THE VIEW FROM RIZAL It is baffling and funny that a social media platform should be among the prominent issues in the public forum just as the torch of leadership of the United States of America was being passed. Just before President Trump was sworn into office last Monday (Tuesday, Philippine...
THE VIEW FROM RIZAL As we write this column, a historic, unprecedented wildfire that started on Jan. 7 is still raging in Southern California, decimating a total of 40,000 acres, destroying more than 12,000 structures, forcing some 155,000 people to flee their homes, and putting another 160,000...
THE VIEW FROM RIZAL Tomorrow, Jan. 9, millions of devotees are expected to join the annual religious tradition called “Traslacion” — the procession commemorating the historic transfer of the image of Jesus Nazareno from a church in Intramuros to its present-day shrine in Quiapo, Manila. ...
THE VIEW FROM RIZAL One of the social media images of 2024 which carried a lot of meaning was that of the long convoy of Russian soldiers on trucks making a quiet and orderly withdrawal from Syria, days after the country fell into the hands of rebel forces. International media covering the...
THE VIEW FROM RIZAL As the world marks the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, I would like to share once again the letter I wrote to my eldest daughter, Cassandra, in 2011. This has been a tradition in our column. She was just three years old when I wrote her this letter. I published that letter and...
THE VIEW FROM RIZAL “How do I make sure I do well in the surveys?” Every time election time looms on the horizon, young, aspiring public servants vying for elective posts approach me and ask me that question. My usual answer is: “Don’t rely on them.” The reliability of election-related...
THE VIEW FROM RIZAL News that the President of South Korea had declared martial law hit the internet around midnight on Tuesday last week. This development sent shockwaves in the Asian region and elsewhere in the world. The move was unexpected and caught everyone by surprise, even his country’s...
THE VIEW FROM RIZAL Recent developments in the country and on the global stage boosted hopes that we may experience a stronger sense of peace during this year’s Christmas. Here in our country, President Bongbong Marcos, Jr. made a bold and noble move to convey to our legislators not to proceed...
THE VIEW FROM RIZAL In 1972, Australia’s representative to the Miss Universe Pageant held in Puerto Rico was a stunning woman from Perth named Kerry Ann Wells. She had a memorable answer to the question asked the five finalists: “If you can change who you are today, who would you want to be?”...
THE VIEW FROM RIZAL The parade of major weather disturbances was unprecedented. Even our elders in Rizal could not recall when the country had to contend with six typhoons in a month. Kristine, Leon, Marce, Nika, Ofel, and Pepito battered Luzon and portions of the Visayas, leaving a deadly trail of...
THE VIEW FROM RIZAL The people of the United States have made their choice for the next President of that powerful country. They did so in an election which many saw as one of the most “interesting” in contemporary American history. It was a “bare-knuckle fistfight,” said one of our...
THE VIEW FROM RIZAL Last year, we noted the appearance of several articles in the World Wide Web that were critical of the idea of the Filipinos’ remarkable quality of resilience. They were written mostly by younger members of the millennial generation. We understood their objection to what they...
