As a computer engineering student, I have always been interested in software, hardware, and everything in between. The only way to understand how things work is to deconstruct them and see the genius behind everything. To do that, I had to go away from the proprietary, closed nature of products from companies like Apple and…
Category: Opinion
Beware of their luck
A crisis is a lot of things. It is a time of distress that disrupts routine, a crucial circumstance that could change the future. It is a test of minds, grit, and will. It is a uniting moment—a situation that often needs alliances to solve the matter at hand. It is all of us bracing…
Abandoned state
For the past five years, we have seen how our dream of finally achieving change in this country has slowly slipped away from our hands. Even the smallest hope some of us had eventually faded by increments. Back in 2016, right before the national elections, we were repeatedly promised that “change is coming” just like…
“What we’re seeing is by June 14, our supply will begin to normalize.” Sike. Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr.’s prediction seemed to have been too optimistic. It is the middle of July, and the country’s supply of COVID-19 jabs is hardly normal: shortages in a handful of local government units recently had to put their…
Eternity feels boring
What would you do if eternity was given to you? A good thing about living alone is that intrusive thoughts such as this come naturally. You could be reading a book, cooking dinner, or watching a K-drama about a 999-year-old fox who has a year left to become a human, and getting one would seem…
A garden and a lifeless rock
For most of human history, Earth was the only world we had known to exist. From our ancestors’ eyes, they resided on an island amid a sea of countless stars, their mark on the world as delible as footsteps on a beach. We know now, of course, that Earth is but one of eight planets…
A lease on life
Back when I was still in senior high school, walking back home to San Nicolas was one of the highlights of my day. Having studied in a Chinese school in Tondo, I would wind past shops in 168 Mall, tiptoe over polluted gutters with funky smells, always with my bag held tightly in front of…
Brick by brick
It was a regular Thursday afternoon rush and I was looking forward to going home for the weekend. I was crossing the corner of Vito Cruz with my bag full of laundry when it happened. I barely registered the small, nondescript man coming from the opposite direction. As we crossed each other’s paths, he inched…
Can’t you read?
It was over a year ago, right before COVID-19 took over headlines indefinitely, that the major news item was about reading comprehension—or lack thereof. Let me jog your memory: in December 2019, people threw a fit when a 2018 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) report found that among 79 countries surveyed, the Philippines placed…
Space in this world
For Filipinos, the month of June means two things; Independence Day for all and Pride Month for some. Our countrymen commemorate the month they are liberated from their colonizers and look back to the time when they achieved freedom. On the other hand, the LGBTQ+ community celebrates their freedom and love, showcasing what it means…









