In Chinese culture, the 15th day of the seventh month (七月半) in the lunar calendar is Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month (鬼月). During this period, it is believed that the gates of hell are opened to allow the spirits in hell, or ghosts from its lowest […]
A s part of their homework, my granddaughters, ages 9 and 7, were instructed to watch President Duterte’s second State of the Nation Address on television. The SONA would be discussed in class, they were told. The two girls asked me to sit with them so we could listen to it together. For the first […]
Alleged members of a loan shark syndicate were cleared of charges for the kidnapping and serious illegal detention of Singaporean national Wu Yan, 48. Of the 44 foreign nationals– Chinese and Malaysians – charged, 30 were cleared when the Department of Justice ruled on July 20 that there was no probable cause against them. They […]
The Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL, or The Writers Union of the Philippines) celebrated National Literature Month on April 29. The theme of the congress, “Ang Panitikan sa Panahon ng Tokhang (Literature During the Bloody War on Drugs),” featured a keynote lecture by Dr. Jose “Butch” Dalisay Jr., a professor of creative writing […]
Former Philippine Economic Zone Authority director-general Lilia de Lima and Philippine Educational Theater Association are two of six awardees of this year’s prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award. As PEZA’s first director-general, De Lima was tasked to promote and regulate foreign investments in the country’s economic zones in 1995. De Lima was recognized for “her unstinting, sustained […]
Not too many know Arturo “Art” Valdez, but they should. He organized the first all-Filipino team that climbed Mount Everest and then sailed around the Philippines and Southeast Asia in a reconstructed ancient balangay. He’s planning to take the same balangays to China on a voyage similar to that undertaken by Sultan Paduka Batara 600 […]
MigmarTsering, 25, is from the remote province of Nubri, Nepal. He sports an afro hairstyle, a swag beard and a charming smile, and an earring on his left ear. He carries a chic, leather backpack. When I first spotted him, he was bowing full-length on a plyboard, in front of three Buddha statues. He has […]
The Department of Health states that around 300 to 600 Filipinos die from rabies per year. More than half of the victims are children between five to 14 years of age. According to the World Health Organization, the Philippines ranks among the highest in the world in terms of rabies prevalence. Rabies is a deadly […]
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. 搧給你坐東看西 sam ho di […]
Who were afraid of the mestizos? Answer: The Spanish colonizers during the 19th century. We are not kidding. Referring again to Alfredo Roces’ Adios Patria Adorada: The Filipino as Ilustrado, the Ilustrado as Filipino, which I cited in the July 4-14, 2017 issue on “The great role of mestizos,” Sinibaldo de Mas in 1842 penned […]