A massive 9.0 magnitude earthquake hits Japan March 11, 2011 and caused an unprecedented tsunami. Having a few family members currently living in Japan, I was carefully monitoring the events all night.
With an earthquake that powerful, I’m certain the tsunami that would follow would be huge, but I never realized it fully until I saw it. When I did see it online, it was unimaginable. I was shaking my head with its monstrosity. It was surreal.
In one footage I saw a guy standing on top of a trailer truck, …

Photo by Kim Komenich
I was still a kid back then. I didn’t know anything outside my personal scope. I remember a few years back when a certain Ninoy was shot dead. Seeing him on TV moments before his death made me realize that this surreality is a signal of a wrong. Something tremendously wrong.
Then EDSA came.
I didn’t know what to do. I can hear the sounds of planes hovering above our rooftops. The number of people outside our street in Dimasalang carrying transistor radios blaring modulated noises are enough to …

Photo Credits: Ted Aljibe
Kinakabahan ako. Sona na sa Lunes. At sabi pa naman ni bostsip Noy, it will gonna be shocking. I-a-announce yata nya na lahat ng mga kongresman na dating nasa Lakas, naging praktikal na, ehe naging Liberal na.
At dahil napakahalaga ng okasyon na darating, maraming mga sikatchupoy sa showbis at politics ang asahan nating eeksena kagaya noong inagurasyon.
Si Miriam nga raw, nag-sign ng waiver na hindi na magsusungit at nagpramis na magbabaril na lang sa sarili. Si Bong Revilla naman, isasama sa sona ang humigit …

I got a call from a former comrade, they are now converging on the streets of the EDSA, waiting for the imminent yet another uprising to unfold.
I was inside the former US base where I currently hold my office. It was another period of turmoil and political uncertainty. Then Philippine President Erap Estrada is facing impeachment charges at the floors of the Senate.
I wanted to go to the capital, and join the ongoing protests. But something I felt at that time was out of line. The dreams of the …

by Anthony Bayarong
The website subictimes.com strongly condemns the harassment of its publisher and chief photographer after he was verbally abused and forcibly escorted out of the political meeting of the Gordon Straight Ticket (GST) in Barangay Barretto in Olongapo City Monday evening.
A day after David Bayarong was harassed, our office, which also serves as his home, was burglarized.
The thieves took his EOS 1D Mark ll and EOS 400-D cameras with all his lens 28-135mm, 50mm f1.4, 100mm f2, 70-200mm L series canon, 2 flash his camera bag, all his …

(Image from Newsweek)
During the term of Richard Gordon as mayor of Olongapo City, there were at least 26 cases of “salvagings” or summary executions that victimized at least 28 people. The killings were believed to have been made to cleanse the city of undesirable elements and maintain its allure as the center for the R & R of US servicemen.
Olongapo officials dismissed such as “isolated incidents involving hardened criminals whose death were mainly due to gang rivalry”, it is a matter of public record that the victims were mostly …

When I came to Olongapo, I was very hopeful. I just had a daughter, her mom is a native Olongapena, and I decided to go there to start a new life.
It’s a bustling city yet with a small town feel. The night life is not as good as Manila but having been a fan of live bands, I almost immediately fell in love with it. The city is host to a few rock bands that became famous.
On a regular morning, you’ll be woken up by an easy to remember child-like …

Here they come again. I knew what I’m about to take when I decided to write personal experiences about my life in Olongapo, or at least parts of it. Heat. I’m about to take some unnecessary heat.
Of all the searches online regarding the 2010 presidentiables, presidential wannabe Richard Gordon had the most positive posts online, according to ABS-CBN reports published March 18.
They were right. In fact if you try to do a search, all you see are links to his bio and how great and wonderful the man is. Except …

When the City of Olongapo is mentioned, the first things that would come to mind are two: the entertainment bars lining its streets and the name Gordon.
While the roots of existence of the former are well-traced, the existence and the reason why the latter became a household name is not much talked about. Who really are the Gordons? How did they come into power? And how for several decades, did a single family dominate the entire political landscape of the city?
The Early Gordon
Though nobody from the local opposition could prove …

