OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar Build rather than burn bridges. This is one of the tenets I have adhered to in my life, professionally and personally. It is something that is difficult to do especially in our current times where social media has amplified divisions and...
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar My daughter Camille, who represents the legislative district of Las Piñas City and who is also the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, recently filed a bill designating November as “Buy Pinoy, Build Pinoy Month.” But House...
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar Do you ever feel that the world around you is falling apart? Or that the end of the world is near? As I prepare to write this column, (Oct. 30) I browsed the headlines of the major newspapers and I had a feeling that disaster after disaster...
OF TREES AND FORESTS Former Senate President Manny Villar Recently, our retail group opened the first branch of Caffeena, a minimalist coffee shop focused on one thing only — allowing you to get your good, quality caffeine fix. It is as straightforward a coffeeshop as you can get. Get your...
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar It always gives me a laugh whenever people use Jose Mari Chan as a harbinger of the Christmas season. Toward the latter part of August, social media is abuzz with funny memes and posts about the transition to the “ber” months which...
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar Two thousand one hundred ninety-two days. That’s the full term of office of a Philippine president. Not 100 days. But why does the media pay so much attention to the first 100 days of an administration? Surely, you cannot possibly proclaim...
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. just returned from a very fruitful trip to the United States which was highlighted by his first ever one-on-one meeting with US President Joseph Biden and his address before the United Nations General Assembly....
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. has issued Executive Order No. 3 that allowed the “voluntary wearing of face masks in outdoor settings.” EO No. 3, which was signed on Sept. 12, 2022, was based on the recommendation of the Inter-Agency...
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar In 2021, we opened the first letter writing cafe in the Philippines fittingly named Dear Joe. The idea behind Dear Joe is simple, romantic, and quaint, possibly old fashioned. The coffee shop is the perfect setting to do something that has...
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar Last Sunday, Sept. 4, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. left the country to embark on his first ever state visit as the Philippines’ chief diplomat. Or, as he mentioned in his departure speech “mangangapitbahay muna para sa ating bansa at...
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., through the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has submitted to Congress his first full budget for the fiscal year 2023. The total budget proposed by the new administration is ₱5.268 trillion and was...
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar When his parents gave him the name Fidel, they probably saw something in him that told them he was going to be great someday. Fidel is a name that was derived from the Latin “fidelis” which means “faithful”. And that embodied what...
