As my home country, I shall write varied pieces of both travel blogs and feature articles here. Among the initial travel blogs would pertain to the following areas: (1) Pandan Island, Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro – Sablayan is where I spent my elementary and high school days; (2) Foodies at Iloilo City where I have travelled three times since November 2018; (3) my lone trip to Bacolod (it has the best-tasting chicken tails!) where I caught up with my colleagues as part of our academic [p1] visits to private higher education institutions and state universities and colleges; and (4) General Santos where I met Mommy Dionisia, the legendary mother of Senator and most famous Filipino pugilist, Senator Emmanuel ‘Manny’ Pacquiao.

I will produce a special series of articles about the province of Palawan. When I first arrived here in August of 1981, the province was then called as the ‘last ecological frontier’ and ‘where nature has run amuck’. More recently, Gabby Malvar (an economist–cum-film producer) has argued that the province is more appropriately called now as the ‘last bastion’ of sustainable development. Whatever everyone else calls it – to me and until I die – I will always refer to Palawan as both the ‘land of magic’ and the ‘best place I have ever been’.

academic?