Treasure the Question

Today, in Rick Olivares ’ Intro to Journalism class , we met a superhero. He was not wearing a cape, but he was still wearing his superhero mask, except it was a surgical mask and his cape, standard Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) . This real-life Superman was obviously exhausted from a day working hard saving lives and yet he found the time to recount his story to a class of novice journalism students. Like most champions of the Marvel or DC universes, he dons his uniform before turning into a hero, and takes it off when protecting us is done; unlike them, he then thoroughly disinfects himself before seeing his family. What is even more amazing is he is married to another superhero. Yet this is no comic, this is real life. Today we interviewed Jojo Katalbas, a 40-year old comorbidity nurse who works at Quirino Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City, a Covid-19 hospital at the heart of a nation suffering from the pandemic. We shed tears listening to his acts of bravery, and

Covid-19 has an ugly and dangerous twin, misinformation. While the world has been fighting the pandemic, the amount of information it has generated is causing serious problems of its own. The abundance of academic articles, press, commentary, social media postings, all about the same topic - many inaccurate, others not - make some Doctors feel as if they are fighting two enemies, Covid-19 and misinformation. The World Health Organisation (WHO) have labelled the twin an “infodemic”, and it is making it hard to know what is trustworthy and what is not. Once-upon-a-time, before the pandemic, Snopes was the gold standard for fighting misinformation. If something did not sound quite right, if you needed the truth, a quote from Snopes could end the argument. That is no longer the case when it comes to Covid-19, the sheer volume of misinformation has overwhelmed the Snopes fact checkers and they have admitted they can no longer keep up with the avalanche of misinformation.   Some misinfor

Ten minutes to eternity, that is how it felt. Having been chosen at random for an antibody test felt like a win, I would know if my earlier illness was Covid-19. We had all been ill and my father had almost needed help to breath. An antibody test would give us certainty. Then the test arrived, and with it the, what if? Did I really want to know? Fear paralysed me; denial gripped me. Eight hours later I requested help. We read the instructions; my brain was a fog. Everything was prepared; the testing fluid, the lance, the test, the clock. I was not concerned about the lance or the blood, I was not even fearful of the test. It was the time that got to me. Ten minutes wait, each second seemed to take forever. Tick, tick, was this a timebomb? I was praying for that second line, for certainty, but certainty never came. Ten minutes were up, no line, no certainty, just more time with Covid-19 lurking in eternity. We are all in this pandemic together, one thing we all have time.

Childhood dreams, we all have them, rock star, actor, sportsman. What was, or is, your dream? Interviewing Coach Jimmy Alapag, in the Introduction to Journalism class of Ricky Olivares, you could sense his passion for basketball, and the obvious dream from his childhood to play professionally. He has exceeded that, served his country, and is now head coach for San Miguel Alab Pilipinas of the ASEAN Basketball League. “The Mighty Mouse”, a nickname for the speedy 5’9” player, did not dream in any fantasy way, he set out to achieve, and through hard work and dedication, he did not just make his dreams come true. But seeing the Philippines win its first World Cup game in over 40 Years, as a team member, he made many Filipinos dream come true. Yet he is still dreaming of what the Philippines may yet achieve. The Filipino diaspora has seen Filipinos transplanted to live in many nations and cultures. When you meet the young people of this diaspora, many have learnt the culture of their

As an Englishman, who has lived most of my life in Asia, please allow me to share with you the riches of Filipino comics. And please take note, because numerous Filipino creators have made names for themselves in the international comic book scene. In fact, a comic by two of them Budjette Tan author and Kajo Baldisimo artist, will soon debut on Netflix. Credit:  Budjette Tan from Rick Olivares Introduction to Journalism course. When we talk about comic books, we normally think of the American, DC or Marvel universes, or the darker European works by Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman etc. even the Japanese anime scene. However, the comic universe gains from every worldview it engulfs, so get ready; the Filipinos have arrived. The comic TRESE Vol. 1 : Murder on Balete Drive , delves into local Filipino folklore. Growing up with English folklore hearing of the ‘troll’ under the bridge, the ‘will-o'-the-wisp in the marshes’ etc. these visions were exciting and real. Arriving in the Philippine

Silent,  not our cat; but us as a family. How do you explain to an animal that a trip to a vet is not total abandonment? Silent, is how we were; all apart from our lovely cat who cried out in fear and pain. We did not need to speak cat to sense her feelings of abandonment, with her plaintiff, “How could you?”   Sometimes love causes pain, sometimes we hurt each other from our failure to communicate, maybe Tia speaks for us all, encouraging us all to communicate better.

What if we could fly like a bird, soaring high, coasting on the wind? By order of the government we are isolating, stuck indoors, protecting society. We can see the birds, the fat pigeons that wonder why less of us feed them nowadays. Is this bird also trapped by the pandemic? Searching for the tourists who used to feed it so well. Now the pigeons look at us through the window, and we look back. Who really is free these days? Our busy skies emptied of the planes that were always overhead, now filled with birds wondering where we all are. Let’s imagine are they encouraging us to look after not just them, but also each other? Then we will all soar high.