HOTSPOT Tonyo Cruz After my mother Liwayway Memije Cruz died, our dad and my siblings talked about what to do next and how to go about the wake. Our sister said Mama should have a wake where students and friends could visit and honor her. We could think of only one fitting place: the Polytechnic...
LANDSCAPE Gemma Cruz Araneta “What is the dead body saying?” That was how Dr. Raquel Fortun answered when I asked about her profession. What is it like to be a forensic pathologist, and be with cadavers most of the time? She had just returned to the Philippines after giving up a successful...
HOTSPOT Tonyo Cruz While I guess many Manila Bulletin readers are more fortunate or more affluent, that doesn’t mean that they are immune or unbothered by rising inflation and escalating prices of basic goods. Everyone’s affected especially the upwardly-mobile yet peso-pinching middle class....
LANDSCAPE Gemma Cruz Araneta In 1959, while Antonio Araneta, Jr. ( my husband) was polishing his undergrad thesis (‘Elites and Economic Development in Underdeveloped Countries’) at the Notre Dame University, a be-medalled sergeant of the Philippine Army, survivor of World War II was applying...
HOTSPOT Tonyo Cruz Wow Presents Plus, Discovery+ and HBO Go have yet to release the final viewership numbers, but there’s no denying that Drag Race Philippines was a success as the show this week crowned Precious Paula Nicole as the winner of its first season. Yes, Precious Paula Nicole prevailed...
LANDSCAPE Gemma Cruz Araneta The phrase “red tagging,” which sends a chill up my spine, did not exist when Antonio S. Araneta (my husband) was writing his undergrad thesis in 1959, titled “Elites and Economic Development in Underdeveloped Countries.” Way back then, he called red-tagging a...
HOTSPOT Tonyo Cruz I have been asked a couple of times at forums or on Twitter Spaces and Clubhouse, how we columnists come out with commentary on the issues. There are a lot of ways how we go about it, perhaps many times more than the number of columnists. Coming from my experience, I could say I...
LANDSCAPE Gemma Cruz Araneta “Elites and Economic Development in Underdeveloped Countries” was the complete title of Antonio S. Araneta, Jr.’s (my husband) thesis for a Bachelor of Arts degree at the Notre Dame University (Indiana, USA) in 1959. Since then, terminologies have changed even as...
LANDSCAPE Gemma Cruz Araneta Historians, chroniclers, social scientists, political analysts and the general public continue debating about the Revolution. Whether finished or unfinished, the mere mention of the R word provokes staggering controversies, especially during heightened moments of...
LANDSCAPE Gemma Cruz Araneta Two eminent lawyers, Saul and Daniel Hofileña, father and son, authored an elucidating monograph, “Turmoil at the South China Sea” which to me is a veritable dictionary of basic yet misapplied terms. Let us review a few: Archipelago. A group of islands...
HOTSPOT Tonyo Cruz Former foreign secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. missed the chance to be the last Philippine ambassador to the United Kingdom to present his credentials to Queen Elizabeth II. He would have to do it with the new monarch King Charles III. That ceremony would most likely be delayed...
LANDSCAPE Gemma Cruz Araneta Does the Republic of the Philippines have any State secrets? If we do have classified, restricted, confidential and top secret files, where are they kept? Are these in a vault of the Department of National Defense (DND), under lock and key in the President’s study in...
