A couple of months ago, I wrote about problems we had with the management of the dorm-hotel near Sam’s school where she used to stay. They gave us hell before returning the security deposit and only after I threatened to sue their asses did they hand over the money. Well, here’s a different perspective on ... (more)
“Simon Amputuan” in NCIS: Los Angeles
Posted on July 19, 2010 · 9 Comments
In an article entitled Ampatuan clan the biggest winner in May 2010 elections, there was a reference to the “clan’s nation-wide, if not global, infamy.” Well, it appears that the infamy is global, it has reached Hollywood and you know how pervasive the American entertainment culture can be. If you’re a fan of NCIS: Los ... (more)
A conversation about Ping Lacson
Posted on July 10, 2010 · 17 Comments
When you’re on the road with your spouse, do you talk? Speedy and I do. In fact, if we don’t talk, that means we’re having a tiff. Last Thursday, we were on our way to Quezon City (primarily to buy the Lensbaby Control Freak for Sam for her birthday next month) and the conversation veered ... (more)
Wrong love and the spoiled brat
Posted on January 19, 2010 · 102 Comments
I purposely refrained from writing about Jason Aguilar Ivler even after the mistaken deportation of overseas worker Jason Vivar Aguilar. It makes my blood boil when the government engages in a no-holds barred manhunt for a suspect when the victim is a government official or a member of his family, a dedication hardly shown when ... (more)
Federalism, political dynasties and private armies
Posted on December 3, 2009 · 18 Comments
I was aboard the cruise ship Legend of the Seas on a much-needed vacation when I heard about the incident at Ampatuan. I was in my state room watching the news on CNN when the familiar voice of Maria Ressa went on the air and what I heard so shocked me that my coffee had ... (more)
Rats in a sinking ship
Posted on November 12, 2009 · 21 Comments
Disappointed with the delay in the release of “Ingloriuous Basterds” and after discovering that we won’t be able to see it as a family because of the R-18 rating, we went to see “Law Abiding Citizen” last weekend. I wasn’t expecting much, the reviews hadn’t been good, but there was still something attractive about the ... (more)
Crime and privacy
Posted on April 21, 2009 · 20 Comments
(Today’s column) Just about every Filipino I know has been talking about the tragedy that struck Ted Failon’s wife. And just about everyone discussing it is, at the same time, conducting a guessing game as to whether it is a suicide or a homicide and, if it is the latter, who the probable killer is. ... (more)
Did ‘Nicole’ recant?
Posted on March 19, 2009 · 40 Comments
(Today’s column) Recant is a word associated with the Dark Ages and witch hunts. Those accused of heresy were forced to recant their heretical beliefs to avoid burning at the stake. Even then, recantations were never taken as a belated statement of the truth but, rather, as a means to escape an even more horrible ... (more)
Strange case of Casey Anthony
Posted on February 3, 2009 · 28 Comments
(Today’s column, prompted by a comment in “Why mothers kill”) In July last year, a child was reported missing in Florida. What was peculiar about this report was that it was made a month after the mother first found out that her daughter had disappeared. In December, a child’s skull was accidentally discovered by a ... (more)
Why mothers kill
Posted on September 11, 2008 · 18 Comments
As we were sitting down to dinner on Tuesday, my husband asked if I had heard about the Filipino mother who killed her three children then committed suicide. I remarked how life seem to imitate fiction citing an old episode of CSI where, before stabbing herself, a mother stabbed her children to death to preserve their being “angelsâ€. Our younger daughter, Alex, said it was like the plot of the movie “The Others,†too.
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