“Pretty face, but not skinny enough.” That was the feedback Avrill Cervantes, also known as Ave, recalls receiving at a runway casting. She was hoping to reach a dream she has held since starting modeling in 2021 but, instead, a compliment became a disqualification. Ave is among three models who describe in online interviews with...
Author: Hannah L. Tabunda
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What keeps Philippine NGOs going, and what holds them back
New findings show financial buffers and strong collaboration among Philippine nonprofits, but rising demand, funding restrictions and staffing pressures complicate their future. Philippine nongovernment organizations have an asset many institutions would envy: public trust. But confidence in their work does not automatically provide the money, people and flexibility needed to sustain it. Eight in 10...
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No end to grief for these pet lovers
The discovery in Bulacan of dumped corpses of pet dogs and cats has prompted inquiries by the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation into apparent cremation fraud. For the grieving families, the demand is both personal and practical: Account for what happened to the beloved pets whose remains they had entrusted to...
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Scaling the indoor wall, a community of climbers rises in Metro
What begins as a test of strength and technique is becoming something more for a growing number of Metro Manila climbers: a chance to meet people, solve problems together, and find a community beyond the wall. Kevin Amparado, a 22-year-old DevOps engineer, had no intention of climbing that afternoon. It was around 4 p.m., and...
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Pax Silica and the enduring issue of Philippine industrialization
In a recent forum at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, an economist, a biologist, a political scientist and a physicist questioned whether the proposed US-led Pax Silica hub would bring meaningful industrial development to the Philippines, or leave it bearing the environmental and economic costs of another foreign-led venture. Before the Philippines builds...
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Who can serve as companions to Lolo and Lola?
As more Filipinos grow older, families need to address an issue that falls somewhere between looking after a parent themselves and hiring professional caregivers. A newly launched Metro Manila companionship service offers a glimpse of the possibilities, and the questions that come with them. Maria Lourdes Malipol, 27, began caring for her mother, Eleanor, after...
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Filipino teachers do give more than they receive
World Teachers Day on Oct. 5 brought the usual tributes. But teacher organizations say respect is better measured in salaries, working hours, staffing, and whether rights written into law 60 years ago are actually felt in schools. “You give more than you receive,” President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. told thousands of teachers gathered at Smart Araneta...
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What Mary Jane Veloso’s pardon really means
Presidential clemency ended the sentence Mary Jane Veloso was serving in the Philippines. It did not overturn the Indonesian drug conviction, and it did not end the separate prosecution of the people she says recruited and trafficked her. When Veloso happily held up a copy of her absolute pardon at the Correctional Institution for Women...
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What was ‘Edjop’ running for?
There is a cruel irony at the center of Katski Flores’ “Edjop.” Joyette Jopson, portrayed by Jodi Sta. Maria, spends much of the film trying to understand a father she barely knew, a man who had become, in her own formulation, more concept than parent. The film sets out to reverse that distance: to pull...
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Local roasteries and global brews converge in Coffee Plz! Festival
Beans, beats and matcha blended in San Juan City’s The Corner House last July 12-13 to celebrate a unique twist in Metro Manila’s café culture: a phase in urban life yet to be fully relished beyond a simple fix of joe. The Coffee Plz! Festival brought enthusiasts and brewers to a movement aimed at supporting...