Inside the death chamber
IT was my first police beat assignment. We felt that we had no right to do what we were doing. The killing of a fellow human being was repulsive and…
Tag: Mylah de Leon
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FACLA makes everyone matter
THE sun was blasting down ferociously on the pavement in this hottest April day, brimming with heat. Historic Filipinotown was melting, heaving and breathing like a tired beast. Here on…
Grandmothering
“IF you want to civilize a man, begin with his grandmother.” – Victor Hugo One moment you’re a mother. Then, when your children are finally all grown up, you relax…
Is the human splendor of medicine gone?
The practice of medicine is an arduous and complex human profession. One doesn’t need training in medicine, in order to make cogent and crucial experience about what it’s like to…
The real world of boxers (and the chorus around them)
Every fight evokes memories, and usually a story. After so many fights and so many stories, after all the fame and fortune that boxers have incurred and all the belts…
One Saturday night in Las Vegas
In a square jungle that is the boxing arena, good stories are good stories, regardless of who tells them. Whatever your story conveys, you know what it feels to have…
The unheard, unwept and unsung heroes of Bataan
There is always a legend of a hero — one who fights and dies in the name of freedom. The word freedom does not seem to have a synonym, only…
The enjoyment of reading
It is the art of entertaining oneself with the brains of other men. I dedicate a considerable portion of my time with other people — reading their thoughts and their…
The ultimate interview: Questions I will ask Jesus Christ
Can anyone imagine how it would be like to interact with the Lord, who knows your every thought and word, even before you speak? How do I attempt to clear…
God bless the queen(s)!
Red-faced and feeling contrite, I erred last Sunday. I rant against mediocrity and plead so ardently for an intelligent performance about real people, who say coherent things to each other….
The camera never blinks
With its vivid communication of reality, a photograph is a powerful tapestry, which tells a story. Images of people and events are captured in the split second that they happened….
Spring once more
Spring has sprung. It is upon us in a scent that grows deeper, dizzying, improbable. It is too heady, too provocative to be diminished. Seeping through open windows, under doors,…
The Beatles: Let it be
I am one of those who freely and ungrudgingly take great interest in my friends’ pleasure, in what they relish and what they become anxious about in the world of…
The follies of fashion
I am reluctant to write about fashion. It does not fascinate me — on the contrary, I find the subject repellent. But I did not choose the times I live…
A gathering of the Democrat faithful at the LA Convention Center
In an overall mood that was celebratory, California Democrats gathered on March 8, Saturday to celebrate their dominance in state politics and their prospects in this year’s election. In this…
Life and writing
According to a famous novelist, life is that which pressingly, persistently, unfailingly and imperially interrupts. I measure my life through sentences pressed out, line by line, according to what poured…
To ConGen Hellen Barber De la Vega: Good luck and till we meet again!
Farewells are always simultaneously sad and bright, like sunshine after the rain. Braving the rain and howling wind, the guests poured into Double Tree by Hilton in Norwalk: Fil-Am officials,…
The Oscars: A metaphor for success
CELEBRATING the Academy Awards (nicknamed The Oscars) is as old as a man’s knowledge of entertainment, music, laughter and despair. It is as fresh as a child’s first taste of…
Too old to dream
This little piece takes us, not just to a place, but into the minds and hearts of those, who are in their twilight years, in a society that glorified youth….
For the love of art
Artists are those whose gifts set them apart — their talent, wisdom and integrity are superior. They make beauty, unlock mysteries, serve the truth, make life out of the matter…
The many faces of love
Love’s vistas are inexhaustible. But for all the ardency of love’s idealism and romance, it can only be taken as an act of faith. To be ruled under the spell…
The splendor of moonlight
I admire a contented mind — one that reveres enlightenment of simple things. Yet, in quiet meditation, the one emotion that’s hardest to fight against is a longing for all…
The academe, artists and doctors who rallied in an evening for a cause
On a recent Sunday, an enchanting concert with a profusion of unique talents of a superb ensemble of musical world of choirs (weeping violins, classics and folklore) settled briefly at …
Pacquiao-Bradley’s unfinished business
Some things never change. A presscon with Manny Pacquiao is a field day that has the same ingredients — whether here at Beverly Hills Hotel or any other venue. A…
Enduring hormonal mischief
It is the new perspective coming into view in every woman’s major life passage: a mid-life agitation, literal and poignant. First, the gushing, like the reddening of a dying tree…
A Palm Springs weekend
This year-round oasis is a timeless, limitless haven that spells an unparalleled sense of escape, adventure, recreation, and relaxation at your own unique way of playing. It is where you…
Not guns, but bullets that kill
They consist of running bits of metals through the flesh of men — large, small, pointed, square, round and splintered bits that tear and kill. It is not the metal…
The day a million hearts broke
Enroute to San Francisco, I saw glossy posters of people, waving happily as they hop into a plane. I realized what a lying society we inhabit. Airborne inside the belly…
Women and equality in the battle scene
Some things light up — an uneasiness that, at first, you wouldn’t know how to define. But then you eventually do, and a shudder rises up and down your spine….