Predis@30: A gift of music

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo Some days when many city kids harass their parents for a trip to the malls to gawk at the latest trends or spend the day glassy-eyed before computer screens, disabling space ships and zapping aliens, there happen to be youngsters who have an altogether different idea of a fun and fulfilling day. These kids come from many places in and around Metro Manila, and from varying social classes and...

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'You--we--have a cause that's worth fighting for'

Philippine Daily Inquirer/FEATURES/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo It was mid-1980s and Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc and I had yet to meet face-to-face. But in her handwritten (in green ink) letter to me, urging me to be courageous and face the lions, she was telling me in so many words that we were in this together because “you—we— have a cause worth fighting for.” July 7/80 Dear Ms Doyo: Please “honor” Defense Deputy Minister Barbero’s “invitation” to appear...

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Between 'Nona' and Pia

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo What a week it has been for many Filipinos: An almost-ringside view of heart-rending, heart-pounding happenings that have something to do with what we are, who we are, where we are. Here at home, scenes of the post-Typhoon “Nona” devastation in many parts of Eastern Visayas and Southern and Central Luzon. On the other side of the globe, the Miss Universe pageant in Las Vegas that culminated...

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What is essential

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/byMa. Ceres P. Doyo While the election-related threats and counterthreats, Christmas traffic rush, climate change debates, another typhoon and other aggravating happenings were unsettling our everyday lives, I headed to the Cultural Center of the Philippines to watch Tanghalang Pilipino’s “Prinsipe Munti.” On its last morning show last Sunday, “Prinsipe” was staged at CCP’s Tanghalang Huseng Batute (not at CCP’s...

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INC 'thinking' members to defy group's practice of block voting

Philippine Daily Inquirer/NEWS/ by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo SAYING they are “willing to break from tradition,” members of Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) who call themselves the INC Thinking Voters have decided to defy the long-held bloc voting practice inside their church and vote in the 2016 national elections for the candidate who they feel “will stand for what is right.” No longer observing “blind obedience to corrupt INC officials,” the INC Thinking Voters...

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Seized chainsaws now a Christmas tree

Philippine Daily Inquirer/FEATURES/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo Chainsaws that were confiscated in Palawan’s forests have been transformed into a Christmas tree that stands all year round in front of the Palawan Environmental Enforcement Museum in Puerto Princesa. Equipment that were used to kill trees and destroy virgin forests now reminds defenders of the environment not to let their guard down while evoking fear and awe among destroyers of the Philippines’...

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Poe's birth mom, come out if you can

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo Even Jesus had a birth mother. Believed by Christians worldwide to be the Son of God and redeemer, he went through the human process of being conceived and brought into the world through Mary some 2,015 years ago. This is the reason for this Christmas season’s celebrations. Because Sen. Grace Poe is a foundling, there is no record of her actual birth, only stories on the where, when, how...

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"Dala-bala'

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo While many Filipinos are doing somersaults because of hot news simultaneously hurtling into our lives—the guilty verdict on US Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton for killing a Filipino transgender woman, the disqualification of presidential aspirant Sen. Grace Poe by the Commission on Elections’ second division, the ongoing climate change conference in Paris, presidential aspirant Rodrigo Duterte...

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15 Bantayog honorees join others on The Wall

Philippine Daily Inquirer/FEATURES/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo THIS YEAR’S This year's Bantayog ng mga Bayani honorees comprise a big batch—15 in all. Seven died in Mindanao, four in the Visayas and four in Luzon.  Nine were in their 20s. Of the 15 honorees, 12 died during the martial law years under the Marcos dictatorship. Three died after freedom was restored in 1986.   The conferment of honors will be held at 4 p.m. today at Bantayog...

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Koran's 47:4

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo One day last week, I was watching simultaneously—that is, switching from one channel to another—two seemingly and vastly different “performances.” On an HD cable channel (devoted mostly to classical music concerts, operas, etc.) was Benjamin Britten’s “War Requiem,” while on a news channel was live reportage on the ground in the aftermath of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist attack in Paris that...

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