MEDIUM RARE Time flies. Suddenly, like a blast from the past, we are reminded that it’s been one hundred years since a John Gokongwei Jr. came along to contribute his share to build the economy, one goal, one enterprise at a time. Whether as Papa John or Big John, he was a name, a presence, an...
Tom Holland is Spider-Man alias Peter Parker. He is Telemachus in “The Odyssey.” Both movies are showing simultaneously in Metro Manila and in the US. To the credit of the actor, his director, and the screenplay, you will not mistake one for the other, granting you’re watching both movies,...
MEDIUM RARE There may be something for everyone in the President’s State of the Nation Address, SONA, so I hope the reader does not mind if I list my own Sana. (To nonreaders of the national language, “sana” is a wish word, as in “Sana I win the lottery with one ticket.”) “Sana” every...
MEDIUM RARE As shyly as though he was whispering a secret, Atty. Rick Blancaflor revealed, “I’ve been appointed chairman of GSIS.” Congratulations, Rick! Though it would have been better if instead of Government Service Insurance System, it was Social Security System. If only because, as...
MEDIUM RARE When a couple have been together for 60 years, it means they’re a diamond couple. And that’s Lito and Beng Atienza, a diamond couple with a very clear quartet of C’s: clarity, carat, color, cut. Lito Atienza was mayor of Manila for three terms, 1998 to 2007, and as it happened,...
A newly discovered species of helmet orchid found in the mossy forests of Mount Apo has been assessed as critically endangered after researchers documented only 10 mature individuals from a single known site, according to a newly published study. The species, Corybas apoensis, was formally...
MEDIUM RARE What a homecoming it was, to be back in the Metropolitan Theater and relax under its ceiling of Art Deco mangoes, for a long overdue concert. Maan Hontiveros, president of the Manila Symphony Orchestra Foundation, called it the orchestra’s centennial season, in gratitude for 80 years...
MEDIUM RARE Any excuse is good enough to drop everything and climb up to Baguio City, where the mountains are kissed by clouds and pine trees shoot up to the sky. And last weekend provided the best reason: the 25th memorial commemorating the passing of Potenciano “Nanoy” Ilusorio on June 28....
DAVAO CITY – The Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Davao region (DENR-11) recently rediscovered a rare flowering plant inside the Mount Apo Natural Park that had not been documented for 122 years. In a statement, the DENR-11 said that personnel of the Protected Area Management...
MEDIUM RARE According to Zenaida Seva, who was a real astrologer and not a “manghuhula,” the Philippines is a Gemini country. Independence Day is June 12, and if a survey were to be done, it would show that more of us citizens and residents, including the national hero Dr. Jose Rizal, were...
MEDIUM RARE There he was, in a sky-blue, short-sleeved shirt, and there I was, inches away and all I could say was, “Good morning, you look great! What’s your secret?” Oops, what did I just do, besides opening my big mouth? But he replied, calmly and with half a smile, “I chose my...
MEDIUM RARE Among other things and besides being First Lady and a doctor of laws, Liza A. Marcos keeps a fleet of 150 mobile clinics to serve farflung, hard-to-reach areas. That’s in addition to the “soft” side of her office, which is keeping a score of heritage houses in the Malacañang...
