Gemma Cruz Araneta | LANDSCAPE Several times in the recent past, President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to resign. He is not the first Philippine president to do so. More than a century ago, Emilio Aguinaldo actually wrote a letter of resignation to the Filipino people and begged them to accept it as their “Aguinaldo” (Christmas gift) to him. The first … Read more
We were having lunch at a favorite restaurant called “Chalupas y Pollo,” famous for succulent chicken dishes; it was a breezy sunlit Sunday at the Lomas de Chapultepec in MexicoCity. When I was about to pay the bill, Leon took out a small leather pouch bulging with coins he must have been saving all along. … Read more
Last Sunday, much earlier than usual, I went to my favorite supermarket for my week’s supply of basic necessities and special cravings. Among other things, I bought a serving of Russian salad (never as good as what I used to make) neatly packed in a plastic canister and a small cheese and spinach quiche. While … Read more
My sincerest thanks to Dr. Faina Abaya Ulindang for sending me a copy of the “Report of the Transitional Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC)” which was mandated to undertake a study and to make recommendations”… with a view of promoting healing and reconciliation among the different communities affected by the conflict in Mindanao and the … Read more
The spirit of MAPHILINDO (Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia) has outlived President Diosdado Macapagal who initiated the formationof a Greater Malayan Confederation in 1963. Although the confederation did not materialize, a pan-Malayan spirit continues to bind the three countries. How evident that was during “The Malay Word”, the4th International Conference of the International Council for Historical and … Read more
During the weekend, while dreading the landfall of hurricanes in Cuba and Puerto Rico and the deadly tremors of tectonic plates in southern Mexico, the vermin of memories bit me. Observatorio, observatorio — the word dribbled around the circuits of my brain and I wondered why. What was the connection? Observatorio is an enormous bus … Read more
When the Big One came, we were all unprepared; by all, I mean not just me and my children but the entire Mexico City. All of its 18 million inhabitants, which made it the largest and most populated city in the world, in 1985. The Big One came in the morning, at around 7:25; I … Read more
Forecasting hurricanes in the Antilles (Caribbean) became an obsession in the late 19th century. In Cuba, Pearl of the Antilles, there were two meteorological centers which contrasted in orientation even as they pursued a single objective — hurricane forecasting. The Havana Physical Meteoric Observatory (OFMH, Observatorio Físico –Meteorológico de Habana) founded by Andres Poey represented … Read more
“The evil that men do lives after them….” A line from one of Shakespeare’s plays, it could very well be a sweeping description of the HOCUS exhibition at the Gallery XXI of the National Museum of Fine Arts. Most of the 36 paintings authored by Atty. Saul Hofileña and Guy CUStodio are sinisterly anti-friar; Marcelo … Read more
As long as the “Moros invade the provinces, the Indians [Indios] will resist paying tribute.” For obvious reasons, they themselves had to build the bulwarks, watchtowers, strongholds with forced labor and weapons in hand. They felt aggrieved because as loyal subjects of the King of Spain, shouldn’t they be protected from invasions, at the very … Read more