HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE: OUR NEW ABNORMAL Health and wellness were major preoccupations even before the health crisis hit us in 2020. If anything, the crisis ramped up the worry and concern we had about the health system prevailing here in the Philippines, and how it’s so often the case...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE: OUR NEW ABNORMAL As was crucially seen during the recent health crisis, the malls of today are more than congregation centers for recreation, dining and/or shopping. Thanks to their strategic locations, and their serving as walk-in magnets for the community;...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE: OUR NEW ABNORMAL In what has been universally acknowledged as the digital age, it might seem ironic and foolhardy to mount a Philippine Book Festival that literally champions the published book - with no digitized, online version in sight. But that’s exactly what...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE: OUR NEW ABNORMAL Live events are back in a truly big way. Theater, ballet, product launches, sports events, seminars and forums, they’ve all returned with a vengeance – and I know that’s manna from heaven for a host of talents, creative agencies, and events...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPEVINE: OUR NEW ABNORMAL While sustainability has been a global buzzword for over a decade now, and the concept of ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) agendas were adopted by the United Nations some eight years ago; it’s still a term that’s often ignored,...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPEVINE: OUR NEW ABNORMAL Filipinos who travel regularly to the USA will often make favorable remarks about their drug store chains like CVS Health, Walgreens, or Cigna; calling it a one-stop paradise for all things connected to health, beauty, skincare, and wellness. During...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPEVINE: OUR NEW ABNORMAL One of my columns last month (April 2nd), talked about the Manila Bay reclamation projects that are presently happening; and apparently, it touched a raw nerve with some readers who messaged me, asking why I wasn’t being more “protective” of...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPEVINE: OUR NEW ABNORMAL Let me tell you about my very first encounter with ChatGPT, the immensely popular, new AI language chatbot. My friend, who had the app, asked me to write in a sentence, just any random sentence; and so I typed in, “So many public speakers claim to...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPEVINE: OUR NEW ABNORMAL Business start-up’s are not in themselves, rarities. Every business had their start-up period; when odds are stacked against their survival, and it’s touch-and-go as to whether they’ll live to see long, fruitful years of existence. At times,...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPEVINE: OUR NEW ABNORMAL More than 50,000 Filipino seafarers, who are gainfully employed by European shipping lines, must have heaved a collective sigh of relief two weeks ago. In a nutshell, the report of the European Commission extending the recognition of seafarer’s...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE:OUR NEW ABNORMAL When the Manila Bulletin staged its second annual UPLIFT Awards last week, there was a strong sense of vindication for what we had inaugurated just a scant year ago. UPLIFT is an acronym for Unite Perform Lead Inspire Focus and Trend, and back in the...
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPEVINE: OUR NEW ABNORMAL Ever since the aerial photographs of the ongoing Manila Bay reclamation spread on social media earlier in the year, reclamation has been one of the negative buzzwords of today. And to be quite honest, I both understood, and didn’t understand, what...
