‘Rigat ti gapuna’
Poverty is the reason. Hanggang saan aabot ang P20 mo? (How much can your P20 buy?) It’s strange to remember...
The art of suffering quietly in the PH
I used to think the most dangerous thing in the Philippines was violence. I thought it was the gunshots echoing...
The public market was my childhood playground
My childhood playground was the public market of Pavia, Iloilo. It had no swings or slides, only bulanteros’ (ambulant vendors’)...
When our votes gamble the future
The sound of vehicles blaring their horns echoes across the highway. Tires roll endlessly on burning roads, while the city...
The 13th-month divide
We were riding a tricycle on our way to the nearest mall to treat ourselves after a long day of...
Rejected cents and sentiments
I thought it was just a usual night walking back home from a tiring day at school. While climbing up...
A privilege to carry
For many of us, education isn’t just a right—it’s a lifeline, a means to lift us out of poverty. Looking...
The smell
My parents never taught me how to walk through floods. I would just sit on our old house’s declining wooden...
The rusted teaspoon
Is this how it goes? Growing up, the saying about being born with a silver spoon or a wooden ladle...
‘Sakto lang’
Life has often been described as a journey filled with peaks and valleys, and while this analogy holds true for...