By Rex Catubig   IN celebration of the Women’s Month this March Note: A friend posted this poem by Rupi Kaur on Facebook. I googled her: Rupi Kaur is a Canadian poet, illustrator, photographer, and author. Born in Punjab, India, Kaur immigrated to Canada at a young age with her…

By Rex Catubig   THERE are no road markers to lead visitors to the site. The site, in fact, is hardly known in the vicinity. The name Villa Milagrosa no longer rings a bell, nor does Seaside, precursors to the present Tondaligan. Resolute, one finds the way through some remembered…

By Rex Catubig   BE it holiday or fiesta season, birthday or anniversary, or whatever important occasion, glorious food takes center stage in the celebrations. The lowly pig is undeniably the king of the festive table. Ham, which is a throwback to our Chinese, Spanish, and American culinary heritage, may…

By Rex Catubig   SHE is a creature of habit. And the habit that drives her to the point of obsession is what has defined her– Unliserbisyo—the expeditious delivery of much-needed services not only to the public in general, but to those most in need—the indigents and marginalized sector– the children,…

By Rex Catubig   “INTSIK tsonga”, “Tsikwa”– are just two of the monikers they are condescendingly called, implying disdain in how they are regarded, which reveals our bias and cultural ignorance. My father was privileged to enjoy a close association with the Chinese in the lumber business. I grew up…

By Rex Catubig   IT was the ’70s. The world was on the cusp. The world they were born in was fast transitioning into the world they were growing up in. They were born at the tail end of the Platters as the world began gyrating and twisting with Elvis and Chubby Checker, screaming to Hard Day’s…

By Rex Catubig   MY barrio Calmay was self-contained–a tiny world unto itself. But when one had to venture to Baley–for work and other mundane reasons, the baloto was the mode of transport to rely on. Fashioned out of a single piece of carved wood, and secured with bamboo outrigger…

By Rex Catubig   THE darkness over the coconut grove coast of Bonuan was fanned by the gentle January breeze, when suddenly, it was pierced by sporadic shelling out of nowhere, that made the horizon appear like a night with a thousand blazing eyes. Inland, by the seashore, residents were…

(Photo by Willie Lomibao) By Rex Catubig   THE recent groundbreaking for a new bridge to link the city to its island barrios and become the modern gateway to the Western towns, auger well for the Calmay residents who, for ages and generations, have ridden off the rough river of…

By Rex Catubig   Note: For 90 years after the Franklin Bridge sank, island barrio folks had pinned their hopes on its replacement. Yet despite plans initiated by local leaders, it never took shape. It took a master stroke from Cong Toff de Venecia, the scion of the 1st Speaker…