This weekend, Girlie, Ayen, and I are in Lucena City for a gathering of the Villariba clan. We are celebrating the 60th wedding anniversary of Cesar Viilariba and Flotilda Collantes - Tatay Iba and Nanay Nene.
The 60 years of loving partnership has produced 13 children (Girlie is the second child, the first girl), and as [...]
Two years ago, I served as one of the judges in Panibagong Paraan, the World Bank-sponsored “market” for development innovations. Browsing through the hand outs, I was intrigued by the tag line of the World Bank’s CAS - country assistance strategy - for the Philippines: Supporting Islands of Good Governance.
That could very well be a [...]
The text invitation yesterday was for the book launch of Luid Ka! - the story of the crusade for good governance that led to the victory of Among Ed, Fr. Eddie Panlilio, as governor of Pampanga.
I decided to go because I wanted to meet the two guest speakers - Bishop Ambo David, the younger [...]
Yesterday, I took the morning bus from Gisgis where I had visited Inay, to get back to Quezon City before 4 pm. Girlie had scheduled me for a healing session with Raul Nava, a Pinoy from Lucena who is here on a short visit from Israel.
Girlie picked me up at home and brought me to [...]
At the Singapore Changi airport, in transit from Kuala Lumpur back to the Philippines, I spotted the free internet access service and checked my e-mails.
Since it’s March 8, International Women’s Day, why not blog about the women in my life?
Well, not really about all the women in my life. Some years back, I thought Girlie [...]
Tonight is my last night in Phnom Penh, and I am eager to go home to the Philippines after being away for 12 days. I am anxious to check how Inay is recovering from her debridement. Girlie and Ayen say that my absence seems longer than the 12 days, and warn me to expect a lot of [...]
Early dawn here at Schipol Airport in Amsterdam, I felt for a few hours like Tom Hanks.
My KLM flight from Manila arrived last night at 6:47 pm, and I was woozy from watching four in-flight movies; the most enjoyable was “Talk to Me” about an ex-con radio dee jay in Washington DC, who played a [...]
Seen from the upper deck of the Starlite Ro-Ro, the port of Calapan City is a slender strip of concrete against a lush green landscape. This is heightened by the two small equally green islands framing our boat’s approach.
I travelled with my sister and mother to Mindoro today, so I can spend some time with them in [...]
Last Christmas eve, while we stood outside the packed church of Naujan, Oriental Mindoro Girlie whispered to me: “What meaning does this Christmas mass have for you?”
I thought for a while, then whispered back: “There are many meanings, but right now it is mainly about taking part in a ritual of community.”
Christmas is an important [...]
Last Monday, Girlie invited me to join a lunch meeting she had organized for Chato Basa, our friend who is a migrant leader in Italy. When we drove into Miriam College, she remarked that it was the first time for her to enter the campus since she last taught there in the early 1980s.
Oyie de [...]
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