LANDSCAPE Gemma Cruz Araneta Most of my friends cannot believe that I am living happily ever after with three puspins, pusang pinoy, all rescued from different parts of the city by two other cat lovers of the family. Five years ago, my niece, Carmen, rescued four grubby kittens one of which was a...
LANDSCAPE Gemma Cruz Araneta As two political dynasties, each with a pervasive air of privilege, act out a tragic-comic zarzuela, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) averts its eye and points a moral compass towards pivotal issues concerning the nation’s future. Last week, the...
LANDSCAPE Gemma Cruz Araneta He was only 32, a month older than my daughter, Fatimah, who was also born in 1966. Teodoro Brawner Baguilat, Jr. is a Tuwali Ifugao with Gaddang blood. He was elected councilor of Kiangan in 1992 at the tender age of 26 and after serving a three-year term, he ran for...
LANDSCAPE Gemma Cruz Araneta President Rodrigo Duterte seems to have a visceral conviction that political dynasties can be good and bad at the same time. When his third term as Davao City mayor was about to end, he asked barangay captains and other local officials about whom they thought should...
LANDSCAPE Gemma Cruz Araneta With bracing directness, Senator Imee Marcos called VP Leni Robredo an “extraordinary housewife.” That was last Oct. 27, when she was interviewed by the gentlemen anchors of “On the Spot.” They asked her to describe all the presidential aspirants. So, Imee said...
LANDSCAPE Gemma Cruz Araneta These days, the query — what have you done for the country? (Ano bang nagawa mo para sa bayan?) — is a galling trick question intended to mock and discredit. The malicious interrogator does not want you to state how you perform your civic duties, on the contrary, he...
LANDSCAPE Gemma Cruz Araneta Recently, along the cyber highway, I found my missing-in-action Haitian friend, Rosemarie Lelong. In 1990, we bade each other tearful goodbyes at “Los Venaditos,” a favorite haunt. We had felt a special affinity, our homelands were shrouded in darkness by military...
LANDSCAPE Gemma Cruz Araneta Vice President Leni Robredo has raised the standard of political discourse in this country. That was evident in the acuity of her speech (in Tagalog) announcing that she will run (sasabak ako!) for president in the elections of 2022. I viewed it on YouTube so I could...
LANDSCAPE Gemma Cruz Araneta Pundits, pubic intellectuals, political analysts and media practitioners have spoken and written about the decay of our national institutions. This seemingly unstoppable process threatens the very existence of the Philippines. Our country used to be called the...
LANDSCAPE Gemma Cruz Araneta Political winds now ravaging the cyber super highway are like typhoon signals that warn us of an impending electoral tsunami. Most of the presidential wannabees from various regions of this archipelago are already hymning praises to themselves. Social media is...
LANDSCAPE Gemma Cruz-Araneta As this writing (Sept. 15), I am commemorating two events close to my heart. The first was the inauguration of the Malolos Congress in 1898, in Malolos. The second is my 56th wedding anniversary. My husband, Antonio Araneta, and I chose that significant date to...
LANDSCAPE Gemma Cruz Araneta What is happening in the USA is definitely none of my business, but allow me to give my two cents worth about President Joe Biden’s decision to terminate the 20-year US occupation and war in Afghanistan. He said: “I am the President of the United States of America,...
