By Ignacio R. Bunye The New Year fire in Crans-Montana, Switzerland — a blaze that killed dozens of young people in a basement bar — shocked a nation known for order, discipline and safety. But for Filipinos, the tragedy carries an even deeper resonance. It echoes a night we have never fully forgotten: March 18, …
OPINION
Standing for Fr. Flavie
By HERMAN M. LAGON There are moments when public silence becomes a form of laziness. Not neutrality, not prudence, but the quieter vice of letting noise do the work, so one does not have to. This is one of those moments. I am usually critical of institutions, including the Catholic institution I remain part of. …
What is ‘super flu’? Is last year’s vaccine still effective against it?
What is super flu, and is last year’s vaccine still effective against it? Officially termed subclade K, the super flu is a new variant of influenza A (H3N2) and has been sweeping parts of the globe in recent months. Subclade K viruses had been detected in more than 34 countries over the last six months, …
Da Vinci, a dentist and the elegance of the universe
By Dr. Joseph D. Lim More likely than not, you’ve seen it before: Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man. Drawn circa 1490, it shows arms outstretched, in a symmetry inside a circle and a square. Vitruvius was a Roman engineer who believed the human body is a well-designed, harmonious physique in perfect proportions, a template in …
Teachers’ boundaries in 2026Teachers’ boundaries in 2026
By Herman M. Lagon Teaching did not suddenly become difficult in 2026. It has been quietly heavy for years, but this year feels different because the weight is finally being named. The posts circulating on social media about what teachers must avoid struck a nerve, not because they were radical, but because they sounded familiar. …
Rediscover God through faith and love
By Fr. Roy Cimagala That rather amusing gospel episode about those who were so amazed at the preaching of Christ in the synagogue that they could not believe that someone just like them, coming from the same place and whose family they knew, could preach the way Christ did (cfr. Mark 6:1-6), tells us that …
Evidentiary value of photographs
By Dennis Gorecho Photographs as evidence in court in the K-Drama “Typhoon Family” triggered memories of my “darkroom” days as chief photographer of the Philippine Collegian of the University of the Philippines Diliman. “Typhoon Family” depicts the growth period of a young chief executive officer (CEO) and the struggles of his family and employees as …
When nursing care is reclassified
By HERMAN M. LAGON The news spread quickly, as it often does now. A technical decision by the United States Department of Education — framed in regulatory language about loan categories — suddenly felt personal to many nurses. Nursing, long grouped with medicine and law for federal student loan purposes, was removed from the list …
2025 marked by extreme heat, record temperatures, widespread impacts
2025 ranked among the warmest years on record globally, despite a shift toward neutral or weak La Niña conditions that typically cool global temperatures, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Copernicus Climate Change Service. Global temperatures in 2025 ranked second or third-warmest on record, following the record-hot year of 2024, underscoring the …
VAT-free medicines
By Sonny Angara Just before the year ended, the Department of Finance (DOF), the Department of Health (DOH), the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a joint administrative order that basically allowed many Filipinos to greet the new year on a more positive note. Said order — with …