Smart Super Women

By Mari-An Santos   Recently, I realized that there are many mothers in my life. Aside from my own and her sisters and cousins, the mothers on my father’s side of the family, and my grandmothers, there are also mothers among my generation of cousins—even younger cousins that I had seen as children now have [...]

By Paula Bianca Abiog   Like most mother and daughter bonds, my mom and I don’t have a perfect, Hallmark-movie kind of relationship. For one, we were never the clingy, touchy-feely type of tandem. To prove this point, my mom likes retelling how I “shooed” her (and my dad) away so I can focus on [...]

By Mari-An Santos Living alone in a foreign country is difficult. I lived alone, away from family, for roughly six years in the Philippines. It was a challenging experience but in a way, it somehow prepared me for life in a foreign country. I learned how to be responsible for almost every aspect of my [...]

By Maridol Ranoa Bismark   At seventy-something, Sister Mary John Mananzan has the energy of a 40-year-old.  Her voice is booming, her speech free-flowing. The nun, who led fellow religious in offering food and shelter to demonstrators at the height of the 1986 People Power revolution,  has since fought for other causes.  She became the [...]

By Maridol Ranoa-Bismark   Her cup runneth over. Batangas Governor Vilma Santos,  the Star for All Seasons, is a grand slam queen–someone who wins an acting award from all award-giving bodies in a year–four times over. She has successfully crossed over from the business of entertainment to the vocation of public service, having faithfully carried [...]

By Ruth Manimtim-Floresca Summer break is a great time for kids to learn new stuff outside of school. When they were smaller, my kids took up art classes, swimming lessons, piano lessons, violin lessons, among many other workshops. I’ve seen how they enjoyed attending those classes, learning new skills, and meeting new friends. All these [...]

By Jing Lejano   I was a clueless freshman, enjoying the many freedoms of living away from home, when I had my brush with brilliance. At the time, I didn’t quite know what I wanted to do. I landed in the Physics Computer Engineering program of the Ateneo de Manila University mostly out of ignorance; [...]

By Jing Lejano   “Ma, should I go to my graduation?” My daughter asked. She was graduating the very next day, and here she was thinking of not attending the proceedings. I could understand her lack of excitement. You see, our family has never been big on sentiments. Very early on, I learned from my [...]

By Maridol Ranoa-Bismark   Having an only child is a doubled-edged sword.  Sure, you don’t have to shell out more money in tuition, food, and clothes. But that’s not what’s important - at least to me. What’s important is you have to give a double dose of your time and talent to child rearing.  An only [...]