From a tumultuous past, Palimbang is now an emerging tourist spot
PALIMBANG, Sultan Kudarat (MindaNews / 27 April) – This Moro-dominated town is starting to rise from notoriety and obscurity, luring visitors with the slogan...
Sleepless in ‘tulugan’: ‘Kaliga’ ritual of Bukidnon tribe
MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews / 26 April) -- It started with incantations by Bae Inatlawan Adelina Tarino, chieftain of the Bukidnon-Daraghuyan tribe, and other elders...
Big trouble in little kitchen (What happens when your kasambahay suddenly leaves)
ILIGAN CITY (MindaNews / 17 April) – I have to confess that, despite my numerous hashtag-lutongbahay posts of yummy food on Instagram, I didn’t...
‘Davao of the past’ digital history album turns 10
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 11 April) -- When visual artist and graphic designer Paul Corpus migrated to Toronto with his family in 2000, he...
Out of the Box: Homeschooling in the 1980s when it was looked upon with...
(Author’s note: “With our schools cancelled due to Covid-19, homeschooling has become a trend and a solution so that our students' education may go...
Binignit, also known as Dinuldog, Tabirak, Guinataan
DIPOLOG CITY (MindaNews / 02 April) -- Tucked in a college dorm islands away from home, I hankered for food that could only be...
Q & A with Noralyn Mustafa, 2017: “I have always been a maverick....
(“There are no known sources for a biography of Noralyn Mustafa, except perhaps for what she shared here,” poet Ricardo M. de Ungria wrote...
Birth registration: a simple act that gives identity and access to Marawi’s IDPs
MARAWI CITY (MindaNews / 22 March) – Nobody knew that Mohmina Ontiling is 105 years old — or that she exists at all. Her...
‘Tulong Bubong’: Making poor widows happy with new roofs
WOMEN'S MONTH FEATURE
MAITUM, Sarangani (MindaNews / 9 March) – A group of widows, some in their twilight years, is helping build better lives, spreading...
Princess Tarhata Alonto-Lucman: Babo a Tatah
1936. Heavy footsteps were running here and there in the royal house of the Sultan of Ramain. The five-year-old princess was dying. Her face...
FEATURE: Traditional weaving in Lanao Sur lives on
MARANTAO, Lanao del Sur (MindaNews / 17 Feb) – Rakimah Casidar, 43, sat cross-legged in front of the iroan (Meranaw loom) in her home...
Babu Kwan resto sizzles despite the crippling impact of COVID-19 pandemic
ILIGAN CITY ( MindaNews / 3 February) – While the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic ravaged the global economy forcing many businesses to shutdown,...
How the Philippine Eagle Foundation’s forest restoration project survived the pandemic
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 19 January) – The Philippine Eagle Foundation’s (PEF) carbon forest restoration team wrapped up 2020 with over 20,000 seedlings at...
Catching a dogtooth tuna
SURIGAO CITY (MindaNews / 09 January) – As the world got scared with the pandemic and everyone tried to distance themselves from other people...
Insect photography is tiring but very rewarding
ILIGAN CITY (MindaNews / 17 Oct) – I have long enjoyed watching photographs of small things – the smallest flowers, insects, spiders, and other...
Aqiqah: My Name, My Right
DATU ODIN SINSUAT, Maguindanao (MindaNews / 16 Sep) – Gently, the imam cuts the thin hair of the new born, thanking Allah for the...
PICTURES: Plants in Miyam’s Garden
ILIGAN CITY (MindaNews / 06 Sept) – I didn’t expect our local camera club (The Umbrella: Joint Photographic Society of Iligan City) to continue...
With patience and resolve, a conflict-affected family in Butig braves the COVID-19 pandemic
ILIGAN CITY (MindaNews / 15 August) -- In parts of Mindanao, the continuing impact of COVID-19 pandemic on health and livelihood has made it...
Qurbani: An International Charity Work in Present-day BARMM
MIDSAYAP, North Cotabato (MindaNews / 5 Aug) – As a solo parent to nine children, Kabilangan Mamasapalao, 49, considered a family meal involving beef...
Siargao cop donates part of salary to acquire land for islanders’ communal farm
LA JANUZA, General Luna, Siargao Island (MindaNews / 16 July) – Master Sergeant Hermes J. Arguillas Jr., of the General Luna Police Station, was...
They could not write their names but they helped build a school to end...
DATU HOFFER, Maguindanao (MindaNews / 28 June) -- Wearing a kumbong and a face mask, the woman patiently lined up for the relief packs...
Kids with a unique dream – to become farmers
GENERAL LUNA, Siargao Island (MindaNews / 26 June) – Most children dream about becoming professionals like doctors and lawyers. In this town facing the...
LIFE WITH DOGS: “Good night Kuya Shinji, see you tomorrow!”
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 10 May) -- “Good night Kuya Shinji, see you tomorrow!” These are the last words Jordi said to our senior...
Memories of Marawi City Ramadhan
MARAWI CITY (MindaNews / 26 April) -- It is Ramadhan. That should have been an exclamation point as exciting an announcement as when my...
