heroes – PATHLESS TRAVELS

2020-10-192020-11-05

Dear Honorable Ass. Secretary

Dear Honorable Ass. Secretary Celine Pialago of the MMDA:

This is what you said, and I’ll translate as accurately as I could:

“Not all mothers in jail were able to attend the burial of their child. So to those who sympathize with Reina Mae Nasino, know full well the reason why she is in jail, and recognize full well what she is [or stands for] in society. You’re turning your lamentations into an afternoon drama series. Just stop!”

Let me tell you a story that’s somehow related.

2017-11-302017-12-07

FRANCIS S. SONTILLANO, 1955-1970. He is the first and youngest martyr of the Philippine Science High School (killed at 15) in the long struggle against the US-Marcos fascist regime that soon shifted to open terrorist rule under martial law. Continue reading “Francis Sontillano, 1955-1970”

2013-03-082013-03-08

Women as blind items

Is it ok to "blind-item" women? Once upon a time I did it, not just once, not twice, but thrice. Well, not really, because at the end I outed one of them. Mentioned her by name at the end of the article, with explicit details. I hope I'm forgiven today, March 8, International Working Women's Day.

There’s this naughty genre of journalism that teases and titillates by posing “blind items,” in which juicy tidbits of gossip about showbiz and public figures are dangled. They give sparse clues and don’t identify by name. That’s why they’re called blind items.

Nearly every weekend, my spunky neighbor Kabsat Kandu tosses to me tattle tales like these, then chides me about not printing them in the newspaper I edit. So far we had steered clear from this kind of journalistic action, but today—for a change—I hereby make three women the subject of my first blind-item column. Continue reading “Women as blind items”