September, the whole city was breathing and heaving like a tired beast. On the street that controls all the luxurious hotels,…
Janine Tugonon: the first full-blooded Filipina model of Victoria’s Secret
The face that captured the Universe—and emerged as 1st runner-up—at the 2012 Miss Universe pageant has once again conquered the international scene. This time, as one of Victoria Secret’s models…
The Band of Brothers in search of its clear-cut stature in the music arena
If the Philippines has been globally known for exporting Manila hemp after the war followed by the world’s sweetest mangoes from Guimaras Island, and locally assembled by-products like semi-conductor devices,…
Artery hardening is a killer
WHAT is the hardening of the artery? The hardening of the artery, medically known as arteriosclerosis, is a condition that starts very early in life, where blood clots and cholesterol…
The emperor of maladies
What gives cancer its awful power? No one can explain why a malignant tumor strikes one and spares another. Anyone whose been to Cancerland is familiar with the scan: They’re…
Celebrating the sainthood of Mother Teresa
I REMEMBER standing next to her at the Luneta Park in Manila when Pope John Paul II beatified Lorenzo Ruiz of Manila and his companions. I was a young college…
The agonizing malady of a writer’s block
How strange, this demented feeling gives me when I realize that I have spent agonizing days before a pen and a notebook, with nothing better to do but jot down…
Behind Pokwang’s fun and endearing personality
Robin Williams (rest his soul) once said, “Comedy can be a cathartic way to deal with personal trauma.” Some people second that notion with quotes like ‘happy people are truly…
Oral germs and pancreatic cancer
PANCREATIC cancer is one of the deadliest and fastest killers in our society today. Because of the deeper anatomical location of the pancreas, cancer of this organ is most often…