AFTER a week of crime busting, business stories take center stage in the city and province of Iloilo.
First off is the one-week Information Technology Week mounted by the city and provincial governments, Department of Trade and Industry and the Iloilo Foundation for Information Technology.
The activity kicked off with an IT Investment Forum Tuesday at Amigo […]

CRIME reporting is said to be the training ground for greenhorn journalists. Firstly, sources for police news abound compared to political beats such as the capitol or city hall. Go to the police station and take a peek at the blotters. There’s a plethora of stories worth reporting.
For those who have limited resources and cannot […]

AS IF typhoon Frank was not enough, Iloilo City suffered another debacle when it was dropped from the list of most competitive cities in the Philippines as shown by the Philippine Cities Competitiveness Ranking Project (PCCRP) last year.
The biennial survey participated by major and emerging cities and business entities in the country measures the competitiveness […]

THE ASSASSINATION of Ajuy Vice Mayor Ramon Rojas created quite a buzz in the media circle and coffeehouses as this is just one of the few cases where a high ranking official and politician was gunned down in cold blooded manner.
The most recent before Rojas’ death was the killing of Mayor Gardose of Tapaz, Capiz […]

IT’S a good thing that the provincial board of Negros Occidental has decided to endorse the expansion of the geothermal fields in Bago City.
The Philippine National Oil Co.-Energy Development Corp. (PNOC-EDC) has been courting the support of all sectors in Negros Occidental to endorse its entry in the buffer zone of Mt. Kanlaon so it […]

SOMETHING sinister lurks around me. Amidst the darkness, all I can see are red, menacing eyes.
It approaches me. I run but I can’t move. Then cold claws clutch my chest.
I shout and wake up drenched in sweat.
It’s still dark not because I’m still dreaming. Brownout gali.

YOUNG ILOILO politicians are very innovative in making themselves visible all over the city.
Hanging on school fences are tarpaulin banners of politicians extolling graduates this year. What struck me are their model like poses fit for the glossy pages of society magazines.
After these banners have served their purpose, enterprising individuals will carefully dismantle the sleek visuals […]

MY HEART goes out to Rex Drilon who expressed his disappointment with the Catholic Church’s rabid opposition to the proposed coal-fired power plant. If he only considered his position as the chief operating officer of one of the top development firms in the country, he could have maintained his silence for fear of reprisal from […]

“SPLITTING MORAL HAIRS” is one of my favorite (and overused) idioms. It is a powerful phrase which highlights hypocrisy and misplaced righteousness.
Religions and churches are very prone to splitting moral hairs in their various advocacies.
Take for example some priests and religious groups who oppose the proposed coal-fired power plant because of purported health and environmental […]

THE STORY ON the number of fire incidents in the region should be read beyond the figures, particularly the number of deaths and amount of damage wrought by blazes that could have been prevented in the first place.
Firefighters have always been concerned with the narrow roads and pathways in squatters’ areas where most fires happen. These constricted […]