A literal kind of ‘home run’
ILIGAN CITY (MindaNews / 26 March) – Runners are a crazy lot. Who would run 100 miles for leisure?
They get crazier still, especially when...
Maitum honors ‘bangsi’ for 13 straight years
MAITUM, Sarangani (MindaNews / 2 February)--- If not for the lowly bangsi, or flying fish, high school dropout Maribel Reroma would not be flying...
Gathering Around A Truth
PALIMBANG, Sultan Kudarat (MindaNews / 30 Sept) -- Teenagers beat an enthusiastic rhythm on a kulintang set made of tin. The larger babendir gongs...
Fowl means: Some tinolang manok tricks
Like in courting the girl of your dreams, cooking tinolang manok (chicken broth) requires patience, care and using the right mix of ingredients. Never...
The Stone Cutter and the Peace Builder
PATIKUL, Sulu (MindaNews/10 October) – Epal Sahipa, 46, is a stone cutter. Daily he would go to that side of the mountain where he...
The madrasah as space for intervention vs violent extremism
ILIGAN CITY (MindaNews / 06 September) – Before entering the gates of the Toril compound in Barangay Ubaldo Laya in Iligan City, an evacuation...
Visitors flock to South Cot’s sunflower field
TUPI, South Cotabato (MindaNews/10 June) – Visitors have been flocking to a new tourist attraction here that features a sunflower field, the first of...
Former fastfood chain employee now living her dreams
GIGAQUIT, Surigao del Norte (MindaNews / 25 May) – Who would have thought that a fastfood chain employee would end up owning bakeries and...
Huckleberry remains a Philippine Tatler best for two years in a row
For the second time in a row, Davao’s Huckleberry Southern Kitchen & Bar makes it to the exclusive Philippine Tatler's Best Restaurants Guide (BRG).
Huckleberry...
“Fadlog Tubad Blaan”
By Ronald de Jong
Fadlog Tubad Blaan, this means; “Don’t give up Blaan” strong and promising words coming from a remarkable woman. Her name is...
FILM REVIEW: Ang Hapis at Himagsik ni Hermano Puli
FILM REVIEW: Ang Hapis at Himagsik ni Hermano Puli
Screeplay: Eric Ramos
Director : Gil Portes
Producer: Rex Tiri under T-Rex Entertainment
Title Role: Aljur Abrenica
Karl M. Gaspar CSsR
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/24 Sept)...
Baguindan and the Fight to Fulfill a Promise of Peace
TIPO-TIPO, Basilan (MindaNews/23 September) -- Abdulhusin Inam had yet to learn how to walk so his parents and siblings would carry him as they...
Ashes and phone numbers: Stories of struggle of people with HIV
Raped in Dubai
In 1996, Rina, then only 17 years old, worked as a domestic helper in Dubai. There she was raped by her male...
Keeping Davao City restos alive with live grouper
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/25 May) -- The recent surge in visitors coming to Davao as a result of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s impending ascension to the...
A Gentle shaft of light shines on Kadtabanga through Shariah
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews/13 November) - It’s not every day that one encounters a great woman Moro leader who not only commands respect and allegiance...
Exploring science and solutions
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/06 October) -- Filipino ingenuity is developed when young inventors and innovators are given chances to dream and to develop ideas.
When given...
A ritual for the spirits of Tinuy-an Falls
Surrounded by boulders, trees and waters rushing down Tinuy-an Falls, a baylan (tribal spiritual leader) led an early morning ritual on September 20. Called...
Molmol the Parrot Fish meets school children and communities
"Hello Molmol,goodbye Nemo!" giggled the mothers huddled together as they watched their children do a theatrical reading of "Ang Dangpanan ni Molmol" (Molmol's Refuge)...
Bagani’s silent cry called art
Her works show the hand of years and practice. The colors of her drawings and paintings, the arrangement of beads on the necklaces and...
Life with the candles
MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/28 August) -- Her stall in front of the San Isidro Cathedral in Malaybalay City measures just around 2.5 feet x 3...
To live – and die – as an artist
BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews/18 August) – When Casiana "Kasi" Cane Torralba retired from private school teaching 16 years ago, she did a most unexpected thing...
Taking pride in local languages
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/07 August) -- It's easy to take Philippine regional languages for granted. If you speak Cebuano on a daily basis, it would...
Village of PWD dreams
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/29 July) — Wheelchair user Sofronio Floro, 54, has carefully assembled an armchair, one of the hundreds he and his fellow workers...
Search for a lost love and another legend of Tinuy-an Falls
Alright, you've probably never been to Tinuy-an Falls in Bislig City in Surigao del Sur, indisputably (to a lot of people) the most awesome...
FEATURE: My romance with foot reflex
BUTUAN CITY (MindaNews / 30 June) – A friend introduced and recommended me to foot reflex. I declined, believing it was the kind found...
Ate Kimmy: Painting a rainbow for Zamboanga IDPs
ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews/08 June) -- To the majority, helping people who are in dire conditions means extending financial assistance and donating relief goods. But...