The past few months, parents have been bombarded with the Close-Up tragedy news, where five people died of suspected drug overdose. In the university where I teach, we have another conundrum, a community problem: we are discussing the issue of Close-Up traged. Because our university does not have classes on Fridays, Thursday night is the […]
Mention of cultural heritage often brings to mind our colonial structures from the Spanish era to the American period, never mind if there’s such a thing as audiovisual heritage, heirloom cuisine or prehistoric engineering. It’s because these structures are often monumental, concrete in the mind, present throughout the country and have been there since time […]
The senior high school program rolled out this school opening to mixed reviews. I believe, though, the K-12 program mandated by the 2103 Enhanced Basic Education Law, which prescribes two additional years in high school, is necessary and will, in the end, redound to the benefit of Filipino college graduates. Until basic education was lengthened […]
It’s almost 6 p.m., the time my parents come home from the store. I hear their distinct footsteps coming closer. And just as they were about to turn the corner… “Bulaga!” I’d shout. My parents would have a good laugh. A nice end to another tough day. People say children bring families together and I […]
“I still remember that day. It was March 9, 2015. We were having a family lunch and he asked us if he could enroll in archery instead of basketball or swimming for summer,” Ebbinghans Reaport recalls. His son Jonathan (洪聰賢) was just 11 at the time, and the request came as a complete surprise. It […]
In 265 B.C., during the Warring States Period, Xiao Cheng Wang (孝成王) ascended the throne in the state of Zhao (趙). But it was his mother, Zhao Tai Hou (趙太后) or the Empress Dowager, who was the real power behind the throne. Qin (秦), the strongest state then, took advantage of the situation and dispatched […]
Paleontology – the study of fossils, the remains and traces of past life – offers us a glimpse of the environment and evolution of the natural world from the distant past. Paleontologists assiduously search for fossil evidences, incorporating all available data from rocks and fossils in order to dig further into Earth’s history. The oldest […]
Evangelization, or the spread of Christianity, played a critical role in the colonization of the Philippines by the Spaniards. Unable to discover spices and gold in the islands, Spanish authorities had considered abandoning the colony. But the priests’ persuasion that the Philippines could be used as a stepping stone to propagate Christianity in China eventually […]
Hokkien, on the tongues of Tsinoys, has grown and evolved, taking on a life of its own. Sometimes words simply fail us. With some creativity, Tsinoys have strung together words to form colorful phrases that simply hit the bull’s eye. Here are some expressions unique to Hokkien as favored by Tsinoys. Idioms, expressions Hokkien pronunciation […]
Are there food choices that can prevent or maybe even cure cancer? If you ask Dr. David Servan-Schreiber, co-founder of the Center of Integrative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, the answer is a definite “yes.” Servan-Schreiber has three unique credentials. First, he’s both a medical doctor (MD) and a PhD. Second, […]