PAGBABAGO Veteran journalist Vergel Santos’ recent call for citizen action is a timely reminder for all of us who are concerned about the future of the country. At a recent forum hosted by the Policy Center at the University of the Philippines, Vergel who has been a journalist for six...
PAGBABAGO In its 2021 Global Report, International IDEA cites three of the world’s largest democracies – United States, Brazil, and India as “backsliding democracies.” In other words, the study found that there are signs of “authoritarianism” and other indices of backsliding. The...
PAGBABAGO The release of the 2022 results of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA-OECD) on creative thinking in 64 participating countries had again created a stir as it showed Filipino students placing second to the last. The concern is understandable as...
PAGBABAGO Since it started four years ago, the Digital News Report (DNR) Survey by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism had shown significant changes in news media readership and viewership. More Filipinos or 47 percent rated themselves as “interested in the news,” an...
PAGBABAGO June is an important holiday and awareness day month in the country. June 5, World Environment Day, the day to protect Mother Earth, is important to all countries of the world because of the threat of climate change. It is also World Ocean Day, a focus on ocean conservation and...
PAGBABAGO I am primarily an academic even if I did dabble with the brush and acrylic for a period of four years before Covid-19, and which yielded a total of 175 paintings. How I did this was through a disciplined adherence to a weekly schedule at our workshop place, the Sunshine Recreation...
PAGBABAGO During the recent times, and perhaps because of challenges in the West Philippine Sea, our educational system, and food security, I again started to mull over our strengths and weaknesses and how we can survive or compete with several of our ASEAN neighbors. This continuing...
PAGBABAGO I think that legislative rotation or turnover is a practice that is more common in our country than in neighboring countries. It again happened recently when Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri stepped down a few days ago. “I was not following instructions,...
PAGBABAGO The month of May is National Heritage Month, established through Presidential Proclamation 439 in 2023 for the purpose of “creating among the people a consciousness, respect, and love for the legacies of the nation’s cultural history.” The purpose is not merely to make people...
PAGBABAGO Last Wednesday, my two nieces, Mayette and Leah, and their mom, my sister Lynn surprised me with a visit. It turned out to be an advanced Mothers’ Day treat – a sumptuous take-out lunch of Pampanga cuisine! One of the desserts, maja blanca, which was made of rice flour and...
A congressman is predicting members of former president Rodrigo Duterte's Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP) and Vice President Sara Duterte's Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) to bolt their respective parties amid the apparent campaign to malign President Marcos. According to Deputy Majority...
Quezon 2nd district Rep. David "Jay-jay" Suarez (PPAB) Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) spokesman, Quezon 2nd district Rep. David "Jay-jay" Suarez has laid down the prerequisites for the political party to coalesce with other...
