By ALDWIN G. QUITASOL

On August of 2003, around 27 houses in Purok 14-B of Cypress, Irisan were demolished by the Baguio City demolition team escorted by the city police. The residents tried to negotiate with the head of the demolition team but the demolition pushed through. To defend their homes, the residents tried hurling stones at the demolition crew, but they were answered with gunshots from the police. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries from that incident.

Six years after I visited the area and interviewed some of the victims of the said demolition. This interview was made as a series of demolitions threatens and haunt these people of Baguio again.

Prima, 30. A housewife with two kids, “Malagip ko daydiay a demolisyon, uray kasano ti pakaasimi ket awan latta. Intuloy da a rinakrak ‘diay balay mi a sisasango dagiti agsangsangit nga ubbing. Awan maaramidak no di iruar laengen dagiti usar mi ken ipan idiay igid ti kalsada. Sapay agar-arbis idi.” (I remember that demolition, pleading to be spared but to no avail. They continued dismantling our house infront of our crying children. I cannot do anything but to bring out our things and pile it by the roadside. It was even drizzling). Read the rest of this entry →

By REV. LUNA L. DINGAYAN

“Let the King have sixty queens, eighty concubines, young women without number! But I love only one.” – Song of Songs 6:8-9

Month of Love

The month of February has been regarded as love month, and that February 14 has been designated as Valentine’s Day in commemoration of the life of St. Valentine. As to who exactly was St. Valentine is still a mystery.

There are lots of stories about the origin of this religious festival. One story says that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men who were potential soldiers. Valentine realized that such a decree was unjust. And so, he defied the Emperor and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Emperor Claudius ordered that he be put to death. Other stories say that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured. Read the rest of this entry →

After so much foot-dragging, the Baguio City Council finally agreed to Beneco’s proposal for the latter to maintain the city’s streetlights, though on a temporary basis for the next six months.

We can only welcome this development hoping that with the city streets better lighted, residents and visitors alike would be spared from the increasing incidents of thuggery and accidents due to the poor maintenance of streetlights in our beloved and much-touted tourism city. Read the rest of this entry →

By ARTHUR L. ALLAD-IW

There is a public debate emanating from the Supreme Court’s decision “compelling” the DFA to negotiate with US government to move convicted American rapist Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith into a detention facility controlled by Philippine authorities. As Smith is an American soldier who committed a crime of rape on Philippine soil, he should be detained in a Philippine facilities.

Another issue of public discourse, is the constitutionality of the Visiting Forces Agreement. Read the rest of this entry →