Quo vadis? Try Latin Mass

Philippine Daily Inquirer/FEATURE/by Ma. Ceres P. DoyoMANILA, Philippines—Brush up on your Kyrie and Pater Noster. Ransack the old baul and bring out your lola’s lace veil and Roman Catholic Daily Missal in Latin. And don’t compare the lovely Gregorian hymns you heard the nuns chant long ago with what you’d be hearing. Do you want to make a trip down church memory lane? If you want to immerse yourself in pre-Vatican II liturgical rituals and rubrics...

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Earth Hour: Saturday, 8:30 p.m.

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo LET’S DO IT AGAIN! Here’s the good news about us: Last year, the Philippines ranked first worldwide in terms of total number of cities and towns that participated in Earth Hour. This year, we can outdo ourselves by getting 15 million Filipinos in 1,000 cities and towns all over the country to participate in Earth Hour 2010.Let’s switch off our lights at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 27, and...

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Perlas best bet to solve water woes, survey shows

Philippine Daily Inquirer/NEWS/by Ma. Ceres P. DoyoMANILA, Philippines—The water problem must be addressed holistically, said one presidential candidate. Another said clean water was a human right. Watersheds must be safeguarded, stressed yet another. Invest in physical infrastructure, one answered. These were some of the responses of seven presidential aspirants to questions posed by environmental groups in a “Green Electoral Initiative” (GEI) survey, particularly on the issue of water.To mark World Water Day Monday, EcoWaste Coalition and Greenpeace...

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Tears, laughter, mark necro service for 'angel of budget'

Philippine Daily Inquirer/NEWS/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo MANILA, Philippines—Stories about Emilia Boncodin’s frugality drew much laughter. Tears and laughter—but mostly laughter—marked the necrological rites for former Budget Secretary Boncodin held Thursday night by her friends and colleagues in government service. On the fourth night of Boncodin’s wake, her colleagues at the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) and the Career Executive Service Board (CESB) took turns to share stories and anecdotes about her and to praise her dedication...

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Balangiga in the cusp of change

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. DoyoIT WAS, first and foremost, a nostalgic reunion of several groups that have had personal and activist ties in years past with veteran community development worker Oscar “Oca” Francisco who became a party-list representative last year, representing the Alliance for Rural Concerns (ARC). But our weekend gathering in Tacloban City, Leyte and trip to Balangiga and Basey in Eastern Samar were also...

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Hildegarde and the 'Goddess at Sunrise'

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo UNTYPICAL and myth-shattering but beautiful is the trophy that noted sculptor Agnes Arellano created for the Hildegarde Award for Women in Media and Communication. This award is conferred yearly during Women’s Month by the Mass Communication Department of St. Scholastica’s College to honor and recognize the outstanding contributions of women in shaping the Philippine media.Arellano’s “Goddess...

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Confession of a highwayman

Philippine Daily Inquirer/Opinion/by Ma. Ceres P. DoyoTHE MURDER A FEW DAYS AGO OF HIGHWAYS contractor Wilfredo “Boy” Mayor (2005 jueteng whistleblower) by what appeared to be hired hit men gave rise to speculations about what he might have known about shady deals in the domain of public works. The assassins pumped 22 bullets into Mayor’s Volvo 850. He had just come from the casino. Those who know Mayor say the murder may not be connected with his...

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