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Click here for Part 2
“Ganito pala sa Olongapo, parang war zone,”. This was the surprised remark from one of the media personnel from GMA-7 who witnessed what happened that fateful day in November 1996.
All the action were going on inside the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) where the APEC forum was being held, so it only makes sense for all the media, local and international, to be there.
Fortunately for us, some GMA-7 staff, particularly Luchi Cruz Valdez (from The Probe Team fame) and a cameraman decided …

Click here for Part 1
In just a matter of minutes, after that quick anesthesia-less operation and humiliation inside the operating room, I was in a wheelchair being pushed by that UP volunteer all the way to the x-ray room and unto my assigned room, which was the orthopedic ward.
Weird. I don’t think I had any broken bone or whatever that needed me to be confined to that section. Unless some doctor thought a broken skull would be enough to be categorized as orthopedic. I saw some empty rooms and wards …

It was November 2006 1996. The APEC Summit was being held in Subic Bay, Philippines.
It was a time for the country to show off its newly established Subic Bay after the former bases were left by the Americans under piles of ashes brought by the Pinatubo eruption. It was also the time for then President Fidel Ramos to showcase his Medium Term Philippine Development Plan. It was Ramos’ Philippines 2000. It was globalization. It was Olongapo.
Like most people in the progressive left, I was against it. I believe that if …

Photo Credits: Manila Standard
I was a fan of Dick Gordon, the man who they called The Flash. He was full of idealism and a natural leader. I would love to be seated next to him. I would love to catch the same breath of air that passes through his sense of national pride.
I first saw him on TV after the tragic 1990 major Luzon earthquake. He was there saving lives in the cities of Baguio and Cabanatuan. Those cities were the hardest hit with several collapsed buildings and hotels. He …

Jan. 21, 2010. This is the day a miniscule blogger was picked on by a pea-size brained Philippine government official. A blogger named Ella of Blog ni Ella is now facing libel charges from an article about those “rotting” merchandise inside the DSWD warehouses.
If you guys can remember, the Philippines took a beating from typhoon Ondoy last October 2009. It was October 22, 2009, when we issued an article in reference to the original article of Blog ni Ella regarding the state of of some government relief efforts in some …

Ever since the fragmented left disintegrated into the oblivion and some into the mainstream, remnants of such had filled our more than enough field of experts, talking heads, intellectual analysts, political operators and kingmakers.
They fill the offices of government officials, national to local, and they are with politicians in all levels. Some are even in the media, from the mainstream down to mere blogs.
They fill the chatter of white noise rummaging through several channels and frequencies that unfortunately cannot be filtered. Not that anyone, for the sake of free press, …

Photo Credits: Insignificances
I hate political advertisements. To me it’s just a waste of money that should be spent elsewhere. I would like the candidates to spend their election funds on projects that would be beneficial to people in need.
Officially, I have no candidates yet. I’m still busy looking through candidates with my personal magnifying glass. There are the political ads, with their shots at informing the electorate of their platform, if there ever was one, but mostly their faces and their attempt of projecting themselves as candidates, pathetic as it …

Photo credits here.
It had been so and so when the tag team of the decade gave us their winning one-two combo. When I first saw the initial mixture of air andwater I thought it was just the usual tropical depression that we  are so familiar with. When it hit landfall I realized it was more than Amihan and Habagat combined.
And then we were literally drowning with fear.
For hours the heavens fell in buckets and gallons as well as liters. I felt the earth fill itself as if all the waters …

Photo Credits: Balancing Act
We are creatures of habit.
Instinctively, we always look for patterns and signs. We tend to believe that everything is interconnected and that all events happen for a reason. Our deep curiosity on things around us, despite our natural ability to fear the unknown, inevitably leads us to seek answers, whatever and wherever they may be.
These natural instincts that made us human, and what made us more evolutionary advanced as a specie, made us naturally predisposed to believe in signs and unseen forces beyond our common realm.
We connect …

