Simbang Gabi

December 16, 2025

Today is the first day of the Simbang Gabi – a nine-day novena which starts December 16 and ends on December 24. It is celebrated at 4:30 in the morning. But in recent years, when masses are also regularly held in chapels and other places outside of the main church, simbang gabis are held during evenings – at 7:00, 8:00 or 9:00 depending on the availability of the priest celebrant. But the original practice is to hold it at dawn; at hours before the sun rises. It is common among former colonies of Spain. The friars convinced the catholic converts to prepare themselves for the celebration of the birth of the Saviour. And what more fitting preparation there is but to attend nine-day novena mass.

When Budget Lines Become Backdoors: The Real Cost of Pork Barrel — Now Wearing a New Face

December 14, 2025

When people talk about “pork barrel,” they often mean the old PDAF days — discretionary slush funds handed to lawmakers for projects that sometimes never materialized. But to say pork barrel is gone would be naive. It didn’t disappear; it changed its face — into budget insertions, unprogrammed funds, and discretionary realignments that skirt executive vetting. It’s important to look at the real cost of pork barrel, as these create the same opportunities for abuse. Insertions, FLR, and unprogrammed funds – not illegal, but could be immoral After the Supreme Court struck down PDAF in 2013, direct lump-sum allocations to lawmakers were outlawed. What replaced them is subtler: lawmakers now push insertions into the General Appropriations Act (GAA), or tap “for later release” (FLR) designations

Smuggling, Customs Fraud and the Bill Being Paid by All of Us

December 7, 2025

Everyone is talking about flood control scams right now. Thanks to Congressman Zaldy Co’s three-part video exposé , corruption headlines are all about ghost projects and overpriced construction. Co’s claims, whether proven in court or not, point to systemic, organized corruption coming from the very top. It’s not just a few bad apples. But hold up—overpriced infra is just one type of corruption. In an earlier post that I have on the economic effects of corruption there are other sources of corruption. This post looks at something that is as insidious as overpriced infrastructure, but rarely gets the same spotlight: Smuggling and Customs Fraud. How Bad is Smuggling and Customs Fraud? It is a massive problem: The Bureau of Customs (BOC) seized a record

Reminiscing on a COVID Christmas

December 1, 2025

I came across this old video from Singaporean producer/actor/singer Alvin Oon from 2020, and it took me back to the time of COVID – when the world stood still, but we still found ways to keep on moving. It’s him singing “We’re Not Going to Anywhere This Christmas” (sung to the tune of “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas”). Here’s the video: He talks about not being able to travel during this Christmas, as we all had to stay at home. But, it’s okay, because he says – “most importantly, is to have you here with me – who could ask for more?” It’s a lighthearted, cheery song, to the tune of one of the most popular Christmas songs, about not going anywhere

Don’t let anyone steal your dreams. Follow your heart, no matter what

November 28, 2025

“Success comes to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams the most, the fiercest, the longest – those who don’t give up even if the others let go” Henry Ford,Founder of Ford Motors To have a dream is one of the most

The Strategic Misdirection: Why the Pinks and the Yellow Appear to Support BBM

November 21, 2025

The current political landscape in the Philippines presents a paradoxical alignment: elements of the Pink (Leni Robredo supporters) and Yellow (Aquino/Liberal Party) factions appear, at times, to be tacitly supporting the administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (BBM). However, interpreting this as genuine, ideological support is fundamentally misguided. This alignment is entirely strategic, temporary, and driven by a classic “enemy of my enemy” calculation. The Myth of “Uni-Pink” Support: A Tactical Alignment The core truth remains that the Pink and Yellow factions are among the fiercest critics of the Marcos administration. Their opposition is centered on issues of corruption, historical revisionism, and the drug-related controversies that continue to plague the current government. The notion of a “Uni-Pink”—a merged Marcos- Pink/Yellow alliance—is largely a manufactured

The Political Earthquake That Split a Family and Rocked the Philippines

November 19, 2025

The past few days witnessed a political earthquake that split the family and rocked the Philippines, one for the books. The INC rally didn’t just shake the Marcos Presidency – it exposed the rot in Philippine politics for all the world to see. It is very surreal. This supposed “transparency rally” detonated a political bombshell in the form of Senator Imee Marcos’s very emotional tirade against his brother. Indeed, it was a political earthquake that splits the family further. It is dominating online conversations and mainstream media headlines in the past few days – a family meltdown on an extremely public scale, and possibly a political order cracking under its own weight. This event splintered the family and sent shockwaves throughout the Philippines. There were no

Filipino New Year’s Traditions

October 22, 2025

Much like Christmas, Filipinos everywhere also have a special way of celebrating New Year’s. We have our traditions that are uniquely Filipino, and no one else in the world does. You may feel like it’s borderline superstition, but we Filipinos just believe in certain things we must do as we welcome the new year. Here are a few common Filipino New Year’s Traditions you may or may not know. Media Noche Let’s start with something that Filipinos love – eating, and specifically, eating together. The Media Noche, Spanish for “Midnight”, is the second feast that Filipinos have every year in the holiday season. Much like Christmas’s Noche Buena, the Media Noche has its own quirks. It’s also a feast that starts at midnight, although

Are All These Recent Earthquakes Normal?

October 21, 2025

Looking at the news and social media over the past few weeks, it would seem like the ground beneath the Philippines hasn’t stopped trembling. Earthquake after earthquake fills headlines recently, and you can’t blame people for thinking that it’s becoming worse. We all know that the Philippines lies within the Pacific Ring of Fire – meaning earthquakes are to be expected. But are all of these earthquakes in such a short time really normal? I have to admit it made me a little bit anxious, so I did a little digging online. The Quakes that Seem to Have Started it All Reports from legitimate sources like the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) have been crucial in providing a little bit of clarity. First

Public Service Should not be a Path to Obscene Wealth

September 30, 2025

“No country can progress if its politics is more profitable than its industries. In a country where those in government are richer than entrepreneurs, they manufacture poverty.” – Peter Obi, Nigerian Politician I came across the above quote recently. It really hits home, I think, as we continue to dive headfirst into this whole flood control issue. Ever since this issue was exposed, the typhoons have kept coming. And the floods they bring seem to be getting worse and worse. This seems like it’s a huge symptom of a deeper, more corrosive problem in our country that is bubbling to the surface. What is being exposed is the theft of billions and billions of pesos meant for dikes, dams, and vital drainage systems – projects

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