An Interview with Cory Aquino at 85 (Fiction)

  By Wilfredo G. Villanueva (She survived cancer. She has receded into the background, but this time, she agreed to an interview at 8 o’clock in the morning today, January 25th. We’re in her study room in her residence in Times Street in Quezon City. The street has exploded in yellow ribbons—gates, plants, trees, cars. … Continue reading

Zombies! Filipino zombies!

By Joe America What do we know at this point? We know the Duterte Administration has skillfully applied the power of greed, ambition, and privilege to diminish Filipino democratic ideals, civility, and sovereignty. He is halfway to dictatorship and a new form of governance in which the ordering of privilege matters more than fairness or … Continue reading

Love to Survive

by Wilfredo G. Villanueva (An Open Letter to our daughters, sons-in-law, future sons-in-law) We remember it well. One of you even peed in her pants. It was a horror house of scary dinosaurs. Jurassic Park was popular at that time, and you had reason to be afraid, besides you were 10, 9, 8 and 2 … Continue reading

Nationalism, treason, complacency, and us

By Joe America Nationalism fascinates me because I live in a nether world between the land of my birth and the land of my choice for raising a family and dying. Some Filipinos tell me to go back to America, some are quiet with their resentments that I intrude, some are kind with their thanks … Continue reading

Defining the term ‘shithole’ country

By Joe America I would guess that what Donald Trump meant when he used the term ‘shithole country’ is something like: shithole country: a generally poor and struggling, politically conflicted country that seeks relief from the United States, thus imposing burdens upon the great white nation. As Winnie the Pooh might express it, these countries … Continue reading