Gemma Cruz Araneta | LANDSCAPE My younger relatives, sturdy branches of the Rizal genealogical tree, have often asked during family reunions– why Rizal? Why was he singled out? Why was he the only one executed under such dramatic circumstances? He was banished to rot in Dapitan, imprisoned in Montjuich and Fort Santiago, tried by a kangaroo court then killed in … Read more
The first Holy Mass was celebrated not in the Visayas but in Mindanao because that historical event, that first step to staking territory in the name of God and King occurred not in Limasawa which is part of the Visayas, but in Butuan (Mazaua) situated in northern Mindanao. Please do not think that I am … Read more
Like it or not, believe it or not, Cuba and Venezuela are forging ahead of us in this battle against COVID 19 and its deadlier mutations. At this writing, a first case of the dreaded UK variant was reported in Pasay city, which makes one wonder if there are many more undetected ones. Then to … Read more
Historically speaking, Cuba is our sister republic, both of us were colonies of Spain and launched our anti-colonial movements at the same time. In fact, Jose Rizal and Antonio Luna wrote to each other about the Cuban revolution; Rizal observed that the Cayo Hueso (Key West) was where the Cuban revolutionaries would regroup. From Dapitan, … Read more
When the presidential elections in the USA were over, I felt it was time to unglue myself from You Tube and go back to listening to local news on AM radio. But when Capitol Hill was attacked on 6 January, breached and occupied by what looked like a blood-thirsty murderous mob of white supremacists (including … Read more
“Maybe, I will have to leave the country, “former US President Donald Trump said, jokingly, in one of his super-spreader rallies. He firmly believed that there was only a one in a quadrillion possibility that he could lose the 3 November elections. Well, he did lose! About 5 million American citizens denied him a second … Read more
The United States of America is no longer a ship at full sail, it seems. Although I am not a US citizen, I am afraid for President Joseph Biden and Vice-president Kamala Harris as their lives are and will always be in constant danger. They are the moving targets of members of those white supremacist … Read more
Yes, that’s us, the Republic of the Philippines, the “showcase of democracy”; it used to be the United States of America that was the light on the hill, the beacon of democracy. But, after that shockingly violent epiphany at their Capitol Hill, I dare say the USA is more of a “showcase of shattered democracy”. … Read more
The first time I saw him at Café Havana, he did not look as if he had five daughters, eleven grandchildren and two great grandchildren, perhaps the latter were not born yet; nevertheless, I would not have believed that he was already a grandfather. He cuts a lean and mean figure of someone who has … Read more
The oldest person I know may, sooner or later, be no other than myself. That entered my awareness with a jolt; there are now very few people whom I know, who are at least 10 years older than I am. Frightful, isn’t it? One fine day before the pandemic, I was thinking of whom I … Read more