DELIGHTFUL MEMORIES OF THE VERA PEREZ FAMILY

Trivia:The unexpected recent demise of showbiz figure Marichu Vera Perez Maceda made this writer to recount my closeness to her family, especially her late father Dr. Jose Perez. He was the top showbiz movie producer from the ‘50s up to ‘70s via the Sampaguita Pictures. Dr. Perez was not only discoverer of top actresses but the recognized movie… Read More »

The orange is gone, but the tree remains

“I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.” – William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar. It is always a fool’s errand to make a prediction. But I’ll take the risk and the shame if I get it wrong because I’m so desperate to get rid of Donald Trump once and for all. This coming November 3, I think the… Read More »

This & That Balita

It has been a month since my last column but it feelslike only 2 weeks has gone by.Moving is a time-warping experience, in my book. Likebeing in a bubble in a world of your own. But it is one of the bestways to keep you alert and aware. Aside from the being the opportune time to clean up… Read More »

RIGHT OF ACKNOWLEDGED CHILD TO USE SURNAME OF BIOLOGICAL FATHER

Q. Greetings atty.Wong ! I just want to know what will i do with my situation.I am an illegitimate child born in 1990. I am using my mother’s last name as it iswhat appears in my Certificate of Live Birth(COLB). Can I use my father’s last namegiven I am an acknowledged illegitimate child?ANS: As a rule and being… Read More »

Red Mirage takes center stage on election night

What if President Donald Trump wins on November 3 based on 15% of the vote by mail ballots that had been counted? According to FiveThirtyEight, this could give Trump a projected lead of 408-130 electoral votes on election night. But once 75% of mail ballots are counted, four days later, the lead could flip to Joe Biden’s favor. This particular modeling… Read More »

Have Heart; Wear A Smile

 Proud Mary. Mary was routinely checking her parked car when she heard faint, frightened and repetitive squeaks emanating from within an empty metal garbage receptacle nearby. Curious to know the reason for the noise, Mary walked to and surveyed the bin, to find a trapped and hapless small squirrel inside. The squirrel had nothing to cling to or… Read More »

Is America’s democracy dying?

On September 23, 2020, President Donald Trump was asked if he would commit to a peaceful transfer of power should he lose the election to Joe Biden? His response was “Well, we’re going to have to see what happens. You know that I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and the ballots are a disaster.” What he said next… Read More »

A portrait of a man as a dictator

“No matter how phantasmagoric its stagings often were, the totalitarian society from which I had come was not…some sort of unearthly, demonic aberration, but a human reality that still persists and may indeed revive in other guises as an ideology and as a form of society.” Norman Manea, On Clowns: The Dictator and the Artist, (1992). “Sir…Sir…Sir…”Ah, I’ve… Read More »

Duterte’s RevGov vs. Leni Robredo

Every time President Rodrigo Duterte has some health problem, all his political allies get nervous.  At his age, 75 years old, he suffers from a multitude of health issues, including an autoimmune disease that can potentially have serious complications.  He revealed the condition, myasthenia gravis, while he was visiting in Moscow in October 2019.  The condition causes muscle… Read More »