(1st of 2 parts) By Rex Catubig THE coastal barrio conjured images of white-crested waves, blue waters and fine sand, and magnificent undulating sand dunes with ruffled furrows carved by the fierce afternoon winds surging from the high seas. On tranquil days, the place was tropical paradise. Its residents…
Sunday Punch Women’s Month exclusive 2nd of 2 parts By Rex Catubig MALYN Laigue Astadan was married at 16 to a boy she met at a school in neighboring Carael. But the fairy tale soon shattered. The union bore three boys and the burden of earning a living fell…
Sunday Punch Women’s Month Exclusive (1st of 2 parts) By Rex Catubig IT all started with an ice cream stick. One of three boys our overseas domestic helper was taking care of, asked her to buy him ice cream at the cold store. Which she did, thinking the boy had…
By Rex Catubig YEARS ago we had lunch at the Dulag, Binmaley bucolic church grounds as our high school classmate, Fr Jon Songcuan, was assigned there. After eating, Fr Jon toured us around. As we walked past the circular-domed chapel, having some discussion about the state of the…
By Rex Catubig IT’S been thirty seven years since the EDSA People Power Revolution—that historic event on a February love month in 1986 that made the world sit up and do a double take on this tiny patch of islands, whose simple folks became giant poster figures overnight of…
By Rex Catubig WAY before Bangus Festival was conceptualized, Pista’y Dayat was the summer event people flocked to in Dagupan. The mile-long Tondaligan Ferdinand–erstwhile known as Bonuan Blue Beach–was where all vehicles led to and where the action happened. Along the roadway within a stone’s throw from the amphitheater…
By Rex Catubig (Note: Rehash of excerpt from my email to friends–Chronicle of A San Francisco Weekend–about our weekend together). AT around five thirty, the sun’s dazzle had begun to mellow and be embraced by twilight. It has been a most exhilarating afternoon thus far but it was time…
By Rex Catubig SOME wonder why the Jayceekens love to have breakfast and meetings at the unkept PNR Heritage site. And for good reason. After all, the dusty ground, crawling ants and falling insects from the Duhat tree, aggravated by the piercing morning sun, can turn off the…
By Rex Catubig (Note: This is an updated version of my opening remarks at the Darapilan Art Exhibition held in conjunction with the National Arts Month at the so-called Saudi Building in DCNHS campus in February 2020). THERE’S a poem by Langston Hughes inscribed on a flexiglass divider at…
By Rex Catubig “INTSIK tsonga”, “Tsikwa”– are just two of the monikers they are condescendingly called, implying disdain in the way 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…
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