Doon sa barrio namin, nagkalat ang mga walang magawa. At dahil mga walang magawa, wala ring ginawa  kundi libangin ang sarili at pulaan ang kapwa.
Di ko malaman kung anong magkakahalong libag ang nakatambay sa mga dila at kahit na kayurin mo pa ng combined powers ng panghilod na hollow blocks at pang-kaskas ng yelo ay hindi maalis-alis ang kati.
Tingin, nguso, ismid, bulong, tsismis, kamot dito, kamot doon. Sabay magco-comment pa na kung hindi naman kulang ay sobra naman sa detalye. First impression always.
Kaya naman unang silip pa lang sa bagong …

There was a time when men were men, bound not by rules but mutual respect. A respect that one need not earn but modestly given by virtue of simply being men. Contracts are not made by voluminous set of recycled trees but by a few pristine words.
In the wars of the old, rivals shake hands before and after battles. Even opposing sides have mutual respect. They are enemies in the battlefield, and being soldiers, comrades outside of it. These days, the gentlemanly conduct of directing a battle, were all gone.
Now, …

I was mum. There’s a new war brewing over the horizon. And I, Anakanang Skywalker, was not up for it.
After that inter-galactic war of the not-so-distant past and some short intensity conflicts I eagerly joined for the Barriotic cause, I am not quite sure if the men are ready for yet another battle.
Personal reasons are also prominent more than just the practical. I have friends on both sides. My allegiance goes to the empire, to which I served and fought dutifully, as well as to some newly-acquired friends who calls …

Mula sa Session Hall
Bastusang Pambansa,
Bastusan Hills, Kyusi.
Before I do my oral report, let’ us all tie a yellow ribbon.
Tenkyu mga kababaryo… barrio council, mga writers, contributors, mga tanods, mga miron at mga amuyong… Hello.
Lahat ng aking sasabihin ay pwedeng di nyo na malaman. Dahil lahat naman ng ito ay nasa history books, basahin nyo na lang. Pero for purposes of me planning to stay past my Kapitana term, you have no choice but to listen. Sayang ang gown ko, ganda pa ng hairdo ko.
Ang mga nangyari nitong nakaraang taon ay …

Photo Credits: Dito
Sawa na akong maging bayani. Alam kong baka isuka ako ni Bonifacio pero kailangan kong magpa-alipin sa mga dayuhan. Tutal bukod sa di naman gumagalaw si Bonifacio kahit lagyan ko ng banderitas yung monumento nya, di rin naman nya mapapakain ang mga janakis ko.
Kaya narito ako, dala-dala ang aking tampipi at gutay gutay na cedula. Wala akong dalang agimat kundi kapal ng mukha at panalanging sana ay tumama din ako sa lottong dollar ang premyo.
Si Juan dating nars. Pero andito, naghuhugas ng puwet ng may puwet. Maitim, maputi, …

Barrio Siete is one with the nation in celebrating our Independence Day today, June 12, 2009.

Sa panahong ito sa buong kapuluan nang mga Barrio Siete, usong uso ang pagiging makabayan. Mabentang mabenta ang mga t-shirt ni Francis M. Pati na rin mga accessories na nagpapakita ng pagiging Pinoy. Pati na mga shoeses ni Pacquiao na very limited, pinilahan pa dito sa isteyts.

Bakit nga naman kasi hindi, eh sempre pag hindi ka makabayan, at least sa japorms, hindi ka in, hindi ka cooool. Kaya naman nung maligaw ako ng SM North …

Kahit maliit pa ako sa Timbuktu, palagi nang may hinahabol ng taga ang mga kuya ko kapag me namboboso sa mga ate ko. Madalas kasi dun sa baryo namin, pagkagat ng dilim, mga naglipana ang mga aswang… aswang sa damuhan.

Wala pa kaming kuryente noon, ang ilaw naming ay bote ng bilog na may lamang ga-as.    Kaya sanay na sanay na kaming matulog ng patay ang mga gasera. Bukod sa iwas boso, parang mas tahimik din.
Kahit na kasi anong gawin mo sa mga dingding ng buong bahay ninyo, kayang kayang butasin …