On International Women’s Day, Patreng Non easily comes to mind as a Filipino woman who constantly strives to help, to empower, and to make a difference. It would seem that Patreng—formally Ana Patricia—is everywhere. Last month, the 27-year-old founder of the Maginhawa Community Pantry was busy going to and from San Jose in Nueva Ecija,...
Category: People
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A Valentine for Lualhati
If there’s one person who’d probably be glad that award-winning writer Lualhati Bautista has crossed to the other side, it would be Nanay, my mother, arguably her No. 1 fan. I can imagine Nanay peering through the Pearly Gates to check if her idol had safely embraced the light, and getting ready to spring on...
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The music has died; long live his music
Oct. 31, 2022, was the day his music died. The musikero Danny Javier (formally Daniel Morales Javier) had mentioned dying before, on June 11, 2011, shortly after his 40-odd years of making music as part of the trio Apo Hiking Society ended in separation. He was 64 then and diagnosed with multiple illnesses: congestive heart...
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Nelia Sancho: the last conversations
Early in August, after watching “Katips: The Movie,” I was reminded of a friend from my days at the University of the Philippines. Nelia Sancho: Yes, the beauty queen and activist. I wondered what her reaction would be to the movie making waves among a woke youth. As August was also her birth month, I thought...