The trap of illusory authority, 1
THERE is a strange moment that happens when you step down from a position of authority. It is not dramatic. No orchestra plays. No...
Money hunt for views
IF YOU have not seen it yet, someone in your circle has. A content creator drops hints on social media: there is money hidden...
‘Ukay-ukay’ knows best
NOT ALL fashion lives on runways. Some of it breathes in places where survival meets style, and heart beats louder than any brand. It...
The art of saying it backward
SOME OF the strongest lessons come from sentences that turn back on themselves. You think a thought is finished, then it flips and suddenly...
No bins, pocket it first
WHEN I was a boy at Bo. Obrero Elementary School in the mid-1980s, my teachers would remind us every day: “Kung wala pa basurahan,...
Wi-Fi signal is dignity
THE FIRST time a public-school teacher crouches beside a sari-sari store Pisonet at night, phone balanced on a crate, trying to upload lesson requirements...
Idioms with empathy
SOME phrases are not just spoken — they are lived. Like faded uniforms or borrowed slippers, idioms quietly cling to our days. In our...
The wrong lesson, 2
THAT IS why Arniel's question matters. Notice what he asked. He did not ask about popularity ratings. He did not ask about election results....
The wrong lesson, 1
MOST people attend review sessions expecting answers. One aspiring teacher left with more questions. What began as a discussion about the drug war eventually...
Yes, we deserve better
CHILDHOOD teaches an early lesson about responsibility: when you break something, you fix it; you do not ask to be thanked for the attempt....