Two years ago, a friend from Tarlac told me that their province has a piece of the Holy Cross. Curious, I googled it, her story checks out. The relic can be found in the Church of Monasterio de Tarlac. It was donated by a German monastic in 2007. I wanted to see it until I […]
Looks like our local educational system is opening its doors to more languages like Korean. Hardcore K-Pop fans were delighted to hear the news! But why prioritize Korean and Mandarin? Why not Spanish? Our old lingua franca? All my siblings had mandatory Spanish. It was removed from standard curriculum when I started tertiary education. With […]
Governor General Juan de Silva’s mission to go after the Dutch outside Spanish Philippine territory, deep into the Malay peninsula, was not without its critics. “Silva set sail from Manila late in the season, ill-staffed, ill-equipped, under a barrage of criticism from the church, the orders, the bishops, the cabildos and the Audiencia Real. Worst […]
According to historian Peter Borschberg (National University of Singapore), “Spanish Governor of the Philippines, Juan de Silva, commissioned the construction of what was arguably the largest European armada seen in Asian waters before 1620. In the course of joint operations scheduled for the years 1615 and 1616, the Spanish and Portuguese sought to evict […]
The few fiction titles I enjoyed growing up were Les Miserables, The Last of the Mohicans, Don Quixote and The Old Man and the Sea. In college, an even shorter list, there’s Sophie’s World and some Stephen King classics. I prefer non-fiction—history books–of course. I picked up Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s “The Little Prince” when I was […]
I must have sent a note to the universe and it decided to respond. Last week I was at the Philatelic Museum (Singapore) to see the exhibit, “The Little Prince: Behind the Story” (more on my next blog). Then a few days ago, Jerome Herrera sent a link (to this blog’s FB Page) to his […]
In his recent Netflix special explains the legend that is Manny Pacquiao and the reason why Filipino men worships him. “Emasculated” by unemployment and having their overseas wives send money to support the family, Dave explains that Pacquiao somehow restored their manhood “with his fist”! https://frostsnow.com/uploads/gossip/2017/02/04/stand-up-comedian-dave-chappelle-married-elaine-chappelle-and-living-happily-with-their-children.jpg Dave Chappelle with wife Elaine and daughter Sonal. His […]
While writing the blog The Japanese Song About Muntinlupa I enlisted the help of Japanese YouTube users (commenters on Hamako Watanabe’s songs). I asked for the song’s lyrics to be translated to rōmaji (Roman letters) since none was available online. A user that goes by the name Makoto, responded and provided the lyrics below: Montenrupano […]
In a recent Joe Rogan podcast, Dan Pena, implicated former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos as part of the group that planned invading Haiti. Dan Pena was a former military officer and a one time Manila resident. He would later make his millions in oil, stocks and running several businesses worldwide. He now runs a […]
A few days ago, I wrote about the Onoda deal between Marcos and Japan. This brought to mind the Japanese POWs that were incarcerated in Muntinlupa. Some of these men were executed, while others were kept as prisoners for years until they were repatriated. Two death row Japanese WWII prisoners, Gintaro Shirota and Masayuso Ito, […]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X66v6Rn8Jwk Known as the last Japanese soldier to surrender, recently uncovered documents reveals that 2nd Lt. Hiroo Onoda’s repatriation, was a carefully orchestrated deal between President Marcos’ administration and the Japanese government. “Will the Japanese government offer compensation for the human and material damage they caused?” an unnamed Marcos’ negotiator asked. The reparation paid was […]
Sad news coming from Boac. A fire destroyed 8 heritage houses in its poblacion. This includes the gazetted Piroco house (also called Maharlikang Bahay) according to an Inquirer report. Among the fires casualty is the ChiWing Panciteria. The granddaughter of its original owner, Karlene Chi, broke the news to this blogger last night, she posted: “Last night, […]
The biopic movie “Heneral Luna” introduced many Filipinos for the first time to Felipe Buencamino. Veteran actor Nonie Buencamino, a descendant of his, played his“contra vida” character. Felipe Buencamino is one of Emilio Aguinaldo’s trusted ministers. He started on the other side of the fence, worked for Manila’s Audencia (courts), became a fiscal and later a judge. […]
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