By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo THE Lingayen Gulf is described by the ICLARM Technical Report: Lingayen Gulf coastal area management plan: National Economic Development Authority, Region 1: San Fernando, La Union (Philippines), United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, 1992 as follows: “The coastal area of Lingayen Gulf represents a continuum…
By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo MY dad’s garden was a garden of necessity. He planted for nourishment. We had abundant supply of pechay, ampalaya, kabatiti, patola, upo, kjalabasa, pallang, kardis, saluyot and some others whose names I have forgotten. We had mangoes, papayas, bayabas, lomboy, various citrus fruits. The neighbors…
By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo THERE are friends we can entrust some of our secrets, although there are very few of them, not more than half the total count of our fingers. In these fingers, the secrets live a life, free and unconstrained, in total trust and acceptance, and thrive,…
By Virginia Jasmn Pasalo I was having conversation with my father, then he suddenly fell on the bed and stopped breathing. I pumped his heart, but to no avail. I called for help, but no one heard me. Then I woke up, panting, like a tired horse. It was…
By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo I learned that a monument of Rizal was taken down to give way to another monument in a Pangasinan town, fermenting a quiet dissent among Masons and Rizal advocates. Another monument was beheaded by a lightning in a Pangasinan island some time ago. Whether these…
By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo IN the book Blink, Malcolm Gladwell redefines how we can understand the world around us. He revolutionizes the way we understand the world within. Gladwell talks about the processing of information from “thin-slicing” or filtering the very few factors that matter from an overwhelming number…
By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo FOR a country largely dependent on foreign tourism, the Philippines is now dependent on domestic tourism. In a chart entitled, “Domestic versus International Tourism, % of in-country tourism spending, 2019 or latest year”, published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), almost 90…
By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo ROSSANA Camarena, a poet from Mexico, posted an urgent call on her Facebook timeline: “I appeal to your sorority to take a few minutes and read this friend’s testimony. It is important and VERY necessary that if any of you have experienced something like this…
By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo SOMETIMES, without warning, it grips me, the unpleasant feeling caused by a situation of uncertainty and threat. Although I try to think of pleasant things to distract my mind from it, it stays there, in the pit of my stomach, making my heart palpitate. All…
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