Category Archives: General

It’s always greener on the other side

“The truth is that where you stand does affect what you see.”  William Kaplan, Why Dissent Matters (2017) Rosario and I were inseparable when we were in high school. We did things together during our classes. We were seated side by side in the classroom, studied together and had lunch together to update ourselves with the latest gossips.… Read More »

Undocumented caregivers, they are unseen among us

By Faye Arellano  Maria, 35, arrived in Canada a decade ago under the defunct Live-in Caregiver’s  Program. Her initial employer changed her mind about hiring her and immediately  released Maria on her first week.  It took Maria about seven months to find a new employer who was willing to do the  required paperwork. This time, Maria endured almost… Read More »

LOOK NO FURTHER THAN OURSELVES

Ramon Farolan, a columnist with the Phil Daily Inquirer, in his March 22, 2021 column ” Not the Best of Times for Asian Americans,” asserted that in 2020 there was an upsurge by 150% of Asian directed racism, mainly in L.A. and New York. From verbal harassment to physical assault, in 2021, more than 500 incidents have already… Read More »

RESILIENCE: THE POWER TO BOUNCE BACK

By Hermione Cabie Santos In a game of chess, my 15-year old son suddenly becomes uncomfortable when he discovers his father’s deadly check move.  He carries on, nevertheless, quietly revisits his game strategy, resists the temptation to give up and remains calm in the hope of maneuvering an almost impossible escape. He knows losing is part of the… Read More »

Waiting for Grace

“Ubos, ubos biyaya, mayat maya’y nakatunganga.” From my wife’s collection of Tagalog proverbs. “The tears of the world are a constant quantity. For each one who begins to weep somewhere else another stops.” Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot.  By Rey Moreno Grace loved her family so much. So at age 17, she decided to look for a job… Read More »

ANALYZING THE COGNITIVE CONSEQUENCES OF FAITH IN GOD AMONG FILIPINO WOMEN

In my groundbreaking quantitative modeling study of 620 Bicolano women from Bicol Region, Philippines, I proposed that religion as a way of life encourages people to strive for other values. Consequently, these values yield profound societal impacts. For instance, the practice of religion has been associated with gender-role stereotypes. Illustratively, Filipino feminist scholars regard Roman Catholicism as a… Read More »

THE GAMES THAT WE PLAYED

The Life of a Little Boy growing up in the ’50s In my entire boyhood, I never had the opportunity to travel to other parts of the Philippines.  As can be expected, each region has unique practices and traditions. It is common in our town to identify people with an “alias,” especially if the first names are the same. … Read More »

ANALYZING THE COGNITIVE CONSEQUENCES OF FAITH IN GOD AMONG FILIPINO WOMEN

By Freddie Rabelas Obligacion, Ph.D., MBA, MA, BS (magna cum laude) In my groundbreaking quantitative modeling study of 620 Bicolano women from Bicol Region, Philippines, I proposed that religion as a way of life encourages people to strive for other values. Consequently, these values yield profound societal impacts. For instance, the practice of religion has been associated with… Read More »

The greatest story ever told (A three-act play)

(When reading or listening about the life of Jesus, the greatest story ever told, I keep wondering what the conversations would be like. This three-act play is meant to do just that. For its historical context, I refer to the Four Gospels of the New Testament. The characters, therefore, are real, but the conversations are merely fictional. They… Read More »

The games that we played

The games that we  played  The Life of a Little Boy Growing Up in the ’50s. THE SEQUEL (part II ) In the 50s, even a slight relocation changes the dynamics of culture and tradition within the same population.  Since most marriages were with people from the same town, many would confine their moves close to relatives and workplaces’… Read More »