UNDER THE MICROSCOPE When our village association manager’s wife started having non-menstrual bleeding again after she was managed medically, I asked our class chat group for help in managing her. She needed total hysterectomy (taking out the uterus) since she had already completed their family...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Three global weather forecasting systems are projecting the 2026 El Niño will equal or exceed the strongest El Niño on record, which occurred in 1877-1878. Why is this worrisome? The 1877-78 El Niño hit the tropics that caused the collapse of grain harvests in India, China,...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE We’ve been bombarded by lots of political noise, ugly manipulations and a “moro-moro” show in the formerly august halls of the Senate of the Philippine Republic. All these are happening as the world around us explodes with wars, oil shortages and just plain ugliness from...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Why is it that the poor who are helpless and downtrodden are often the victims of exploitation? We have seen how the Value Added Tax (VAT) impacts the poor the most, for it is a huge burden for them to have to pay extra for goods purchased. Since it is a flat consumption...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE The Philippines has one of the highest hepatitis B (HBV) burdens in the world, with 16.7 percent of Filipinos positive for the virus with over 7.27 million affected. It means we are a hyperendemic country for HBV. Another 40 percent have serological markers (anti-HBs and...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE Around two weeks ago, the Department of Health issued a health warning re unhealthy air quality due to the April 10 fire at the Navotas landfill. The haze (fine smoke and dust particles) can produce symptoms such as difficulty in breathing, coughing, chest pain, eye irritation...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE The Philippine Society of Pathologists Inc. just concluded its 75th Annual Convention at the Makati Shangrila Hotel. Being a member of its board of governors, I was busy with the planning and of course, attended the convention. If you don’t know what a pathologist is, let me...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE With the US-Iran war still ongoing, the world watches with bated breath as to the eventual outcome. However, the world economy has suffered setbacks that will definitely see a real risk of stagflation. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the bombing of oil refineries has...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE With the bill granting the president emergency powers regarding the energy crisis already passed, the president should not just reduce the excise tax on fuels. Rather, he should totally remove it, even temporarily, to give the people some breathing space amid the tightening...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE In many countries, most people don’t drive cars. They take mass transport that is efficient, clean and runs on time. Before the Second World War, Manila had the tramvia, an electrified bus running along defined routes, attached to an overhead cable from which it draws power....
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE The past two weeks had been very eventful. There was the shock of the death of Pope Francis. Although I’d like to write about the pope, everyone seemed to have written about him that there isn’t anything new I can say about him that I haven’t read in newspapers,...
UNDER THE MICROSCOPE For the past 20 years or so, we haven’t joined the mad rush during Holy Week when people drive or fly out of Metro Manila like lemmings jumping off a cliff. What’s the point of going to Baguio for a change when you’ll encounter the same gang of folks from the city...
