Pet Melliza

This scene, the statuette and painting of the Virgin Mary greets travelers entering the pre-departure area of the Iloilo Airport in Cabatuan. The airport is supposed to be government property, for the public regardless of creed, gender, age and race. BY PET MELLIZA/THE BEEKEEPER Terminal 2 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), domestic flight section, has five tables for laptop owners to work on their PCs or recharge. There are at least four wi-fi service providers connecting travelers to the internet all for free. Gratis et amore. On top of that, there are also benches at each exit gate fitted with outlets for travelers to recharge their cellular phones with, again, gratis et amore. This is the second opinion piece on the issue but yours truly feels he has to write some more if only to persuade managers of the Iloilo Airport at Cabatuan – Sta. Barbara towns to listen. The Iloilo Airport has none of the amenities of free wi-fi hot spots nor of the fre...

BY PET MELLIZA/ The Beekeeper One need not belabor the wisdom of opting to be an “atheist”, rejecting the diety peddled by Scholasticism, the one it calls “Absolute Being” (AB), or One, Good, Beautiful, True, All Knowing, All Powerful, and what-not. Humanity continues to accumulate knowledge starting from the pre-historic era when humans have to grapple against the forces of nature with their sheer number, crude tools and caves to stave off hunger and protect themselves from predators, storms and heat. Before people learned to fly rockets to the moon, they began from scratch. No super being taught them so. Humanity’s concept of right and wrong, or morality or ethics, also evolved. Human wisdom did not come from a super being which in turn transmitted it to the hierarchy of religion who today arrogate the monopoly of moral values. When the tiny group positioned at the pinnacle of the religion ladder, let’s call it, the hierarchy, ordains that the RH Bill is imm...

Last year, the reunion of ex-political detainees was exuberant -- good food, booze and a lot of singing. This year, organizers of SELDA-Panay decided to do away with all the trappings. This time, they resolved to be low key. Nobody even smoked inside the dining hall. Each participant stood up to narrate his/her experience in detention after the declaration of martial law in September 21, 1972, or 40 years ago. They have common stories to tell: they were subjected to physical and mental torture and they still could remember the faces of their torturers. Credit should go to Rose Asong,  Cynthia A Deduro  and  Chuchi Pestaño  who consistently told their male counterparts to do away with drinks during reunions. Age must be another factor for the acquiscence of the males. Despite their number, mmore than one-half of the lechon was still untouched when I arrived.