Already saddled by a sharp increase in the prices of basic goods and services, Filipinos will now have to face additional financial burdens mandated by the government starting January 1 this year. Most working Filipinos will find their paychecks reduced by a few hundred pesos starting this month because the Social Security System (SSS) and the Philippine Health… Read More »
Human trafficking is another major problem that has plagued the country for decades. Despite increased resources given to the task force against human trafficking, the Philippines remains, according to the US State Department 2013 report, a major source country for sex-trafficking and forced labor, adding that “child sex tourism remained a serious problem” in the country. Just last… Read More »
MANILA What’s frustrating to the average Filipino citizen like me is the unreliability of the meting of justice in our country. Cases take forever to resolve. And when they are resolved, they’re often dismissed in favor of the sued culprit. Prosecutors and the police make a big hoohah about apprehending suspects and throwing the book at them. The… Read More »
~ The benchmark for critical writing and news analysis has just been unwittingly and grudgingly highlighted in two million-dollar lawsuits against Balita, Toronto’s largest Filipino newspaper, and its publisher and a reporter. With the complaints, the publication has solidified its standing as a reliable and trusted confidant, an independent watcher beholden to no one but the truth. A… Read More »
Fire!!! And Ice!!! It was scary! It seemed unreal. The sky was lit by the gigantic flames. In four hours, that demonic inferno consumed a senior’s home, the residence of 52 vulnerable people in the sunset of their lives, mostly in their eighties and nineties, majority of whom had limited mobility. It was a home of the aged… Read More »
CHICAGO (FAXXNA/jGLi) – The public comments of Bea Rose Santiago right after winning the Miss International beauty contest in Japan were so shallow and so plastic, they did not sit well with her supporters. When it came for Ms. Santiago to acknowledge the people to thank for, all she could muster was the name of Stella Marquez Araneta,… Read More »
Its East meets West. Both the astrology and horoscope of both ends of the world combined to make up the bold prediction of the year ahead for us. AVV114 It’s Chinese New Year once again and hope for dreams to come true is up in the air. But we Filipinos who believe both in Eastern and Western horoscope… Read More »
~ “Be bold and boast, just like the cock beside the hen,” writes the ancient Greek tragedian Aeschylus, a poet and religious thinker. He wasn’t referring to some people in particular but his plays survived time and usage many centuries after. Some phrases find their relevance now in Toronto’s Filipino community. He was as if he was writing… Read More »
In a brazen show of muscle, the Binays of Makati recently forced themselves upon the helpless security guards of posh residential subdivision Dasmarinas Village. They wanted to use a particular gate, and no lowly guards could stop them. The kingdom, er, city of Makati, is part of metropolitan Manila. It’s one of the richest cities, if not the… Read More »
“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” — John 8:32 CHICAGO (FAXX/jGLi) – If Manny Pacquiao will not play his cards well, he might end up as a modern-day Cinderella. But minus his slippers and his golden carriage! In my phone interview Thursday (Jan. 2) with Manny Pacquiao’s Top Rank promoter Bob… Read More »