The Parian of Manila is by far the most known district the Spanish colonizers had restricted the Chinese in the Philippines to during their four-century rule. Outside of the city, however, were other thriving, albeit less known parians. Several of them were home to not only the Chinese but also Chinese mestizos.Two parians I came […]
For “his quietly heroic half-century of service to the Filipino people, his abiding dedication to the pursuit of social justice and peace in achieving dignity and progress for the poor, and his being, by his deeds, a true servant of his Faith and an exemplary citizen of his nation,” Ambassador Howard Q. Dee was conferred […]
It was at the Peace Commission in the late 1980s that I first came to meet Ambassador Howard Q. Dee, or HQD as we often refer to him. Fresh out of graduate school, I was a very diligent staff reporting to then Cabinet Secretary for Rural Development Edilberto De Jesus under the Aquino Administration. I […]
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. 請鬼醫病 tsnia kui ee […]
I recall attending a convention on philanthropy with my mom and dad in Singapore. He was speaking to one of the organizers and mentioned he disliked the title of philanthropist. He felt the word has an undertone of a hierarchy between rich donors and those in need. He preferred to see himself as a social […]
I have been in and out of circulation for the past three weeks. Backtracking news reports, I found, to my regret, a number of disturbing happenings that make me question where recent events are leading us. Shabu disappears Media reported that former Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Isidro Lapeña was promoted to Cabinet rank on […]
Choices regarding medical care are generally within our control. However, there may be times when we are unable to make decisions ourselves, due to illness or incapacity. Therefore, planning for when we cannot make important medical decisions is crucial. An advance health care directive has two parts: • The living will give family members and […]
Kaisa Para Sa Kaunlaran sent two teams to give relief and aid to several remote barangays in Benguet province from Oct. 9 to 21. The first team was funded by Disaster Relief Fund, Government of HKSAR People’s Republic of China through The Amity Foundation (中國香港特區政府賑災基金 愛德基金會救援行動). About 2,300 relief packs each worth an average of […]
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. 出世無縛手 tsut-si bo pak […]
Zheng Zi Long (鄭子龍), a famous pirate and marine merchant during the late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), was awarded amnesty and served as Ming general. He would later resist the Manchurian or Qing conquest. In the autumn of 1646, however, Zheng Zi Long decided to surrender to the Qing court over the objections of his eldest son, […]