By Rex Catubig   BEING advanced in age tends to make one retreat and hark back. It seems to follow the rule in physics where for every action there is an equal opposite reaction. So as you move forward in years, the more you get older, the more you look…

By Rex Catubig   THE news reports a shortage of condiments that are essential for cooking food and enhancing its taste. It started with the shortage of white onions. Then like domino, there is a shortage of sugar, followed by the shortage of salt, and garlic.  Without these ingredients, food will…

By Rex Catubig    THE past few days had us anxiously awaiting the intrusion of a dreaded typhoon while excitedly anticipating the coming of the “ber” months. Thus conflicted, I recall the dilemma I was caught in several years ago in a similar setting. Spurred by an oncoming howler, I…

By Rex Catubig    FIVE years ago, as we chronicled the city’s past seven decades, there was a scathing outcry that put into question the city’s evolution in the coming years. The core of the outburst was the planned relocation of the city hall and creation of a new growth…

By Rex Catubig   I’m a source of embarrassment when it’s time to pay for goods bought or food consumed. My friends steer clear of the awkward situation when I reach the cashier counter. The reason being that I always demand my change to the last coin. And I’m a…

By Rex Catubig   \BEFORE an infamous dam lent a bad reputation to the name, making it synonymous to being a harbinger of catastrophe as opposed to its religious significance of being a beneficent healer of sickness, San Roque had been, and remains a revered patron saint of my beloved…

By Rex Catubig    IN my boyhood in our barrio, the month of August is customarily associated with relentless rain. “Nepnep” is how it was called when the monsoon dumps torrent of rain and the downpour inundates the river and engenders strong current. From out of nowhere the raging river…

By Rex Catubig   AUGUST is when monsoon brings copious rain, and usually intensifies into tropical typhoon. In my boyhood, at the start of a heavy downpour, we would run out into the yard and cheerily drench our fragile bodies with heaven’s libation. But as thunder rolls and lightning menacingly…

By Rex Catubig   IT was just another Monday. As the sultry afternoon was winding down, clock watchers in offices were fidgety and kept glancing at the wall clock, waiting impatiently for 5 o’clock to strike. The lady employees had begun the ritual of retouching their make-up, nudging off their…