For the past five years, I have been writing inspiring stories about people that have been considered as “Everyday Heroes” by the prestigious Reader’s Digest Magazine. Being one of the two Philippine correspondents of the international magazine, I often get assignments to interview and write stories about Filipinos who have done extra ordinary things that make them “heroes”.

My first assignment was to write about the fishermen who rescued passengers of the ill-fated Laoag Airlines plane that crashed in Manila Bay. The four fishermen paddled their way to the wreckage to pull out passengers and saved more than 10 lives. No question about it. They were heroes.      Read the rest of this entry »

March has long been considered graduation month in the Philippines, although for the past few years, school days have been extended until the first week of April to make up for holidays and suspension of classes due to typhoon and other calamities.

With graduation songs filling the air, perennial problems also start propping up - graduation fees, exurbetant charges for ringhop and capping ceremonies, some teachers asking for cash in exchange of passing grades - and the list goes on.     Read the rest of this entry »

All eyes will be on Tiger Woods as he gets back to competitive golf, after several months off due to a knee injury, at the accenture Match Play Championship in Maraza, Arizona. But this time, though, the field will be cramped by golf’s who’s-who.

Here are a few of the players you should watch out for in this tournament:     Read the rest of this entry »

When I was a college student, a friend of mine (a co-staff of the college publication) suddenly fainted while attending the Guidance 101 class. A classmate, who got disoriented by the sudden fainting of Jerry, shouted out loud saying “Call Dr. Gabison! Call Dr. Gabison” in the hope of giving first aid to Jerry.

But the problem was that Dr. Gabison is a doctor of education and not of medicine.     Read the rest of this entry »

I have friends who complained about it before but I didn’t realize I would experience first hand what they’ve experienced… I am referring to flight delays.

Going to Manila was on time. In fact, the plane I boarded (I had to withhold the name of the airline for various reasons) arrived at NAIA five minutes before the expected arrival. I thought my friends were overacting when they told me several weeks ago about the ordeals they had to undergo because their flight was delayed. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s going to be P345 million on Sunday’s 6/49 draw. As far as lotto enthusiasts are concern, that’s the biggest pot money ever in the history of local lottery.

Do you really want to win the jackpot? There’s a formula. You need to shell out some P120 million to buy all combinations in the 6/49 draw. That will give you 100 percent chance to win. For a capital of P120 million, you will win P225 million. Wow. That’s a huge return of investment in a day. Read the rest of this entry »

There will be a major announcement in the newspaper where I am working later today. It should be ‘major’ because they want all Cebu reporters to fly to Manila immediately. Immediately means we were informed of the meeting at 9 a.m. today and we need to be in Manila before 6 p.m.

I’ve been to Manila several times. Most of the time, it’s job or business related so I didn’t have much time strolling around to savor the flavor of the metropolis. One time, though, I was in Manila with my family courtesy of a very close friend. Read the rest of this entry »

It pains my heart to see three charred bodies of little children who were trapped inside their burning house in Lapu-Lapu City. Of all the gruesome, bloody, stenchy, and violent incidents that I have covered, its those involving kids that make my heart bleed. (Click here to read my news article about the incident)

The three kids, aged 5, 8, and 10, were sleeping inside their room while their parents were on the road making a living - the father being a jeepney driver and the mother acting as his assistant. Just a couple of weeks ago, their electricity connection was cut because the parents failed to pay their bills. Read the rest of this entry »

The reports are not true.  Malaysian Ambassador to the Philippines Dato’ Ahmad Rasidi Hazizi said Malaysia is open to foreign workers, including Filipinos. Hazizi shrugged off reports that his government has banned the hiring of foreign workers.

Hazizi branded the reports as baseless, pointing out that his government, in fact, encourages foreign workers to land jobs in Malaysia. Read the rest of this entry »

Pictures have always fascinated me. I always take time to go over pictures taken several years ago. I love the feeling of going back to the time when the picture was taken, and re-experiencing the laughter, sadness, or joy that comes with that piece of paper that became part of my life’s history pages.

I love looking at the pictures of my son. I had a picture of him which I took when he was brought to the nursery department just a few hours after he was born. His first breast feeding, his first night with me and my wife. His first diaper change. His first try at walking (he stumbled a lot I remember). His first birthday. His first bicycle ride. His first superhero costume. And the list goes on.     Read the rest of this entry »