Category Archives: Guest Writer

Why I don’t celebrate Christmas

When almost everyone celebrates Christmas, writing on why I’m not celebrating it is not an easy task, it’s just like going against the tide. It seems like dousing some cold water to a joyful event that the whole world over is looking forward to. For most people, Christmas is a season of joy, peace, and giving. The Christmas… Read More »

RELIGION: ONE GIANT CONSPIRACY THEORY

On Sept. 19, 2024, Joel Butuyan’s Phil Daily Inquirer column, “Flea Market of Ideas,” published an article about the Pope’s recent Asian tour. The article “All Religions are Paths to Reach God” refers to the Pope’s bold and daring assertions. I responded to Butuyan’s article on Sept. 30, https://opinion.inquirer.net/177171/religion-a-giant-conspiracy-theory. This article is an expanded version of my response.… Read More »

Matuto Tayong Magpatawad 

Lahat tayo ay may pagkakamali Sana ay huwag nang maulit pang muli Kabutihan palagi ang ating isukli Pagpapatawad walang pinipilit Kung tayo ay may nagawang kasalanan Marapat lamang ating pagsisihan Dahil hindi tayo magkakaroon ng katiwasayan Kung ang nasa puso ay galit at pagkasuklam Mga samaan nang loob ay kalimutan Pagpapatawad ang kailangan Pairalin ang pagmamahalan Sa kapwa… Read More »

Go gently into the night

“Oh yes, suddenly I realized what a good thing death can be, how just and fair, like a disinfectant, or a vacuum cleaner. — Olga Tokarczuk, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead. One of the great fears of our existential being is the fear of death. So much so that we don’t want to know… Read More »

Remembering Ruben on All Souls Day

All Souls Day is here and for people who lost their loved ones, it will surely be a day for remembering. For me, my late husband Ruben Cusipag, had been gone for over eight years, but his memories remain as fresh, as if it happened just yesterday. The Founder of Balita Newspaper, a journalist by heart, a social… Read More »

 Life Cycle—The Fallen Leaves of Autumn

This day is officially the end of summer. The sky is clear with a few clouds, and below our balcony, the trees in the trails are changing their colours, signalling the start of autumn. The sad part is that these plants on the balcony are beginning to wither—the plant’s stems are getting thinner, their former green colours are… Read More »

THE PHILIPPINES: “DYNASTY  CAPITAL OF THE WORLD.”

Cielito Habito’s commentary in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, “Dynasties: Our Spreading Cancer” ( Aug. 13, 2024 ), has focused on one of the causes of our intractable and unrelenting poverty in a way that is not summarily seen as having a significant impact on our well-being. Despite government statistics showing 15.5% poverty, Mahar Mangahas’s SWS- Social Weather Stations… Read More »

The Harvest

“To be abandoned by God was worse than to be punished by Him. Better an unjust God than an indifferent one.”—Elie Wiesel. “Evil is unspectacular, and always human.”—W. H. Auden. A festive night, for sure; the glitters of the occasion are overtly evident. The rich and famous start to arrive in their chauffeured-driven limousines. It is one of… Read More »

MANGANGAKO NA NAMAN

Tuwina lamang nalalapit ang eleksyon Mga pulitiko isip natin ay kinokondisyon Manira sa kapwa ngayon ang kanilang misyon Dahil madali daw maniwala sa balita ngayon Lahat sila ay mangangako sa atin Kahit imposible sa atin ay ok pa rin Hindi na tinitingnan tunay nilang hangarin Kaya pag sila ay nanalo tayo ang talo pa rin Kung tunay talaga… Read More »

What the Bible Tells Us about Death?

As I write this piece, messages of consolation and grief have been flooding the online site of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila because of the recent death of three alumni, Rey Galvez, Rolly Luanzon, and  Linda Bunag. They all belonged to the ‘71 First Batch of students who started studying at PLM in 1967.  The death of… Read More »