Categories
Tsinoy Beats and Bytes

Where is our dignity as a nation?

I wanted my year-end column to end on a happier note, but I cannot leave two upsetting pieces of news unaddressed. The first is about former Davao City vice mayor Paolo Duterte’s ridiculous but highly disturbing list of people allegedly planning the ouster of his father President Duterte. The second is about the project to […]

Categories
Parenting

When love smothers

Oil on NFA Rice sacks by Archie Oclos. We started at the left most panel and Achi immediately asked me why their heads were tilted. I told her, “you’ll see.” Towards the end, right before the last panel, painted directly on the wall, is a bullet that had pierced all of those heads. As soon […]

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History

Hope and a helping hand overcome Ompong’s wrath

He probably never thought that he would die that day. He and a few men from their barangay only wanted to help. They had rushed to try and rescue a family trapped under the rubble of muddy rocks. Jun-Jun, as his friends and family call him, was not fortunate enough to escape the mountain of […]

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History

Views from a first-time volunteer

As a newcomer, I felt motivated just watching the organizers plan the relief operations in detail. Despite having just a few short days to prepare, the organizing team was able to coordinate with partners (e.g. Amity Foundation Baguio, the Filipino-Chinese Calamity Relief Fund, UPCB Educational Foundation and University of the Philippines-Baguio) and prepare enough relief […]

Categories
History

Relief operations in Benguet

Our short trip to Benguet was meaningful and spontaneous. We had a little time to plan. I was amazed at how well the team was formed, ideas gathered and executed – all in just 11 days! This I think is a great example of the efficiency of Kaisa Para Sa Kaunlaran. After all, in conducting […]

Categories
History

True wealth is relative

Let me start this journal entry with a confession: I hesitated a lot when I got the invitation to be part of the relief ops for Bakun. My knee-jerk reaction was to say “no” to this opportunity. Just thinking about going to a relief operation site made me anxious. The last time I went to […]

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History

Kaisa once more rose to the challenge – quick response for Typhoon Ompong relief

Typhoon Ompong hit Benguet province on Sept. 15. Two days later, Kaisa’s partner organization, Amity Foundation Hong Kong (愛德基金會) called to ask if Kaisa was going to conduct relief operations. They informed us that the Hong Kong government’s Disaster Relief Fund now had a quick response option, which has less stringent requirements as long as […]

Categories
Gems of History

Parian in Cebu (2)

This is a continuation of my last Gems of History column on “Parian in Cebu” to complete the story of what happened to the Chinese in Cebu at the turn of the 20th century. Our narration will again be based mainly on National Artist Resil B. Mojares’ Casa Gerordo in Cebu.From 1850 onwards, the Chinese […]

Categories
Kidnap Watch

Killer of Chinese traders, Pinay agent gets life

A Quezon City court on Dec. 13 found three men guilty in the gruesome killing in 2010 of a Chinese couple and their agent.In a 51-page decision, Judge Marilou Runes-Tamang of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 97 found principal suspect Jaylord Dimal guilty of three counts of murder. Each one carried a penalty […]

Categories
History

From Beijing to Balangiga: How the Filipinos in Balangiga avenged the Chinese in Peking

The Balangiga bells will return to their rightful place. Yes, the Balangiga bells figured in the Filipino-American War, a significant but often ignored part of the history of Philippines-US relations. But only a few people know that behind the story of the bells is an interesting vignette in the intertwining destinies of the Filipinos and […]