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On entering Shaw Boulevard from Edsa in Mandaluyong City, one can’t help but notice a well-manicured tract of prime lot with two 1950s houses, a shadowy one and a larger vintage structure with a stretch of off-white walls. The first house on the right is Doy and Celia Laurel’s.
Democracy is the worst form of government. But there’s none better, so they say. It’s taking me decades to appreciate democracy in practice.
It may seem a phenomenon particular to us, but it’s so true: Nothing brings us together as a nation like an occasion for collective grief.
I first met Ninoy about 30 two years ago when I was producing and hosting “The Late Nite with June and Johnny,” a talk show that aired at 10 p.m. Fridays on GMA Channel 7. It was a co-production; I had to shoulder expenses and GMA provided the air time, as at that time Freddie Garcia didn’t believe that a talk show aired so late would rate. Thankfully I was proven right, and it became so popular.
Recognizing the importance of reading and literacy especially among the country’s youth, President Benigno Aquino III has signed a law designating the birthday of his martyred father, former Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr., a reputed wide reader, as Araw ng Pagbasa or Day of Reading.
The Filipino American stars and crew of “Here Lies Love,” the immersive musical event by David Byrne and DJ Fatboy Slim, will gather for an afternoon of drinks and conversation with the public on Saturday, July 20, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Ugly Kitchen restobar (103 1st Ave., New York, NY).
It’s a twice-told tale. Actually a tale told many times over in the recent past: the martyrdom of former Sen. Benigno S. Aquino Jr., the rise to power of his wife, President Corazon C. Aquino, and their powerful legacy.
We were college students in very interesting times—sophomores the year Ninoy Aquino was murdered, and restless seniors when we took to the streets during Edsa.
Thirty years ago, a whole generation by the standard measure, I began writing a regular feature called “Interesting Women” for the weekly Woman’s Home Companion.
Tucked in a dark shelf somewhere in the Archdiocesan Office of Communication of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Manila in Intramuros is a mint-condition back issue of Penthouse magazine.
