Echaves: Choosing idols
I’VE always watched “American Idol,” even during its lean season of good singers.
This week, Season 11 of “American Idol¨ ends. And so, we’ll know if the Philippines makes it or not to the international map of singing contests.
Echaves: Being a mother
SOME moons ago, when my two girls were still small, my father gifted me with a book on Transactional Analysis for Parents.
On the title page he wrote, “We had no book like this to check our parenting ways. After reading it, I’m relieved to know your Mommy and I didn’t do too bad.”...
Echaves: Good night, Charie
FRIENDS who read my column yesterday on the passing of Rosario “Charie” Soriaga, called/texted me to say, “Bitin man to.” (It wasn’t enough.)
Some of them were Charie’s classmates from kindergarten to college at St. Theresa’s College. So UP English professor Thelma Enage-Arambulo put...
Echaves: The grand reunion
I’VE never been much into class reunions. The few times I attended always left me pining for the good ole’ days when we classmates were young and carefree, and allowed the day to end because it was the prelude to tomorrow.
Class reunions are tricky. They let me have this all-time high and...
Echaves: Back the mandate
ANOTHER school year has ended. Still, the debate goes on over the wisdom, even necessity of the Enhanced K-12 Basic Education Program in the Philippines.
K-12 being a flagship education program of the PNoy administration, it is understandable for any anti-PNoy to resist it. Any PNoy...
Echaves: On day one
WE’VE had at least one time in our life when we wish we had followed our gut, and/or behaved differently.
Most often, we charged our foul-ups to our youthfulness. So, we were allowed our share of mistakes because presumably, we’d learn our lessons and behave better as adults.
Echaves: Family diamonds
SEVENTY-FIVE families here will be recognized this Friday as Cebu City’s “Families of Distinction” in celebration of the diamond anniversary as a chartered city.
While the recognition is an honor in itself, I know another reason for jubilation. They were identified by a search committee...
Echaves: The City’s diamonds
CEBU City celebrates this Friday the diamond anniversary of its charter. While two years ago it gave special awards to individuals, this year the families take center stage.
They’ll be 75 in all, they who helped make Cebu City what it is today, either by contributing to its development...
Echaves: Ageing gracefully
WOW! Makaabot kaha ta anang edara noh? (Can we even reach that age?)”
So exclaimed everyone when my father turned 94 last month. Awesome, too, were an elderly couple in Manila featured on TV. The husband was 101 years old and the wife, 100.
Of course, good genes help. My...
Echaves: Obra Negosyo
AS OF October last year, per the website of the Department of Trade and Industry, the Philippines had an unemployment rate of 6.4 percent. Underemployment rate was 19.1 percent.
The Filipinos comprising the 93.6 percent employed were not in large industries.
Rather, over two-...
Echaves: Micro entrepreneurs
WHAT do Cebuanos Catalino Sidol, Guillerma Balaba, Lorna Dy, Leah Mayol and Peregrina Catampatan have in common?
First, they’re entrepreneurs running micro businesses. Second, they’ve inherited their skills either from generations before them, or from previous employers.
Third,...
Echaves: Vertical articulation
You can either know some things about A through Z, or know a whole lot of A or B or C or any preferred letter in the alphabet.
To illustrate, Juan can finish a college degree in BS Chemical Engineering, a master’s degree in educational management, and a doctoral degree in business...
Echaves: Loose change
FOR $25 USD, a child no more than two years old can become a “movie star.” Then she can make “bangka” (blowout) to her playmates.
All she has to do, according to her parents, is face an open black book (read: laptop) and show her private parts.
Older children casually say about...
Echaves: The other contests
YESTERDAY concluded the 32nd Sinulog festival and celebration. It also marked my 30th year as a Sinulog contest judge.
For about half of that stretch, I was assigned to the parade participation. My memories of those early years include making sandwiches for my lunch and snacks because the...
Echaves: Bring them on!
THE position goes by different names, with “Chief Justice” as the most popularly used.
Referring to the presiding member of the Supreme Court, “Chief Justice” is used in about 30 countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law.
Echaves: Expectations
WHY don’t we have this in Cebu City?”
I remember asking myself this last November upon seeing info signs about car park sites and their available parking slots. At any given time, the figures were current.
Of course, the signs were meant to drive business. Car park rates there...
Echaves: Christmas thanks
EXCITING times, these last days of the year! This nation’s leader, sometimes perceived as weak and non-confrontational, unburdened in a forum and in “harap-harapan” style, his disappointment with the perceived protectionism of the top man of this country’s judiciary system.
Then there...
Echaves: It takes two
THE signs said it. She laughed heartily, sometimes bending from her waist to her knees, as the surprise number sent the audience roaring endlessly.
“This is the best Christmas party I’ve ever attended in all my years at Capitol,” said Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia.
She recalled that some...
Echaves: 39 and countin
THROUGH thick and thin, the group has stuck together. By 2012, we shall mark our fortieth year of friendship and memories.
We all gravitated to each other as media practitioners. Thus arose the STET, a group of media ladies, all idealistic and convinced we could help change the world....
Echaves: Weekend harvests
GREAT minds supposedly discuss issues while small minds discuss people. Some great minds don’t split hair.
For instance, meetings are going on to define the running mates for the next provincial elections. Thus surfaced Mariano “Mimo” Osmeña’s name. His father, the former governor...
Echaves: Back doors
SO MANY moons ago, employees of the Philippine Air Lines (PAL) who sought to leave for the US on a tourist visa were denied by the US Embassy.
And for good reason. A number of PAL employees had gone “TNT” (tago ng tago) upon reaching foreign shores. So, not only did they travel...
Echaves: Hits and misses
SINGAPORE--Because of my pleasant experiences with the Hop-On, Hop-Off sightseeing buses in Kuala Lumpur, I immediately looked for a similar service in Singapore.
True enough, there is the Singapore Airlines (SIA) Hop-On bus, which briefly stops by at designated stations every half-hour...
Echaves: A welcome lure
SINGAPORE--“This is a good time to work in Singapore. This country is very open to and welcomes foreigners seeking employment here.”
So says Janet, one of my new acquaintances during our five-hour wait at the SATS Lounge in Changi Airport. A Filipina married to a Brit, Janet has been...
Echaves: On the rise
NO MATTER how tight the schedule, there just are some people you make time for. Such is the case for Fred S. Dael.
I first met Fred at the erstwhile Isla Communications Company, a.k.a. Islacom. There he was the president and I was the human resources director.
After Globe Telecom...
Echaves: Changing mindsets
ENVIRONMENT lawyer Antonio “Tony” Oposa wrote to air his side of the controversy on the Road Revolution (Road Rev) Movement and its contribution to the traffic snarl last Sept. 24.
To blame the Road Rev for the whole traffic jam and the public’s inconvenience is understandable, as the...
