This post is three days late. But the thoughts expressed here were those on the 1st of May, yet I didn’t find the time to write them down. On May 1st, I felt great when I woke up, because, well, it’s a free day, a reason to celebrate! Moreover, a major diplomatic event that I…
Tag: Philippines
Paggunita sa Ika-37 Anibersaryo ng EDSA People Power Revolution
Bilang paggunita sa #EDSA37, nais kong ibahagi ang impromptu poem na ito na naisulat ko sa loob ng lima hanggang sampung minuto, dahil sa isang kaganapan noong ika-walo ng Nobyembre, pitong taon na ang nakakalipas. Naalala ko na nalungkot talaga ako noong araw na ‘yon dahil sa mga pangyayari at sa pagbalewala sa kasaysayan ng…
Philippines: Un Pays au Pluriel (A Country of a Thousand Faces), 1987
When I first found the French-English book Philippines: Un Pays au Pluriel (1987) from the bottom shelf of the Embassy library, it seemed like just any other book about the Philippines with pictures of nature, tribes wearing their traditional garments, and Filipinos wearing beautiful smiles. But when I read the description of the author Jean…
Glimpse of a Diplomat’s Life
What do diplomats do? In the virtual age, is the work of a diplomat still relevant? At a time when even the highest leader of the land or the head of the Foreign Affairs Department can post his/her decisions and sentiments online, available to the public within mere seconds and when news travels more than…
A 2018 Study on Metro Manila by Sciences Po Urban School Students
Metropolitan Manila or the National Capital Region (NCR) is more than a group of highly-urbanized cities. With Manila as the capital of the Philippines, it is the place in the country that is most covered by mainstream media. Every corner of this collection of cities breathes—from the sky-high buildings of the more affluent neighborhoods, to…
Anting-Anting in Paris
In March 2019, I was delighted to find out that one museum in Paris featured the Philippines. The exhibit did not show paintings nor sculptures of talented Filipino artists, as what would normally be found in a museum. Instead, it presented anting-antings! This exhibit was held from March 12 to May 26, 2019 in Musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac. The 10-week exhibit titled “Anting-Anting, The Secret Soul…
Beyond Routes 