MEDIUM RARE He was baptized Jaime. Friends and classmates called him Jimmy. Later, when he converted to Islam, he changed his first name to Jamil. But we still used his nickname when talking to him or about him. The bad news is that Jamil/Jimmy Maidan Flores is no longer with us. News of his...
MEDIUM RARE A new book calls for a celebration! In the age of AI, cellphones and larger screens, there’s no solitary pleasure to compare with the lonely joy of reading a book. A new book with its pristine covers and crisp white pages covered with words – what’s not to like? A book holds a...
MEDIUM RARE While President BBM was delivering his Independence Day speech, the woman directly behind him on the grandstand at Rizal Park was busy delivering her own speech to her one-man audience, a gentleman seated two chairs away from her. She was so busy talking and giggling that she did not...
MEDIUM RARE There are workers and there are savers, just as there are spenders. Without spenders, how would the economy function? We were at the mall last Sunday and I told my companions, “BBM should visit any of our malls one of these days and see how shoppers and consumers, the small ones, are...
MEDIUM RARE After PBBM accepted the courtesy resignations of all but the economic managers of his cabinet, he’ll have to cast a wide, wide net to form a new team. No need to apply, but how’s the supply? In a perfect Aristotelian society where truth is beauty and beauty is order, any...
MEDIUM RARE For the first time in his 10-year-old life, Miguelito (not his real name, but close enough) tagged along to the “palengke” (public market) with his mother. After the first few steps, looking very worried and puzzled at the same time, he asked, “Are you poor today, Mama?” Mama,...
MEDIUM RARE So we have 12 new and not-so-new senators. Plus a roster of both new and repeat congresspersons, mayors, vice mayors, and councilors. Congratulations and my sympathies to you all! Now the work begins, or begins again. There were no tears shed when the winners were proclaimed, but there...
MEDIUM RARE One day before “all roads lead to Rome” for the conclave of cardinals to choose the next pope, friends of Imelda R. Marcos from way back were invited to commemorate the 71st anniversary of her betrothal to Ferdinand E. Marcos last Tuesday, May 6. No one at our table brought up the...
MEDIUM RARE Said the cashier to me in the bookstore last week, “That’s our last copy.” She was referring to my purchase of Robert Harris’ 2016 novel, Conclave, a work of fiction but one packed with facts, including a map of St. Peter’s Square that includes the basilica and Sistine...
MEDIUM RARE Traveling up in the air on a plane with journalists, Pope Francis was asked what he thought about same-sex unions. As the story goes, the Pope replied, without batting an eyelash, “Who am I to judge?” My favorite couple, “Mader” Ricky Reyes and Cris Aquino, have been...
MEDIUM RARE Days before last Tuesday the 22nd, I already had a headline for this little essay I was still going to write. It would be about the passing of two icons in the entertainment industry, Pilita Corrales and Nora Aunor, within days of each other. Who could have known that the end of...
MEDIUM RARE Eighteen regions. More than 7,000 islands. And 68.43 million voters to reach. If you have the spine and the stomach, do you have the funds? Campaign, it rhymes with pain. At our once-a-month lunch, 2025 senatorial candidate Greg “Gringo” Honasan, former senator and cabinet...
