I could still vividly remember the opening scene in WALL-E where the titular robot was surrounded by mountains of trash. Set in the year 2805, it had been centuries since humankind left Earth aboard the Axiom. The whole premise of our planet becoming so unlivable that, sometime in the distant future, we would eventually leave […]
In my grade school social studies subjects, my teachers would often ask us where we are from. The word “Ifugao” would sit at the tip of my tongue, strange and foreign. I was told by my father that we hail from there, a faraway land of mountains and rice paddies. Having grown up in Cavite, […]
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article recounts an experience of a traumatizing form of sexual assault. Readers are advised to proceed with caution. I consider myself as someone who is sex-positive—seeing sex and sexuality as concepts that are open and progressive. Exploring my sexuality right after high school shaped how I understood people as their own realized […]
“Becoming a teacher is a difficult task. You’ll be underfunded, underappreciated,” these were the words hammered in my mind ever since I was a child, having admitted that I wished to take up teaching as a profession, all the way to my major courses in college. Everyone says that education is a vocation, a sacrifice […]
The Philippines was never ready for a pandemic, and yet here we are. From the lack of hospital beds to the scarcity of ventilators, the country’s weak healthcare infrastructure has become prone to collapse, as those in the highest offices of the government continue to blunder in their response. This lack of decisive leadership and […]
“Tayo naman!” so exclaimed many after the news of Joe Biden’s projected election into the United States presidency, expressing hope that with the end of Donald Trump’s damaging populist tenure, the Philippines would see the same result in 2022. But while we have reason to believe that better leadership is within our grasp, this is […]
Up to what extent can we give someone the benefit of the doubt? Where do we draw the line in order to ease the pain, anger, and heartbreak? A couple of years ago, a man told me he loved me. Although I was sure that the word “love” meant almost nothing to him, I made […]
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article mentions suicide. Readers are advised to proceed with caution. Whenever you look at an entangled ball of yarn, your mind tries to find a workaround to fix the knots. Possible approaches might be to throw the entire mess away, remove each strand—handling each one properly—or cover the yarn and place it […]
“Don’t follow the path Ka Ella Colmenares took in the underground.” And so began Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Southern Luzon Command chief Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr.’s tirades against those whom he suspects to have communist ties—throwing allegations at opposition figures, arousing suspicion at a sitting mayor, and giving “warnings” to outspoken celebrities. […]
In 1999, I was a freshman at 17 years old, a perfect lifetime ago. In those days, TLS was housed on the 3rd floor of the SPS Building, in one long room together with the Malate Literary Folio and Ang Pahayagang Plaridel. One or two bulky desktops littered the space on the long table and […]