By Dennis Gorecho All that I knew about Gregoria de Jesus is that she was the wife of revolutionary Gat Andres Bonifacio, or Mrs. Andres Bonifacio. Then I recently saw “Lakambini: Gregoria de Jesus” when it was screened at the University of the Philippines Film Center. It is a 2025 meta-docufiction film directed by Arjanmar …
OPINION
Who was the first Filipino?
By Herman M. Lagon The question sounds simple: Who was the first Filipino? The quick reply is a name. The steady reply is a map. Ask a classroom full of teachers and students, and 10 answers will surface — Lapu-Lapu, José Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, a Negrito ancestor, even a fossil from a cave. None is …
A way to look into bank accounts?
By Ade S. Fajardo A detainee at Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City, has come out with a sworn statement claiming that he is a founding member of the Inday Sara Duterte Is My President (ISIP), which was formed in 2020 in preparation for the 2022 presidential elections. Ramil Madriaga has submitted an affidavit to the …
Parenting 3.0: Learning to let go well
By Herman M. Lagon Sometimes it comes quietly — not with announcements or goodbyes, but with the ordinary weight of a moment. A daughter comes home unexpectedly two weeks before Christmas, sits across the table as herself, and you realize the child you once held no longer needs holding — just as she prepares to …
PHA warns public vs. ‘holiday heart syndrome’
The Philippine Heart Association (PHA) reminded the public to manage food and alcohol intake during the holiday season, warning that overeating, extremely sweet dishes and excessive drinking could trigger “holiday heart syndrome,” a condition associated with irregular heart rhythms. In the latest episode of Usapang Puso sa Puso, PHA cardiologist Dr. Iris Garcia cautioned Filipinos …
P6.794 trillion and counting: Will the budget finally reach the barangay?
By Ignacio R. Bunye The 2026 national budget — set for ratification on December 29 — is the biggest in our history: P6.794 trillion. That’s P18.6 billion every single day, or P775 million every hour. On paper, it promises everything: classrooms, calamity response, rice subsidies, railways. But one question refuses to go away: Will this …
Gen Z rewrites politics
By Herman M. Lagon Something has been silently growing underneath for a while now, and it would rather not be ignored anymore. You can see it on the streets and on your phone, in handwritten signs and shared symbols, and in young voices that seem more tired than angry. What many people term the Gen …
We are one big family of God
By Fr. Roy Cimagala On the Feast of the Holy Family, we are reminded that we actually comprise one big family of God with Jesus, Mary and Joseph. We are united, despite all the differences and conflicts we unavoidably have, due to the love God has for all of us which we should also reflect …
Blind obedience kills truth
By Herman M. Lagon Try a small exercise. The next time someone with a title — director, colonel, president, CEO, doctor, attorney, chairperson, mayor, congressman — tells you, “Share this, it is official,” pause. Ask, “How do we know?” That pause is where truth often survives. Albert Einstein once warned that blind obedience to authority …
Today, a great light has come
By Fr. Roy Cimagala Merry Christmas to all! On this most blessed and joyous day when we liturgically celebrate the birth of the very pattern and savior of our humanity, it is most apt to echo as often as we can this gospel acclamation in one of the Masses of Christmas. For, indeed, what can …