Getting from Katipunan to Greenhills took two-and-a-half hours. This was early evening of Monday. It had been raining intermittently in the afternoon—not furious downpours but relatively light ones. When I left Katipunan, it was only drizzling. It was a breeze getting through the street, but when I got to the bridge just past Ateneo everything stood still.
Whatever it was that motivated our colleagues and students at the University of the Philippines College of Business Administration to name their college—the academic program itself, and not just the building—after their esteemed alumnus and former dean, Cesar E.A. Virata, I am quite sure it had nothing to do with the pledge of an endowment. Though he has rich and powerful friends, Virata himself has kept a low profile and is known to live modestly. But, more important, as far as I know, UP does not confer honor in exchange for money.
The furor did not die instantly, and the issue on rape being the subject of jokes will rankle as long as rape continues to be made a laughing matter. There have been discussions, reflections and reactions in print and online (not much on TV where the cause of the furor belongs) on the rape joke that was heard and laughed at by thousands in a live concert and later viewed with shock online.
My good friend Eddie Yap, chair of the urban development committee of the Management Association of the Philippines, wrote an excellent piece on the ills of the metropolis. After I saw how life and work were again disrupted, with so many people stranded and stuck for hours in unmoving traffic after a little rain on Monday, I think what he said deserves public attention and government action.
A bowl of rice. Something so common can mean so much—a staple in our diet, and a symbol of our heritage. Steaming simplicity, which represents the ideals of community and sharing that Filipinos hold so dear. A people of faith, hope, and perseverance—what qualities of the spirit push us to achieve more?
The offline world of dating is complicated. To meet your potential mate, you have to find him or her in the university, at work, and in social gatherings.
We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience– Teilhard de Chardin
When foreign visitors ask me about travel time within the Philippines, I sometimes crack a joke like, “Oh, the flight from Cebu to Manila is an hour, but to get from the airport to Quezon City it can take two.”
The McAdore Hotel is an abandoned building in Dagupan City. When it was built years ago, it was the pride of Dagupan, earning the monikers “International Palace” and “Star of the North.” The owners had such grand plans for it.
Often I am asked who among the people in Philippine history I want to interview. At the top of my list, of course, is Jose Rizal followed by Apolinario Mabini, and the hot-headed Luna brothers: Juan (the painter) and Antonio (the scientist turned military general).
The Philippines and Taiwan have agreed to avoid armed confrontations in dealing with fishing disputes. Henceforth, we will share maritime law enforcement, notifying each other posthaste whenever actions are taken against vessels and crews of one or the other.
Sixty years ago this month, a group of young American Jesuit scholastics, myself among them, sailed into Manila Bay. Fr. Francisco “Fritz” Araneta was our superior. He was home after years of study abroad, and began presenting his country. He pointed out a young woman, a legendary heroine, asleep on the mountains. He spoke of Corregidor Island, and told us of its fall. Part of the story he got from another Jesuit, Fr. Pacifico Ortiz, who had been there with President Manuel Quezon until they left with Gen. Douglas MacArthur. He told us there were sharks in the waters between Corregidor and Cavite, as if he expected us to jump in if he didn’t warn us. We saw nothing but green mountains and the blue sea. It was a wonderland.
