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The perils of being brown, thinking white
By Luis H. Francia The 56-year-old individual arrested by the FBI and alleged to have sent pipe bombs to prominent Democrats—including the Obamas, Joe Biden, the Clintons, and Robert De Niro—turns out to be of Philippine descent on his father’s side, Italian on his mother’s. Brooklyn-born, Florida-raised Cesar Sayoc, Jr. is a fanatic supporter of […]
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50 years ago, and I still remember
By Bella Santos Owens I remember vividly, it was a sunny morning and I was playing on the veranda of our house in Marilao, Bulacan. I was sitting on this low table while playing with my doll. I remember his cheap cologne and scratchy stubble on me like it was just yesterday. Our male helper, […]
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SPECIAL REPORT: The anatomy of missing PIDCI funds (1st in a series)
By Cristina DC Pastor & Marivir Montebon It began innocently enough. In the mid-winter of 2017, then President Prospero Lim of the Philippine Independence Day Council, Inc. (PIDCI) went to the bank to check on the organization’s account. It was learned he needed some cash so he could pay the deposit to the Astoria World […]
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Tito Sotto and Joey de Leon talked about the rape case in 1982 (Part 2)
By Cristina P. del Carmen Some movie reporters – about six of them – continuously write about them in a bad light, Joey de Leon complained. Some to the extent of using the trio’s most distorted looking faces in pictures, “para talaga mag mukhang criminal.” Tito Sotto does not mind really, but wondered, with some […]
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It hurts only when they laugh (The 1982 Pepsi Paloma rape case) Part 1
By Cristina P. del Carmen I wrote this article as a young reporter for WHO magazine — a publication of the Manila Bulletin — fresh out of journalism school in UP. In light of recent reports that the Philippine Daily Inquirer had taken down a series of articles suggesting Tito Sotto’s involvement in the coverup […]
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The Keystone Cops behind Duterte’s war on drugs
By Cristina DC Pastor Ever heard of the tokhang victim who rose from the dead? How about the riding-in-tandem assassin who fell off the bike? Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Manny Mogato of Reuters shared some of the grim and hilarious episodes he has learned covering Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal ‘war on drugs.’ Almost 7,000 suspected […]
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Inspiring kindness from football star in wake of Santa Fe shooting
By Ludy Astraquillo Ongkeko, Ph.D. On May 18th, eight students and two teachers from Santa Fe High School in Texas lost their lives to gun violence. The shooter was identified as 17-year-old student Dimitrios Pagourtzis. This article is not so much about the shooting. Instead, it tells the story of J.J. Watt, Houston Texans’ football […]
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Businesswoman Rena Avendula charged with 5 counts visa fraud
By Cristina DC Pastor The United States has filed five counts of visa fraud against businesswoman Rena Beduya Avendula, 50, for allegedly creating “fake job positions” using the H-1B work visa program. Avendula is the owner and managing executive of Professional Placement & Recruitment, Incorporated (PPRI), with offices in Woodside, Queens. PRRI was described in […]
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Duterte is 1st Asian leader to face charges at ICC; ‘inner circle’ also liable
By Rene Pastor President Rodrigo Duterte is the first Asian leader to face possible charges of crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court (ICC), according to international lawyer Ruben Carranza. He said officials in Duterte’s inner circle may also face charges for the murders committed under his brutal drug war. Carranza, the senior staff […]