MEDIUM RARE Jullie Y. Daza Stealthily, as if no one’s watching, it’s arriving, tonight. Christmas Eve, the magical moment of midnight signaling the arrival of the Baby who was born that he might die 33 years later, a common criminal condemned by the very people who had hailed him as their king....
Medium Rare Jullie Y. Daza What have we done to Christmas? Jammed in traffic. Crushed by fellow travelers at the pier, the airport, bus terminals. Flight schedules altered here and there. Police presence reminding the guilty and innocent of crime and other dangers. High and higher prices at the...
MEDIUM RARE Jullie Y. Daza In the olden golden days the expectation was for Christmas to cast its spell, a spell being an action that alters the dimensions of time-space-matter. Christmas, it is said, is the day that holds time together. The ghosts of Christmases past linger, touching the present...
MEDIUM RARE Jullie Y. Daza Nida left her house in Marikina at 7 a.m. for work in Intramuros, Manila, boarding her faithful motorcycle and hoping for a smooth, quick ride. She reached her destination two hours later. “To think I was on a bike!” she exclaimed in exasperation. What if she had been...
Congress has achieved a rare feat with Friday afternoon's signing of the P5.268-trillion national budget for 2023, according to House Speaker Martin Romualdez. From left to right: Senate President Migz Zubiri, President Ferdinand "Bongbong Marcos Jr., and House Speaker Martin Romualdez (Speaker’s...
MEDIUM RARE Jullie Y. Daza Why is rice so expensive? Because our farmers aren’t planting enough, because the costs of planting are going up, and because, even as that is happening, smugglers are bringing in imported rice and hoarding tons for bigger profit margins. According to Cathy Estavillo,...
MEDIUM RARE Jullie Y. Daza Undoubtedly THE cultural event of the year, the staging of Puccini’s great opera, Turandot, a lavish production that raises the bar and audience expectations from now on. For the 700 pupils that VP and Education Secretary Sara Duterte brought with her to the dress...
MEDIUM RARE Jullie Y. Daza At age 94, there’s not much in the world that surprises Tony Pastor, leading citizen of Batangas City who sings and plays piano, a philanthropist who keeps himself happy by helping others. But when he received a letter last month from Lipa Archbishop Gilbert A. Garcera...
MEDIUM RARE Jullie Y. Daza “It’s our money!” “Don’t you dare touch it!” In a nutshell, that’s how SSS and GSIS members, including retirees who are on pension mode, express their distrust of whoever will handle, manage, use the money to be poured into the so-called Maharlika Wealth...
MEDIUM RARE Jullie Y. Daza Climate change, climate change. The bad news is there’s nothing we can do to stop it or reverse its irreversible course. How many centuries to create another glacier to replace one that’s melting away? How many magicians to build a mountain and cover it with trees,...
MEDIUM RARE Jullie Y. Daza Judging by the crowds that packed the malls last Wednesday, a national holiday – or was it bonus day? – the people can’t wait for Dec. 24 to arrive soon enough. Before we know it, it will be Dec. 31, the end of the year, the last page on the calendar on the wall;...
MEDIUM RARE Jullie Y. Daza First chance I got close enough to chat with the 6’ 4”-tall San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora without standing on a chair, I asked, “How tall is Mrs. Zamora?” “Five-six,” he replied. “And my mom is five-eight.” Mayor Zamora has a new reason to be someone to...
