By: Rudy Viernes May is the merriest and most colorful month of the year in the Philippines. It is a month of fiestas, processions, Flores de Mayo, Santacruzan, Virgin Mary…and mangoes, too! In most little towns and villages the annual fiesta is an anticipated event held in May. Most part of the year the barrio perks up… Read More »
By Rudy M. Viernes Novato, California The Hospicio de San Jose in Manila is a Catholic charitable institution, managed since 1865 by the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. It is the foster home of orphans, children and adolescents abandoned or surrendered by their parents due to poverty. Some of these children have special needs. There… Read More »
On May 10, the Filipino people will troop to the polls to elect the man who would succeed Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and who would be tasked with straightening up the mess that his predecessor had put the country into. Tough challenges await the winner, perhaps as tough, if not tougher than what the late President Cory Aquino had… Read More »
Although we had expected a whitewash of the cases against the Ampatuans of Maguindanao because of the family’s close “friendship” to Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the decision of Acting Justice Secretary Alberto Agra to drop murder charges against ARMM Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan and his cousin Akmad Ampatuan — even before the court could hear all testimonies and receive all… Read More »
Sen. Manny Villar and his party mates at the Nacionalista Party must be very desperate. Indeed, with less than a month to go before the elections, desperation would understandably set in when you still trail by double digit percentage points in surveys after spending millions of pesos peddling lies in full page advertisements and radio-TV commercials. … Read More »
After four decades, the Vatican has absolved the Beatles, calling their pop songs “ beautiful melodies “ ending years of acrimonious relationship between the famous British pop group who made musical history in the 1960s and the Catholic church, a report from the L’Observatore, the official newspaper of the Rome-based tiny city-state said. The Vatican had called the… Read More »
“The public loves a winner” could never be so applicable in the chronicling of events. In battles, the names of the winners were emblazoned in gold and marbles markers. In crime cases, the police officer who solved the case would get the accolades. In political contests, the names of winners were in the headlines of newspapers. … Read More »
Greetings from the Philippines. My deep apologies for some mistakes printed in my last column- the April was supposed to be March- the last week of which was designated start of campaign for local election candidates. So sorry po. Well, the carnival which is Philippine 2010 elections ay tuluy- tuloy pa rin, makapigil- hininga, makabagbag damdamin, at punung-… Read More »
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” — George Santayana CHICAGO (JGLi) – The midnight appointments and that of the Chief Justice of the Philippine Supreme Court being contemplated by outgoing President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) must surely be causing her father, President Diosdado Macapagal, to… Read More »
On the week that Christians all over the world remembered how Judas Escariot betrayed Jesus Christ with a kiss, a news report came out that administration candidate Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. had been abandoned by Mike Arroyo in favor of Nacionalista Party standard bearer Manny Villar. Obviously, Arroyo did not kiss Teodoro to signal the betrayal… Read More »