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I've never heard of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) until I had to attend a CFO seminar, which is a requirement for Filipinos who want to live abroad with their foreign partner. Apparently, this certificate helps you clear Philippine Immigration (among other required documents, a shitload really), so rather than risk being offloaded on the day of my flight, I decided to go to a seminar and get it over with. If you were born in the Philippines, and then subsequently went to school and worked (but also drive a car or a motorbike in the Philippines, or vote or collect your retirement pension in the Philippines), most probably you're already well acquainted with the country's "love" of red tape. Applying for your driver's license, tax identification number, PRC ID, voter's ID, and NBI clearance (or that infamous PhilSys National ID), etc., will subject you to a painful experience akin to having your toenails ripped off -- okay, maybe I...

The NBA season is almost upon us (preseason games are already happening as we speak), and I couldn't be more excited. Mostly because there hasn't been a back-to-back NBA champion since, well, the Golden State Warriors when they clinched their fifth and six titles in 2017 and 2018 (at that time, franchise player Stephen Curry's second and third rings), and that feeling of uncertainty certainly lends itself to more excitement. My gut tells me, though, that perhaps this is the first time since 2018 that a defending NBA champion might repeat (I'm looking at you, Oklahoma City). Since 2019, here's what the championship picture has looked like: 2025 – Oklahoma City Thunder 2024 – Boston Celtics 2023 – Denver Nuggets 2022 – Golden State Warriors 2021 – Milwaukee Bucks 2020 – Los Angeles Lakers 2019  –  Toronto Raptors I'm sticking to my very early prediction of the OKC Thunder successfully defending their title this season, but I wouldn't mind being proven wrong. T...

After the Philippines was battered by tropical cyclones and heavy southwest monsoon rains a couple of months ago, which resulted in predictable but deadly flash floods, Filipinos are now suddenly -- ironically -- hopeful. And why wouldn't they be? When the water subsided, anger rose, and President Bongbong Marcos just had to douse the collective rage during his State of the Nation Address. (After spending most of his term thus far gallivanting abroad [a la Sara Duterte] in the name of "generating investments," but not much to show for it, Marcos didn't have a choice. He was already earning the ire of the eagle-eyed; it's easy nowadays to track the frequency of his foreign trips and the corresponding travel expenses.)  "Mahiya naman kayo," Marcos intoned (an ironic choice of words, don't you think?), singling out those involved in anomalous flood-control projects. Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto went a step further in a Facebook post, and zeroed in on Sar...

To break bad means to turn to immorality or crime. Walter White in "Breaking Bad" turned to the illegal drug trade -- transitioning from chemistry teacher to meth cook and eventually drug lord -- out of necessity. He thought he was dying, and was worried for his family's future. Walter broke bad. These contractors, politicians, and corrupt DSWD heads are just, well, naturally evil.  

This knee-jerk clamor for bringing back the death penalty to punish plunderers and corrupt government officials is putting the cart before the horse. FIRST, let's make sure that the guilty ones go to jail and not get away scot-free, especially the ones who can buy their freedom using not just money but also power and privilege -- the Eraps, the Jinggoys, the Arroyos, the Bong Revillas, the Imeldas. ONLY THEN can we think about bringing back capital punishment. (Better yet, make an example of that jet-setting daughter of the dirty old man in the Hague, who spent her confidential funds faster than the Discayas could amass a fleet of luxury cars.) Otherwise, the only ones hanging from that noose are, again, the poor and the powerless -- regardless of whether they are guilty or not.

The recent news of Royina Garma's decision to testify against Rodrigo Duterte at the ICC has been labeled an unnecessary distraction from the current Senate hearing on the substandard flood-control projects and the massive corruption behind them.  A distraction? Not really. You can call something a distraction if the newer issue isn't of equal weight. "Distraction" here only depends whether you're a DDS or a Marcos loyalist. Not both, because, as well all know, Unity doesn't exist anymore. But that's another story. Or issue. Or "distraction." For instance, when this DPWH-Discayas-congressmen thing exploded, people were quick to say that it was a distraction from the missing sabungeros case.  And can someone refresh my memory please: what distracted us again from that Alice Guo issue?  What's sadder to me is that all these "distractions" seem to come out of the blue, rapid-fire -- one after the other, leaving us with no breathing roo...

Last night I called an Uber from my mother-in-law's house (my wife was staying the night with her) to take me home to our apartment, and I noticed that the car was driving away from me. The driver was already in the immediate vicinity, about two minutes away, but I noticed right away that he was driving in the opposite direction. (And no, he wasn't finishing a previous trip.) I'm not new to the ride-hailing game, fuck no. And heck, I'm from the Philippines. A lot of Grab drivers use this tactic too, in the hopes that the passenger will cancel to avoid a penalty. The problem is, I can be petty as fuck. There was no way in hell I would cancel the ride before that scumbag of a driver did, and so I was already preparing to spend the night sleeping on the couch at my mother-in-law's living room -- to, at first, my wife's amusement and then, later on, to her chagrin (she was pissed, all right: more at me than at the Uber driver. And I couldn't blame her. Lol). And...