Oh, if I were a man
A woman is not spared from humiliation, servitude and abuses. She could get raped in a dark street. She has to make use of a pretty face to be accepted…
Category: Lifestyle Columnists
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Aboard a floating carnival
THE most interesting about spending time in an ocean voyage is that it is purely relative. Like a fragment in space, a moment is in time. We sailed in the…
Revisiting Filipinos’ devotion to the Black Nazarene
I FOUND myself in the middle of a wave of people, mostly young men, parading barefoot before the image of the Black Nazarene. We were like bees or small fish…
One Sunday at FACLA
BBM-USA Chairman Fernandico Q. Gonong guided his guest, Greggy Araneta through a throng of folks, men and women alike, swathed in all shades of red. It was not a social…
The Master Showman’s curtain fell with finality
THE fangs of death could be dreadful especially for one whose faith isn’t strong enough to enable him to either come face to face with his Creator or cushion his…
Writing an unchaste novel
Do we seriously think writing is all joy? It is also half pain. Sometimes it is pain that makes us write. Think about the atrocious solitude of a room that…
When is writing not a joy?
DO we seriously think writing is all joy? It is also half pain. Sometimes, it is pain that makes us write. Think about the atrocious solitude of a room that…
A strong message this new year from Pia!
PIA Wurtzbach, the newly crowned Miss Universe, the latest pride of the Philippines, has become a celebrity with her interviews on almost every television channel here in the US. Her…
Greggy Araneta’s winsome drop by at the BBM-USA Assembly
LOS ANGELES—We had big excitements in our neighborhood at the Historic Filipinotown last Sunday, Jan. 4. There were predictable enthusiasm, pleasant surprises and enterprising constancy. Most astonishingly, what we learned…
Prayer in time of transition
“FROM that time on, Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:23) Many of us are deeply concerned about the things that…
Filipino singing superstars on the international stage
EVEN before the advent of reality talent show competitions on TV, we had capably established and stamped our distinct mark, as Filipinos, in the international music scene. The unprecedented record…
Rizal, the Literateur
HIS country absorbed him as affectionately as he absorbed it. His poems are easy to read, even to sing, to take to heart and put meaning into its ability to…
A haphazard scrutiny and pragmatic dissertation on Philippine pageantry
IT has been weeks after the worldwide telecast of the Miss Universe 2015 staged at the Axis of Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas last December 20 which…
BBM-USA: A quest for a legacy
A FEW Ilocanos together gathered one Tuesday night, around six until over just before midnight, while the hardcore stayed up till 2 am. The spirit of Ilocandia joined us that…
A New Year’s reflection
SOME friends invited me to go out with them for breakfast after a Simbang Mass. I accepted their invitation without hesitation so that I could spend time with them before…
Cheers to a new year!
Across America, given the fractured state of our collective hearts, attempts to embrace the New Year will be paddled with reverence, or a little whoop, a bit of holler and…
Sylvia Labial Avanceña Buhian: Her life beyond being a cancer survivor
Cancer, according to the American Cancer Society, is the second most common cause of death in the US and 8.2 million cancer-related deaths in 2012 based from the World Health…
2016 wish list
In every wish, there will be glimpses of kind virtues, to encourage and console. It could be something modest or even mundane, something fantastic or utterly practical. It can take…
Reflecting on a Simbang Gabi homily
MANY Filipinos worldwide posted pictures of Simbang Gabi Masses on social media such as Facebook. Their photos showed happiness, harmony and contentment. There were even pictures of parishioners attending Simbang…
The uninvited celebrant: Where’s the birthday boy?
WHEN international celebrity Marilyn Monroe, in her sexy tight-fitting gold gown that hugged her shapely figure, sang “Happy Birthday, Mr. President,” in May 1962, the attention of the world was…
A Christmas wish
A week before Christmas, we’re crammed with Christmas wishes, checking them twice, the naughty or the nice part. It is a seasonal splendor of a heart’s wish for Christmas. I…
My Christmas box
IN both fiction and reportage, I’ve always made known that the winding down of autumn and ushering of winter put me in a heavy and philosophical mood. I’m thinking about…
The genealogy of Jesus Christ: A journey to amazing discoveries
THUS the total number of generations from Abraham to David is fourteen generations; from David to the Babylonian Exile, fourteen generations; from the Babylonian exile to the Christ, fourteen generation. …
A faultless chip of the old block that is Marion Aunor
Indubitably a “chip of the old block” and admittedly a spitting image of her mom, Lala Aunor, a former movie-TV popular teen personality of the early 70s and 80s, multi-faceted…
Flu could be deadly
The influenza season is upon us once again. While flu is common and those afflicted usually recover uneventfully, this viral infection could be serious, or even fatal, for some people…
The Apostolic mission of a lola
“IF you want to civilize a man, begin with his grandmother.” – Victor Hugo So, one moment you’re just a mother — and before you can blink and think that…
Battle of the bulges
WOMEN who are terrorized by tape measures and scales know that there is nothing relaxing about this kind of fight. The result is apparent: a race among women to be…
Should we even celebrate Christmas this year?
It’s hard not to be affected by the recent terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California. It’s so close to home, only less than a hundred miles away. It makes us…
Aspirin daily: Safe or risky?
MY column on “Aspirin, the Wonder Drug,” came out in 2002, when this common household item was in the spotlight for some time for its new role in staving off…
The world of gossip
Some love or hate it, others write or repeat it. But the obsession with gossip seems here to stay. From what we read about the unholy and unchanging trinity of…