Holy Week in the Philippines

Celebrate or commemorate?   This Lenten, boiling RH Bill had simmered down as Catholic priests face the already evaporating spirit of Holy Week. Many Filipinos take this chance to enjoy and not to recollect. They go and grab their vacations – out-of-town, beaches, Macau, Hongkong, U.S., etc. They take pleasure in swimming, strolling by the shoreline and beach-partying at night. They don’t mind going to the church, praying and joining mass...

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Five Reasons to Visit Ilocos Norte

My summer version to Time’s! An hour air travel; almost half day bus trip; unfeasible sea passage; and a lifetime dream – for him who was once a witness of Manila’s hostage crises, a window shopper during the many bomb threats in malls and a victim of street pick pockets; for him who had no choice but to stay for work, tolerate his abusive employer and continue providing for the family; and for him who just turned to a poor bridge over the...

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Pagudpud | The Other Side

A pre-Lenten post. I cannot hear anything in the street. No single murmurs of wives’ wicked mouths. Or shouts of wobbling shirtless drunkards. Nor heavy treads of playing kids. Where are they? Where are these? Hmmn. The busy neighborhood was struck by that “conscientious” illness again. I think it's yearly. It was indeed a one motionless day. It was such a frustration I cannot find tranquility inside. I cannot but think and think. All...

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Pagudpud | In Two Different Days

Before and after the rain. Writing a feature about the place doesn't cause me at all to say, "This is too much." Because I, myself, knows that words are not enough for readers to go through a Pagudpud experience... to appreciate this lowland heaven! The moment the car engine stopped, you would want immediately to get your feet in the sands. The moment you glimpsed the coconut trees, you would want to have some for drinks. The...

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Pagudpud | Ready for a Wet Summer

Rain or shine, it is still summer! They don't have the scorching fire and the stars; only the humble wind and the native Ilocanos. They don't have the grandest resorts and hotels; only their refreshing coconut unders and nipa cottages. Yes, that was depicting an unblemished picture of Pagudpud. And to complete the perfect frame are fancy white sands and bumpy rock formations. Maybe a sketch of disadvantages for others, but I say, these...

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