Durian By Al S. Mendoza CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – If you like durian, we are buddies. If you don’t, we are still buddies. Differences shouldn’t damage friendships. Durian is virtually the national fruit in this City of Smiles. People here smile all the time. That’s the reason this place…

My classmates did it all By Al S. Mendoza THERE was pakbet and igado. Menudo and adobo, too. There was also bisukol and balliba. And bagoong and agamang, swimming with chopped raw tomatoes, onion and cute, tiny clusters of arorosep. The sinigang na malaga – ahhh! Heaven! And, of course,…

Fiesta time, reunion time By Al S. Mendoza YOU forget your roots, you forget your loved ones – yourself. You grew up loving things, places – people. You just don’t forget them. Stick to them like lovers do to their mates. You’ll never go wrong. In my case, pinakbet’s the…

A pool of tears after Valley By Al S. Mendoza THE golf brawl at Valley has not dried up the tears of an anguished nation. The decision to expel and suspend the brawlers didn’t put an absolute end to the issue that remains boiling hot as I write this. The…

A step towards the right direction By Al S. Mendoza NOT to prepare is to prepare for failure. To prepare is to win. With this as battle cry, Dagupan City takes the lead in pushing for a serious bid to aim yet again for a stab at Olympic glory. Toward…

JDV for President By Al S. Mendoza SEEMINGLY, Joe de Venecia is a totally different political animal in that he is forever shadowed by events reserved for immortals. I can’t believe this man. By just simply launching his book – one that should be a hands-down international best-seller, I must…

Political faces for 2010 By Al S. Mendoza THIS early, reports are rife that Joe de Venecia will run for governor of Pangasinan in 2010. I am not surprised. Joe DV has been a politician all his life that I can’t imagine him being a simple private citizen after he…

DL Hoya: From boxer to businessman By Al S. Mendoza WHAT is a boxer? He fights with science. He follows the rules of the sweet science to the letter. His footwork is beyond question, as in the famed Ali Shuffle. His hand speed is nothing but a blur, as in…

Heart for Pacquiao, wallet for DL Hoya By Al S. Mendoza MANNY Pacquiao, 29, is a four-time world champ in four weight divisions. Oscar De La Hoya, 35, is a 10-time world champ in six weight divisions. Pacquiao is 5-foot-6. De La Hoya is 5-foot-10; is almost 5-foot-11. Pacquiao’s reach…