BAYBAY CITY—Almost every passing day, Rolando Tagnipez lights a candle before an image of his son on a made-to-order tarp installed in his house. The ritual reminds him of his loved one whose whereabouts he has surrendered to nature’s will. “They have not found the body of my son, together with those of his wife...
Category: Featured Stories
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Fear and trembling in Abra
Like any other tragedy, the earthquake struck when no one expected it. “It was a sunny morning,” Carla Manganteng, 29, told CoverStory by phone from Lagangilang, Abra. “I was in my neighbor’s house when suddenly the ground shook so violently. We immediately called everyone, told them to run outside, to a nearby open area.” Lagangilang...
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Filipinas, new queen of Asean football, raises the bar higher
Since it broke into the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup last February—which resulted in its inclusion in one of the sport’s biggest stages, the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023—the Philippine women’s national football team has been raising the bar ever higher. Only last May, the Filipinas, as the team is now...
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Staying high on K-drama
These days it’s either you watch K-drama or you don’t. The latter is an unpopular stance but some are unfazed, like Harriet Limbo who just isn’t keen on watching. This sentiment runs counter to that of K-drama fans. Fistri Abdul Rahim is, like me, a relative newcomer to K-drama, tuning in only in August 2020...
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How To Survive…(III) Recipes to fortify us for the coming days
CAGAYAN DE ORO—Aside from tending your own kitchen garden, another surefire way to eat well and healthy while keeping within the budget despite rising prices and the world falling apart around us, is to eat according to the seasons. The first step is to go to the market and see what is available in abundance....
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How to survive… (II): Setting up an urban kitchen garden
CAGAYAN DE ORO—After doing what we could to adapt to the higher temperatures of our new environment in an Earth-friendly way by widening our windows for ventilation and by creating a micro climate zone with plants and a clay wall, we put food security next on the agenda. Fortunately, Mindanao has the perfect soil and...
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How to survive till the rest of the world sorts itself out (I)
CAGAYAN DE ORO—As a kid growing up in the Philippines in the 1980s, I was vaguely conscious of government exhortations on belt tightening due to an ongoing economic crisis. Then I learned about inflation and constantly worried over the cost of goods rising in perpetuity. Would my generation be able to afford anything in the...
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Little Sisters care for women in the twilight of their lives
With Covid-19 continuing to pose a threat to life and health, some kind of hush has fallen over the Little Sisters for the Abandoned Elderly home in San Juan City. The community singing and merrymaking that the residents enjoy have been put on hold as health protocols are strictly observed in the home for almost...
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After 48 years, Philippine agrarian reform remains an illusory goal
On June 10 this year, the government’s Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) reached its 34th year of implementation. If we were to include the dictator Ferdinand Marcos’ “Tenant Emancipation Act” of September 1972, agrarian reform as a major government program in the Philippines has been around for 48 long years. The Marcos version was an...
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The way we were: Slice of Pinoy life, according to Tito Larry
Like many Filipinos in the ‘80s and ‘90s, I looked forward to each new installment of “Slice of Life,” the long-running and much-loved cartoon of Larry Alcala. The thrill was in searching for and spotting his image with the trademark mustache and black-rimmed eyeglasses hiding somewhere in the crowd, in a busy street, or in...