Category Archives: Government/Politics
MLQ3 to meet Ilocos Norte bloggers
Malacañang Communications Undersecretary Manuel Quezon III, grandson of the Commonwealth president, is coming to the province on May 4 for a couple of engagements. Himself a blogger, he wishes to meet Ilocos Norte bloggers in the afternoon. I am helping … Continue reading
Filed under Government/Politics, Media, Media/Journalism
Official Smoking
A Laoag City executive was unabashed in smoking in full public view during grand parades in last month’s Pamulinawen Festival. While school boys and girls passed by to show respect for the VIPs, there he was at the middle of … Continue reading
Filed under Government/Politics, Health, Ilocos
OPEN
I brought my kids to the Open Capitol activity held Feb. 2 in celebration of the 194th Founding Anniversary of the Province of Ilocos Norte. Eighty Accountancy Students enrolled in Sociology 1 (Society and Culture, which I teach) formed part … Continue reading
Filed under Economy, Government/Politics
Super Imee
Okay, the title may sound hard sell at first, but you just have to talk to people who saw her in action when Typhoon Mina pounded Ilocos to believe this is apt. “Ma’am, pahinga naman po kayo, hindi po kayo … Continue reading
Filed under Government/Politics, Heroes, Ilocos
Imeemadness
Hindi ako mahilig makinig sa mga talumpati ng mga pulitiko. Karamihan kasi sa mga ito ay nakakabobo, nakakatorta ng utak. ‘Yung iba nga, mukhang maging sila ay hindi naiintindihan ang pinagsasasabi; malamang ay ipinagawa lang nila ang kanilang speech sa … Continue reading
Filed under Government/Politics, Ilocos
Fantastic Rudy
NEVER HAVE I been a fan of Rodolfo “Rudy” Castro Fariñas. I had always known he is brilliant, but the arrogance attached to his person turned me off big time. And it did not help that he got embroiled … Continue reading
Filed under Government/Politics, Ilocos
Hear! Shame!
OKAY, I AM swamped with a lot of work this week so I do not have much time to write the usual full-blown essay. Allow me though to share tidbits of my rikna and nakem in previous days. Under “Hear! … Continue reading
Filed under Government/Politics, Happiness, Marcos, Media, The Good Life
Konsehales Japorms and the Fashion Police
ONE FRIDAY NIGHT, after an exhausting workweek, I was in a video shop in Laoag looking for a good movie to watch when I chanced at City Councilor Joseph Tamayo who was also on a scout for good films. The … Continue reading
Filed under Government/Politics, Ilocos
Tina, Helen, Christian, and Mary
FOUR human beings pervade my consciousness these days, and they happen to be all mothers. First is Tina Tan, whose recent appointment as Tourism Officer of Ilocos Norte made me so happy, I almost had permanent cramps on my facial … Continue reading
Filed under Family, Filipino, Filipino Youth, Government/Politics, Heroes, Ilocos, The Good Life, Tourism
‘Babaeng bakla’
OK, I’m writing about her again, and at the risk of being suspected as a paid PR. But what can I do? I am a fan. Besides, it’s enough that God knows how much I value my integrity as a … Continue reading
Filed under Gayhood, Gender, Government/Politics
“Damaso” guy hails Laoag’s Rafales
WHILE I CONSIDER myself tech savvy, there are still times when my jaws drop marveling at how technology spreads information like wildfire. This, dear folks, is one of those times. Last week in my newspaper column, I wrote about Jesus … Continue reading
Filed under Church, Government/Politics, Reproductive Health Bill
Before Celdran, there was Rafales
AND THE present pales in comparison to the past. Carlos Celdran, a well-known tourist guide, made news recently when he walked into the Manila Cathedral in the middle of a Mass and shouted, “Down with Padre Damaso!” in protest of … Continue reading
Filed under Church, Government/Politics, Ilocos
“With Imee as governor, it’s exciting to live in Ilocos.”
YOU WOULD think the line is straight from a press release written by Imee’s young and brilliant media staff, or from a column penned by some paid publicist or corrupt journalist, but no, the generous adulation is lifted from the … Continue reading
Filed under Government/Politics, Ilocos
Why beer is better than religion
MY FRIEND Rommel, a highly regarded scholar from Cagayan, observes that going to church is no different from frequenting a videoke bar. You go to these places to find relief from life’s cruelties. The great American statesman Benjamin Franklin posited … Continue reading
Church of the Pool on the take?
