By Herman M. Lagon Ron Garan saw Earth from space for real — not just in science books or videos. It looked like it was glowing. Like it was alive. But what surprised him most? How thin the air is that keeps us all safe. Just one blue line between us and forever darkness. One …
Impulses
Tax ng ina mo
By Herman M. Lagon A teacher in Bulacan opens her payslip on a Friday morning and feels the familiar sting: another few thousand gone to taxes. She sighs, thinking of potholes, blackouts and flooded classrooms. That night, she scrolls through a video of a lawmaker’s daughter unboxing her third designer bag of the month. The …
Should we be afraid of AI?
By Herman M. Lagon Fear has always been humanity’s oldest operating system. People once feared the wheel would destroy old ways. Later, they thought electricity might wake up ghosts. Today, AI writes our essays, answers our quizzes and even pens breakup songs. The question “Should we be afraid of AI?” is no longer for techies — …
‘Chosen’: Grace beyond the screen
By Herman M. Lagon A week ago, my daughter Parvane introduced me to “The Chosen” series on Netflix. While Typhoon “Tino” roared outside our home in Lapuz Norte, I spent the long hours watching the series — four seasons straight. It came at the right time: quiet days, howling winds and a restless heart looking …
The resilience trap
By Herman M. Lagon “Filipinos are resilient.” It is our favorite national line — spoken by officials, flashed on headlines, posted with hashtags every time disaster strikes. After Typhoon “Tino” drowned parts of Cebu, Negros and Panay, and earthquakes shook the Visayas and Mindanao, the same phrase echoed again, as if endurance were our greatest …
Euler is everywhere
By Herman M. Lagon You do not need to understand Euler to be in awe of him. Just the fact that many of us unknowingly use his legacy daily in our classrooms, computations or even memes (yes, Euler’s identity made it to Reddit and TikTok) proves the kind of timeless mind we are talking about. …
Diploma mills rising!
By Herman M. Lagon There was a time when a master’s or doctorate felt almost sacred — a capstone of grit, patience and ideas tested by long nights and tougher mentors. Yet somewhere between the rush for promotions and the ease of shortcuts, graduate education in the Philippines began to lose its shine. The latest …
The power of perspective
By Herman M. Lagon There is something quietly heavy about hitting a low point mid-year. Maybe you are a public school teacher in your 5th class, sweat dripping, trying to teach a lesson you crammed at 4:00 a.m. Or a college student staring at a borrowed laptop, turning in a paper that feels more like …
Saints among us
By Herman M. Lagon You learn a lot about a culture by how it remembers — not just the dead, but the living who lived with purpose. On All Saints’ Day in the Philippines, celebrated every November 1, the focus may seem to be on tombs and candles. But look closer, and you will see …
Luck or logic
By Herman M. Lagon Superstitions, a fundamental part of Filipino culture, live in daily routines, whether skipping the ladder on a sidewalk or avoiding that rogue black cat (my neighbors call it “kuring mundo”) on a misty night. To the casual observer, these practices might seem a little odd, even amusing. But here’s the catch: …