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…

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   WHERE is the scientific proof that vaccinated people can no longer be infected with the COVID-19 virus and its variants and therefore are not “spreaders” of the virus? Had there been a study by the Department of Health (DOH) comparing the “spreader” frequencies in both…

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   LIFE for women, both single and married, carry both joy and suffering. But sometimes, the suffering overwhelms and we feel the world to be unkind:  “You should be totally happy you are single. Having a husband and children isn’t really the best deal there is…

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   I DO not exactly know when I was invited to write for Sunday Punch. The first person however who brought up the idea was Gonzalo Duque, who was then writing for the newspaper. “It would be good for your advocacy. I know the publisher very…

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   I LOVE airplanes. As a young child, I would watch airplanes cruising in the blue sky, some quietly, some with cloud-like white tails. My uncle Opie, who was an Air Force pilot, used to write me letters, which my father read to me, about being…

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   EVERYONE needs a preoccupation these days, and not just the ones we normally do, but something new. A new skill for example, or a hobby. A few of my friends have gotten into exercise regularly, and others have taken this at a new level. For…

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   SUDDENLY, he stopped sending jokes. I thought it was normal, assuming he must have other things to preoccupy him with. The jokes are mostly about politics, and predictably about women. We joked about ourselves, our imperfections, our pride, our humbling experiences, our most trying times….

By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo   AS we passed by Lingayen Gulf, when we were fighting against the establishment of the cement plant complex in Bolinao, Mildred Yamzon, then a new member of the Women in Development (WID) Foundation, asked me a question. “Is this all there is in life? No…