BUT OF COURSE. Archbishop Oscar Cruz, an indefatigable anti-jueteng crusader, revealed recently that eight to twelve Catholic dioceses are benefitting from illegal gambling operations. One wonders if the Diocese of Laoag is among them. This sense of wonder is not … Continue reading
Filed under Church, Government/Politics, Sociology
I am Makoy
TIME HAS COME, dear karikna, to make Ferdinand Marcos more relevant to our times. I feel that our people are ready to give the man a second look, to unravel his life with new eyes, to look past the thickly … Continue reading
Filed under Government/Politics, History
Abolish it, now!
THIS IS NOT the first column to be written on this matter and I bet this is not to be the last. The clamor for the abolition of the Sanguniang Kabataan crops up every so often and intensifies before barangay … Continue reading
Filed under Filipino Youth, Government/Politics
Yes to Jueteng!
I AM HAPPY that P-Noy himself clarified categorically that while he is against jueteng, eradicating the illegal numbers game is not on top of his to-do list. “That’s a low priority for me,” he said. I surmise it saddened Archbishop … Continue reading
Filed under Church, Government/Politics, Sociology
Imeldisms
MY WORLD stops each time I see The Madame, former First lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos. Now an octogenarian, she looks as graceful and godly as ever. In a land as benighted as ours, she is the closest thing to a … Continue reading
Filed under Government/Politics
Gaga over Imee
WHAT WAS TOUTED as a tight battle between cousins turned out to be a ho-hum at the box office, er, the polling precincts. Imee Marcos won the Ilocos Norte gubernatorial race in a heartbeat, and with a thrashing margin. Supporters … Continue reading
Filed under Government/Politics
Thank you, Lolo Melo
AT 78, he should either be a couch potato or a jetsetter, enjoying the fruits of his lifetime of honest labor, but no, Jose Armando R. Melo, endured stressful days and sleepless nights, making possible our country’s first automated election … Continue reading
Filed under Government/Politics
The better Kris
KRIS—the better Kris, the sincere Kris, the brilliant Kris, the wonder boy, my valued friend—did not make the cut for the congressional race. He fought the good fight, but the people chose someone, and it’s not him. We should see … Continue reading
Filed under Government/Politics, Ilocos
Kiss and kick
PERFECT. At clustered precinct No. 6 located at the Ilocos Norte National High School, the election went as okay as it could get. All 597 voters, accounting for a 72.4% turnout for Laoag City’s Brgy. 3, were able to cast … Continue reading
Filed under Government/Politics
Goodbye, Kris!
REALIZING HOW BIG a liability she could be, Kris Aquino promised to leave the country if Noynoy bags the presidency. “.. I promised Noy that if he does win and I’m a cause of stress for him and his presidency, … Continue reading
Filed under Government/Politics
200
That, dear karikna, is not the number of yellow shirts I have purchased. I surmise not even Noynoy Aquino has that many in his wardrobe. Two hundred pesos is the current rate in the vote-buying operations for the first congressional … Continue reading
Filed under Government/Politics, Ilocos, Sociology
Hello Yellow
YOUR karikna is updating his wardrobe these days to include a lot of yellow shirts. I have, in fact, scrounged on each and every rack of all department stores and boutiques in the province to search for really good yellow … Continue reading
Filed under Government/Politics, Personals
Brainless Bayani
Why, Bayani? How different is “Lalakeng Kausap” from “Babaeng kausap,” “Bading kausap,” and lesbiyanang kausap? I knew all along that you are Hitler’s reincarnation, what I did not know is that you are also a remnant of our oh-s0-macho past. … Continue reading
Filed under Gender, Government/Politics
Rethinking Marcos
Asiong, a karikna, is confused about my stance about President Marcos. “I thought you were a Marcosian, you said so in one article, and then you were praising Cory in another post,” he laments. Riknakem habitue William S. has also delivered … Continue reading
Filed under Government/Politics, Ilocos
AY Tungpalan: ‘Legal Thieves’
(The following is a most worthy contribution from Prof. Andres Y. Tungpalan, president of the Federation of Government Employees Associations in Region I. He is also immediate past president of the Philippine National Confederation of Faculty Associations of State Universities … Continue reading
Filed under Government/Politics
Seeing through the poverty line
(This is an article written by Stanley Palisada of ABS-CBN. Your karikna was interviewed as one of six resource persons across the nation.) MANY FILIPINOS are really sick and tired of being poor in pocket, in spirit and in association. … Continue reading
Filed under Government/Politics, Ilocos, Revolution
