Sometime in 2018, the Office of the President issued Executive Order 55 which had a rather quirky title: “…constituting a steering committee for the commemoration of the Quincentennial of the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in the Philippines, the victory of Lapu Lapu in the Battle of Mactan and other historic events that happened from 1519 … Read more
Two decades ago, when I had a business of my own, I realized that my 13 employees had no idea of time. Although I had taught them to arrive punctually at work, none of them gave time an economic value since its only manifestation was the intensity of the sun, scorching at noon and benign … Read more
You are cordially invited to join the webinar ,”The Aromas and Flavors of the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Route” this evening at 6 p.m. Kindly look for the link online. I lived in Mexico for 18 years, the longest I have been away from the Motherland. Except for the Philippine embassy staff, no one knew me when … Read more
In a recent palaver (via zoom) my friends and I were wondering about the long -term effects of COVID 19 on the educational system, now that private and public schools are closed and distant learning, the alternative, is not available to the majority. When that spirited discussion ended, I asked myself—what if COVID 19 had … Read more
From Carmen Guerrero Nakpil, my mother: “ I asked (Imelda) whether she and the President watched Ninoy’s funeral on TV, and she said, yes, they’d done so, together, in his bedroom. And that they’d been crushed, struck dumb by the enormity of what they were seeing on the video screen. She added that they had … Read more
We forayed into history to choose our wedding date, it had to be significant for both of us, not only for his side of the family, but also for mine. So, Rizal’s birthday, June 19 was out and so was his heroic death by firing squad on 30 December. The Malolos Congress came to mind, … Read more
At low tide, a sliver of white sand appears where Manila Bay meets the American embassy. In a wink, it is filled with naked street children and their scantily-clad elders—dwellers of parks and sidewalks who want to escape the heat. They have probably heard of Boracay and want to know how it feels. But, unbeknown … Read more
While we were talking about unscrupulous people who steal ideas with impunity, I asked Atty Daniel Hofileña, expert in the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines, about the fate of the HOCUS paintings. None of these are for sale and the next best thing to owning one is by acquiring the book -catalogues, hardbound and … Read more
During a weekly zoom session with former classmates, one of them complained that she saw an almost exact copy of a Manansala she had inherited, in an on-line catalogue of an auction house. Another one detected a perfume of fraud when a copy of her own painting was for sale at a private club in … Read more
At this writing, the venerable Senate of the Philippines and the House of Representatives are about to have a Bicameral meeting about what to do with the Php 162 billion pandemic fund provided by the Bayanihan 2 bill. I was informed that Php 10 billion has been earmarked for our tourism industry which is in … Read more