By Herman M. Lagon It was barely 4:30 a.m. when a rush of messages flooded my phone: “May klase kita, Sir?” From my time as a principal in a basic education school, up until now in college, this question has never gone out of fashion. And why would it? It encapsulates the unique, rain-soaked uncertainty …
Impulses
Why do people resign?
By Herman M. Lagon “Pagod na ako.” It is a line we hear in jeepney rides, in pantry corners and after long hours at work. But it is not just tiredness — it is the kind that wears down the soul. The kind built from unseen effort, unpaid extras, workplace dissonance, and staying too long …
Love isn’t enough, really
By Herman M. Lagon Come graduation season, social media floods with proud posts — caps mid-air, Latin honors gleaming, heartfelt thanks to parents and professors. Then one post stops you. “Sana hindi niyo na lang ako ipinanganak [I wish you had never given birth to me].” It does not cheer. It does not thank. It …
Maroonong Guro ng Bayan
By Herman M. Lagon It all started over coffee, iced choco and a cake named “Better Than Sex” — not a formal memo, just a spark of an idea between colleagues at Coffeebreak. “Let’s gather the M.Ed. alumni,” Dr. Jonny Pornel of the UPV Division of Professional Education said during the casual talk. That small …
Gen X meets AI
By Herman M. Lagon The clack of the typewriter still echoes in my memory — my report on LASER taking shape under the steady guide of my Grade 7 Science Teacher, Ma’am Zenaida Espino. I pieced it together from volumes of encyclopedias, journals, textbooks, indices, and clippings in the dusty UI High library, each keystroke …
Valedictorians with no filter
By Herman M. Lagon Not all graduation speeches shout. Some speak in quiet truths. And this year, those truths echoed all over the country — of hardship, survival and questions that do not end with a diploma. Valedictorians gave us a picture of success with cracks in it, asking, “What does winning mean if …
When tangerines taste like home
By Herman M. Lagon Ask any Pinoy why we love K-dramas, and you will likely hear about family, sacrifice and the bittersweet struggles of real life. Netflix’s “When Life Gives You Tangerines” captures all that and more. Though set in Korea, its story feels right at home with us, echoing the same heartbeats and hopes …
K to 12 still works — if we let it
By Herman Lagon You know something is working when the people who quietly fix things every day are the ones speaking up to keep it alive. In the case of the K to 12 reform, it is not only education experts but business leaders, school administrators, religious groups, and community workers who are calling on …
Not about AI, but us
By Herman M. Lagon Some speakers deliver data. Others stir something deeper. Professor Naqi Azam, President of Mylynx International Cambodia, did not bring slides to the 2025 Augustinian International Research Conference. What he brought instead was quiet clarity. Known across Asia for his work in digital transformation and cross-cultural leadership, Azam did not dramatize the …
Creating with, not by, AI
By Herman Lagon In a cozy 7th floor hall of the University of San Agustin CPMT Building, while the city of Iloilo simmered in July heat, a soft-spoken priest posed a piercing insight: Artificial intelligence may never have a soul, but it surely can be persuasive. Rev. Gary McCloskey of the Order of St. Augustine, …