By Rex Catubig   THE eastern sky began to darken at 2p.m. Soon after, an ominous burst of thunder warned of a heavy downpour. By that time, it was already raining gallons in Sta Barbara; and Urdaneta was also getting drenched. It was imminent, it was just a matter of…

By Rex Catubig   THE seasonal high tide brought on by the lunar cycle aggravated by monsoon rains and storms has made Dagupan vulnerable to flooding, with Typhoon Crising and Emong and Dante, and who knows which other weather cohorts, on its heels setting record high inundation. The rising water…

By Rex Catubig   SHE was scheduled to leave for Baguio that sultry afternoon. Not to take a breather from the oppressive July heat, but to scout possibilities for building a movie house there. Youngest brother Kerwin had developed a passion for movies and as a doting sister, she helped…

By Rex Catubig   DURING the enrollment of incoming first year at the Dagupan City High School in 1960, the school officials headed by the erudite but stern Principal, Mr. Eduardo Q. Edralin from Lingayen, conceived the idea of grouping together all the honor graduates from the various public elementary…

By Rex Catubig   MY brother was a Civil Engineer and a pioneer OFW way before the acronym was coined. He was working at the Pangasinan Public Works and Highways, building roads and bridges across the province, when the war in Vietnam escalated and there ensued a demand for construction…

By Rex Catubig   IT was the mid ‘70s: the height of flower power, make love not war, and the iconic peace sign. It was my first trip to good ol’ USA, it was summer, and there was much more to see and experience than the must-visit recreation parks. Luck…

By Rex Catubig   THE patriotic fervor was at its crest. The centuries of unrest and uprising against two imperial powers and the gruesome resistance against a third would-be colonizer, had finally paid off. In July 4,1946, the Filipinos proudly raised its flag up high as it gained its penultimate…

By Rex Catubig   JUNE is branded as the marryingest month.  Of the several schools of thought, one harks back to the Roman times, citing the goddess Juno, who the month is named after, as the inspiration behind. “The goddess was the protector of women across all aspects of life,…

By Rex Catubig   NOTE: This article pays tribute to the lives of those hardy individuals who dared to break out of the mold in a cruel and uncertain time, and face an unwelcoming world. The Pride Month of June seeks to review that world, to overcome the gay stereotype,…

By Rex Catubig   FOREWORD: By a stroke of serendipity, I came across this piece I wrote in the Village Voice Newsmagazine of Cesar Duque, which detailed the assassination of a police officer in a town then infamous for unsolved killings. It’s been almost four decades, but with the spate…