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By MARIA  FEONA IMPERIAL (Conclusion) THE decade 1975 to 1985 could be considered the golden years of the Metro Manila Film Festival, when it produced such classics as Ganito kami noon, paano kayo ngayon by Eddie Romero, Minsa’y isang gamu-gamu by Lupita Kashiwahara, Ina ka ng anak mo by Lino Brocka, Kisapmata by Mike de

Text and photos by MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL (First of two parts) MOVIES  featuring the country’s most popular stars—including presidential sister Kris Aquino, comedian Vice Ganda, screen favorites John Lloyd Cruz and Jennylyn Mercado, and young love team Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza—are likely to make the 2015 Metro Manila Film Festival another smash hit, possibly

By JHESSET THRINA O. ENANO WITH a notebook in hand, Caldwell Jones Reynaldo sits near the entrance of a college library at the University of the Philippines Diliman. Its pages are filled with his scribbled thoughts, alongside conversations with his classmates and friends. His Facebook page, meanwhile, is filled with his art. His profile picture is

   By PATRICK KING PASCUAL AS the country commemorates World AIDS Day today (December 1), the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) is set to begin a formal review of its benefit package for people living with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), or PLHIVs. “We are currently reviewing the Outpatient HIV/AIDS Treatment (OHAT) Package, the implementation of

By JAKE SORIANO VERA Files THE Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said it will conduct a disability survey next year, after receiving flak for not including questions on disability in its 2015 census of population (POPCEN 2015). “The PSA will conduct a Disability Prevalence Survey in 2016,” the agency said in a letter to VERA Files,

By JAKE C. SORIANO DESCRIBED as a “complete enumeration” of the entire Philippine population, the 2015 Census ignored crucial data on a significant sector: persons with disabilities (PWD). The exclusion of questions on disability in the August census does not only leave out a group already lamenting their invisibility in society, but it could also

  By JAKE C. SORIANO  ASIA Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders, at the end of their two-day summit in Manila today, condemned acts of terrorism and vowed not to be intimated by the waves of attacks that rocked the world the last few days. “Under the shadow cast by the terrorist attacks in Paris, Beirut,

                                 By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS BEHIND the provocative rhetoric by American and Chinese officials over the plan of the United States to test freedom of navigation in the South China Sea after China has reclaimed some 2,900 acres of land

By JAKE SORIANO SOMETHING is clearly wrong with the boy on the poster. He has disproportionately large eyes. They are the eyes of a three-year-old in an infant’s body. The boy, Abdul, suffers from severe malnutrition. More, he was born with cerebral palsy, a condition that affects his movement and motor skills. His story, along

  By JAKE SORIANO SOMBATH Somphone is easily recognized because of his white hair. The white is clearly visible in the grainy CCTV footage that recorded the last time he was seen alive. More than the said physical attribute, Sombath is a distinguished man, not just in his native country Laos. A civil society leader

(Note: This article on balikbayan boxes was written 10 years ago when the author was still connected to the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism. It a recollection of her experiences as a recipient of “stateside” goods via balikbayan boxes, and a look at what has become a multi-million dollar industry. )   By LUZ RIMBAN

By JAKE SORIANO WEEKS after President Benigno Aquino III in his final State of the Nation Address (SONA) urged the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) during his last year in office, leaders of various indigenous peoples (IP) groups said the proposed legislation violates their rights and will lead to their “disintegration.” “In its