By Farah G. Decano   PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced during his State of the Nation Address (SONA) that the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators, otherwise known as POGO, shall be banned effective immediately.  He also ordered that these companies should terminate their winding up process at the end of the…

By Farah G. Decano   DON’T you think it is presumptuous to call oneself a kingmaker when he or she has produced only one top honcho who actually was not a nobody to start with? President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. was not a nobody in 2010, 2016 or 2022, when…

By Farah G. Decano   CITIZENS must be quick to commend traits that are worthy of emulation while vociferously denouncing conducts that are reckless, malicious, and inimical to common good. By constantly declaring their ideals and their displeasures, the populace is setting the standards and values with which the collective…

By Farah G. Decano   SOME of those who were invited to the recent State of the City Address of Mayor Belen T. Fernandez intentionally did not attend. They complained to their respective community handlers that they did not receive any padulas from Mayor Belen and even threatened to shift…

By Farah G. Decano   I saw the video of First Lady Liza Marcos drinking wine from the glass of Senator Chiz Escudero after she marched with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. into one of the halls in Malacañang.  She appeared exhausted and thirsty which prompted her to playfully get the…

By Farah G. Decano   ON the birthday of the late Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr. this year, I suddenly remembered that the last three ordinances he approved on June 28, 2010 were my authorship: Magna Carta of Women in Dagupan City, Magna Carta of Global Dagupeños, and Gender Equality Ordinance….

By Farah G. Decano   JUNE is Pride Month. The entire Philippines, not just the members of the LGBT plus community, is commemorating the years of struggle for the group’s acceptance, recognition and respect in society. It is also a month of celebration for whatever gains the equality movement has…

By Farah G. Decano   ANCIENT history tells us that war was not China’s bag of chips. Its people were more known to us as traders. In fact, even before the rediscovery of the Philippines by Ferdinand Magellan, our ancestors had been doing business with them.  Unlike the people from…

By Farah G. Decano   UNLIKE in some local government units here and abroad, Mayor Belen’s style of leadership, at least when I was her City Administrator, encompassed political and administrative matters.  She was a micro manager in the good sense because she was aware of the smallest detail in…

By Farah G. Decano   I ENCOUNTERED the term “ghosting” for the first time when actors Bea Alonzo and Gerald Anderson broke up.  I wondered what the word meant when applied to them. As explained later by those in showbiz circles, it means abruptly ending a relationship by sudden disappearance…