Dance is history; little is said, but much is understood. I made history through research, documentation, and publication of the traditional performing arts and related folk artistic expressions of the Sulu Archipelago in the southern Philippines. To keep a dance tradition alive, it must live in a dancing body. Instinct guided me to nurture “pangalay”—“gift...
Category: Featured Stories
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Doing justice to Ninoy Aquino’s memory
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following message was delivered on Sunday, Nov. 27, 2022, by Kiko Aquino Dee, son of Viel and Dodo Dee and one of the eight grandchildren of the late opposition leader Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., to mark his 90th birth anniversary. Ninoy Aquino, then a senator, was one of the first to be...
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Fiesta of all fiestas
There’s no fiesta like Christmas, and it’s aptly called the holiday season—a season that starts as early as the first days of December and extends to the last days of January. It even spills to mid-February, or up to the so-called “Feast of the Candelaria.” I know this from my parents, who were conservative Catholics. ...
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When you let your fists do the talking
What is it with blowout games and big brawls? Retribution for a humiliating beatdown? Payback for the other team’s 3-point shots that never seem to miss? Vengeful warning to an opponent for dunking on one’s team’s misery? It could have been any of those in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) match between the College...
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Growing up on anime, cosplay and video games
METRO TORONTO, Canada—When my sister Mikayla and I were about 11 and 12 years old in 2008, the internet still had advertisements that ran on Macromedia Flash (the design software was phased out in 2021). We kept seeing one ad for a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) called Mabinogi by Korean developer Nexon. We...
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Looking for the next Eugene Torre
In a society where attitudes and behaviors are easily swayed by what’s viral or trending on social media, the 1,500-year-old board game called chess might help improve how people approach some of the most pressing and complex issues, mold them to be better observers, and improve their critical thinking. But first, the Philippines needs...
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With volunteers as driving force, Angat Buhay shows how to help those in need
Leni Robredo went live on Facebook last Oct. 29 to thank all the volunteers who quickly came to the aid of the families whose lives were harshly buffeted by Severe Tropical Storm “Paeng” (international name: “Nalgae”), and to appeal for more help. Speaking from Harvard Kennedy School in Massachusetts in the United States where she...
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Remembering: the rock that grew into an island
Last of five parts The rock lay rooted deep on top of a mountain/ A stone’s throw away stood our little farm hut/ The farm was the homestead father acquired in 1940/ The mountain was broken by two rivers/ From the north and from the south/ The two rivers intersected at the east/ Beyond the...
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Remembering: From Cavite to Upi to greener pastures
(Fourth of five parts) We were 11 in the family. Our tatay, Deogracias, was born in 1902 and died in March 1986; our nanay, Obdulia, was born in 1908 and died in April 2006. We were nine children—two daughters (my eldest sister and the eighth) and seven sons. The eldest was born in 1927 and...
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Remembering: ‘Tao po’ and invitations to a ‘pintakasi’
EDITOR’S NOTE: CoverStory is running the life story of historian and peacemaker Rudy Buhay Rodil in five parts, in an effort to contribute to “a deeper understanding of Mindanao society, history and culture,” a lifelong advocacy that he has pursued with fervor and vigor. Mr. Rodil, now 80, has much to say about what he...