FAMILY LOVE. The author (leftmost) says unconditional love defines a truly "modern family."

(First published on March 12, 2014 in Rappler.com) My sister came out to the family when she was in her teens – although she says she knew as early as 5 or 7 years old that she did not have a girl’s heart. It took a while for our family to accept and adjust to this reality even if the signs were there very early on: Kens over Barbies, cars over dolls, crying whenever she would be asked to wear a dress, challenging guys to “one-on-one”…Continue Reading “10 lessons I learned from having a lesbian sister (Rappler.com)”

I have always been fascinated with Islam, this richly colorful and grossly misunderstood religion and culture that has formed a large part of our history and identity as a nation. Growing up, I often found myself wondering about the veiled women that I would see on TV and in the streets, and our yayas’ and neighbors’ derogatory remarks about “the Muslims”, wondering what was so bad about this group of people that they (and “the Bombays”) were often used to scare us into obedience. When I…Continue Reading “Islam on My Mind (ProPinoy.net)”

And on to your left we have the coffin of King Ferdinand V of Bohemia…” Our tour guide’s voice drowned in my head as I fumbled with the controls of my borrowed camera. The room that kept King Ferdinand’s coffin was dark, and I wanted to get a good-enough photograph using the camera that I had started using only the day before that. A click here, a snap there—I turned around to ask my classmate, Eva, a question about using the camera in low light……Continue Reading “Lost (and Found) in Prague (ProPinoy.net)”

By Niña Terol; published in Good News Pilipinas.com (originally posted in the blog Out of the Universe) Whether you’re an office worker glued to your desk for most of the week, a Net junkie who loves blogs and social networking sites, an overseas Filipino looking to connect back to home, or simply someone with something to say, the power to set this country right is within your reach. In these times of social unrest, when media focus hops from one controversy and “crisis” to another, Filipinos everywhere are…Continue Reading “7 Resolutions You Can Do for RP While Sitting Down”

By Niña Terol (originally posted in the blog Out of the Universe)   And now we face yet another hundred-million-peso scandal, unfolding in real-time in the august chambers of the Philippine Senate, involving yet another fall guy who is now the country’s hottest topic (and butt of jokes) but who will later on be forgotten. The moment I heard his name—a few years ago, when my mom casually mentioned the name of the Rotary’s then-District Governor—I immediately felt that there was something fishy about a man named…Continue Reading “Within the Joker’s Grasp (Out of the Universe)”

(Originally posted in the blog, Out of the Universe) I consider myself fortunate to be one of the radio anchors of Lider Totoo, the Saturday-morning program on Radyo Veritas that tackles servant leadership through the experience of real leaders working in different fields and different parts of the country. There are few things I enjoy better than listening to great minds sharing their experiences, challenges, and aspirations, and working on this program makes it worthwhile for me to wake up early on a Saturday morning and trek all…Continue Reading “Profiles in “Out of the Universe Leadership” (part 1)”

(Originally posted in the blog, Out of the Universe) I know we’ve all encountered this at one time or another: being made to wait so g**dam* long for a meeting that turns out to last for only a very short while, with people whom you realize you don’t want to deal with at all–even if they paid you a million bucks to show up next time. This is actually my first work-rant post in any blog, but I’m doing it here and now because an…Continue Reading “Stop Wasting My Time (Out of the Universe)”

(Originally posted in the blog, Out of the Universe) I committed one HUGE mistake that proved almost-fatal to my political career when I was in college: I wanted to emulate someone whose position I was aspiring for, and when I finally reached that position my intentions failed to translate into effective actions. It wasn’t because I didn’t care about the responsibilities that were entrusted to me or about the constituency that voted for me—in fact, my involvement in the student council meant pretty much everything…Continue Reading “Lessons in Failed Leadership (Out of the Universe)”