By Atty. Farah G. Decano   WHAT with the historic Olympic gold medal win of weightlifter, Hidilyn Diaz, whose femininity is still apparent, perhaps we may now accept the idea of a muscular Filipina without assaulting her womanhood? I remember an article of fellow Sunday Punch columnist, Virginia Pasalo, that…

By Atty. Farah G. Decano   ESTHER Perel, a leading psychotherapist, theorizes that the stories we tell ourselves can either make or break us.  They are our own interpretations of events in our lives.  They help us understand and make sense of our present and past realities. In the process…

By Atty. Farah G. Decano   WOULD you be willing to sacrifice one life to save five lives? That, in a nutshell, is the crux of the famed trolley problem.  In last week’s issue, the controversy was limited to the out-of-control train that was about to run over five strangers…

By Atty. Farah G. Decano   WHEN my genius of a friend finally changed her mind and agreed with my choices, I was astounded. “You are strange!” I said. “Why?”  she asked. “People your caliber and age usually stubbornly stick to what they earlier pronounced. And here you are, manifesting…

By Atty. Farah G. Decano   THE Chief Executive’s unsatisfactory management of the West Philippine Sea dispute –   this was the maiden shot fired against President Rodrigo Duterte by his supposed loyal ally, Senator Manny Pacquiao. Interestingly, this is also the “banner” issue of the largest opposition group, 1Sambayan which…

By Atty. Farah G. Decano             HEARD of toxic masculinity? In celebration of the Pride Month, I will be discussing this abhorrent gender trait in the context of LGBT+ issues. Nope. This is not a campaign for acceptance and tolerance. There are probably millions of articles written about this topic…

By Atty. Farah G. Decano   BEFORE there was Cebu City’s 2012 ordinance that prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, there was Dagupan City’s Gender Equality ordinance which was approved on June 28, 2010 by then Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr. I wrote that piece of…

By Atty. Farah G. Decano              OF course, I am talking about portmanteaus of possible team-ups for the two highest elective posts in the land. SAPAQ refers to Mayor Sarah Duterte and Senator Manny Pacquiao. SAGO pertains to Mayor Sarah again and Senator Bong Go while SABAW just sounds good…

By Atty. Farah G. Decano   THERE is no legal impediment for President Rodrigo Duterte to run as Vice President of his daughter, Davao City Mayor, Sarah Duterte.  If its legal, then why is there much brouhaha over his looming vice-presidential candidacy? I think the naysayers fear for the concentration…

By Atty. Farah G. Decano   HEARD of the five love languages? They are Quality Time, Acts of Service, Gifts, Physical Touch and Words of Affirmation. These are the ways by which one communicates and receives love. This does not apply only to romantic relationships but to all sorts of…