Farm Fresh joined the recruitment frenzy for the upcoming 2024 Premier Volleyball League season after it signed Jolina Dela Cruz and Caitlin Viray. Dela Cruz, a former De La Salle standout, is coming off a stint with the now-disbanded F2 Logistics Cargo Movers and is expected to join forces with...
HOTSPOT History tells of the destruction in World War II of most of the churches that used to dot Intramuros. The only one left standing then was San Agustin, and what remained of the Manila Cathedral, which was later rebuilt. One of the former Intramuros churches was the Iglesia de San Nicolas de...
HOTSPOT When a friend-editor approached me, a blogger, sometime in 2013 about starting a column for the Manila Bulletin, I honestly thought it was a joke. He repeated the invitation several times, but I still didn’t believe it. How could that be when my beliefs are left-of-center, sometimes even...
HOTSPOT As I write this, the deadline for the so-called “consolidation” of our trusted jeepneys is fast approaching. Hopefully, one of two things would happen: Legally, the Supreme Court temporarily restrains the deadline. Politically, the President and Congress do it on their own. If tenacity,...
HOTSPOT A day after his 87th birthday, Pope Francis surprised the world on Dec. 18 by sending a gift to millions of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) persons. He gave them the gift of Catholic blessings. The historic declaration titled Fiducia Supplicans: On the...
HOTSPOT This week, Philippine labor leaders were seen not in the streets or picket lines. They were in fact in the U.S. to, among others, receive an award from the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). In bestowing the George Meany–Lane Kirkland Human...
HOTSPOT A philosopher once said: “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.” The past weeks have been quite significant: Responding to public outrage, Congress discarded the controversial confidential funds for the Department of Education and other...
HOTSPOT It is impossible not to be disturbed by the daily dose of heartbreaking news, especially photos and videos, about the attacks on Gaza and the West Bank, including hospitals, refugee centers and houses of worship. It would seem that only those with hearts of stone (or having a profit motive...
HOTSPOT On a cool November night in 2015, we went to the Carmelites’ media center in New Manila, Quezon City to cheer our friend Raymund Villanueva as he received the prestigious Titus Brandsma Award from the Order of Carmelites in the Philippines. As the awards night unraveled, we were...
HOTSPOT Palestinians are more familiar to us Filipinos than many of us could be ready to accept. Miss Universe Philippines 2019 title-holder Gazini Ganados, actors Agot Isidro and Dawn Zulueta, and professional basketball player Youssef Taha are just a few of many Filipinos with Palestinian blood....
SANTA CRUZ, Laguna – Two men crossing the national highway were killed by a speeding pick-up truck before dawn in Barangay Bubukal here on Tuesday, November 7. Police identified the victims as Lesly Layin Barrios and Glenford Asmeralde. The victims who had just left an eatery died on the...
HOTSPOT The past few weeks, I’ve watched on YouTube many videos of episcopal ordinations of new Catholic bishops, both here and abroad. They are often full of ecclesiastical pomp and circumstance, sometimes with dozens of bishops, archbishops and cardinals in attendance. The rites are fascinating...
