We have been sold to rebels! Secretly, the President brokered a deal with Muslim rebels and has granted them land. The deals were so secret that I’ve just heard that 3 barangays in my city, and about 3 municipalities in my province have been included in the deal. Yet those are only small cuts of [...]
Rumor has it that a grave tragedy struck one family here in my city. They were a poor family as the fact that the father has to line up everyday to buy National Food Authority (NFA) subsidized rice. They couldn’t afford commercial rice, which costs about twice that of NFA subsidized rice. As luck would [...]
I think all medical students since the time medicine has been formally organized have asked this question, “Must I become a doctor?” Others ask this when they are bombarded with patients and the paperwork that come with them. Others ask this when they realize that their life would involve being perpetually exposed to sickness. Others [...]
Photo of a tartanilla* dressed up with national colors. I’m a few days overdue, but considering what our President has done to mangle up our calendar, I guess my greeting of a Happy Independence Day would still be appropriate for now, or not. I’m not a political activist. I’m not even close as a nationalist. [...]
Today is the 4th day since we officially started class, and I still don’t feel like a med student yet. I’ve met my classmates, and we’ve met the MDs who would be our tutors* and teachers. We have been oriented to the library. We have even had several classes. Yet I still feel as if [...]
Today is Friday, my last day of freedom. Classes would be starting next week on Monday, which means that after about 2 years since UP, I’ll finally be a “full-fledged” student again. I’m not counting Saturday and Sunday as my last days of freedom because students are usuall free during those days. I’m also not [...]
Drive around the streets of Northern Mindanao* and you may find wooden crosses supported by rocks. These are not shrines to obscure Catholic saints nor are they remnants of the Stations of the Cross displayed during the Holy Week. These are in fact analogous to gravestones, except that there are no bodies under them. They [...]
Never ask a girl why she must make an unplanned trip to the convenience store…
Since my mother couldn’t go to her side’s family reunion, she sent me and my sister to the event unaccompanied by our father because he had a speaking engagement to prepare for. The reunion was in honor of my great-grandparents, the parents of my mother’s mother. From their 8 children sprang several generations of descendants, [...]
IMO, the most beautiful national anthem of the world is the Hatikvah of Israel. It has an almost ghostly clarity in its melody which speaks directly to the heart. It sounds like a song of mourning, which is strangely different from the usual fare of national anthems that usually tell of marching, victory, and bravery. [...]
