By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   SUDDENLY, I did not want to do anything. I just wanted to go to Baguio City among the pine trees, or on a pristine coast along Lingayen Gulf. Call it burnout. Call it anything. By body is protesting the daily routine, I could feel it…

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   OVER time, we forget, no matter if we say, we  will never forget. In the same manner, we remember, even if we choose to forget. As we transition from one stage to the next, we often forget more than we are able to remember. We…

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   I had a lengthy conversation with Atty. Gonzalo Duque, chairperson of the Pangasinan Historical and Cultural Commission (PHCC) who just came out of the hospital. In fact, he said he signed the PHCC Accomplishment Report (2011-Present), immediately after he arrived home from a five-day confinement….

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   “DID I hear you right?” A question I repeated to a fellow Commissioner who gave me an update on what transpired during the meeting of the Pangasinan Historical and Cultural Commission (PHCC) with newly-elected Governor Ramon “Mormon” V. Guico III. PHCC Commissioner Arabela Arcinue was…

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   HOW do you sum up the life of a man? Stories are but a glimpse, and so are photographs. Stories are never enough even when told truthfully and well. Photographs, even when taken in the most candid way, are but epitaphs, memories entombed in time….

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   AS soon as I wake up, I begin to thank God for the many things I have been blessed with. I give thanks for the people and circumstances that make my life a celebration, for the little things that make my life’s journey a meaningful…

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   TODAY, I fell on the pavement facedown. I thought my face was broken because I was bleeding on the face, and tasted blood inside my mouth. Afraid that I would pass out, I immediately stood up with the help of strangers who took a cab…

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   THE rain continues to pound on the cosmos flowers which we hoped to gather as soon as the sun rises. My sister Emma had purposely scattered cosmos seeds in almost every sidewalk that we passed on our daily walks, and on the adjacent lot where…

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   This morning, I think of my mother. I think of the times that I have decided, on so many occasions I have taken personal decisions without much regard for her own sentiments. Not that it is intentional to disregard it, but worse, it seemed sometimes…

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   LAST night, my sister noticed that there were piles of construction materials dumped on the adjacent lot we had maintained cleaning for several months now. The ampalaya (bitter gourd) was buried under the rubbles, and its leaves wilted from the weight carelessly dumped at its…