By J. Irving 14 July 2026 will forever have a special place in my memory. At the age of seventy, I finally checked off something that had been sitting quietly on my bucket list for years—I made my very first hole-in-one. Some golfers may raise an eyebrow because it happened on a pitch-and-putt course, where every […]
Ghost writer: J. Irving Good day to all my fellow Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) practitioners. I am Professor Dante D. Balao, a retired Regional Director of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Region II. I retired in September 2020 after serving as Regional Director from 2016 to 2020. Today, I am a faculty […]
“IN OUR HEARTS, YOU WILL ALWAYS STAY, LOVED AND REMEMBERED EVERYDAY” Ranell Loria (the son) By J. Irving Who can say that big men own hearts that are small? Well, there may be exceptions, and this guy is one of those rare figures. He is Mon, a frank, understanding young man with a big heart to […]
A birthday reflection for reaching 70 …
By J. Irving Just like in the Ted Bundy (Serial Killer) confession, a mysterious force might have prevented the rebels from lifting their weapons… https://youtu.be/phqDYbHY5f8 It is only after watching this video clip that without doubt, my survival from a vehicular ambush in Jolo, Sulu on the evening of 10 July 1981 (Friday) can be attributed […]
By J. Irving ft. Generative Pre-trained Transformers There is a quiet but unmistakable satisfaction that settles in a leader’s heart when subordinates show genuine happiness upon seeing him. It is not merely courtesy or protocol; it is something deeper—something reflected in their eyes, in the warmth of their greetings, and in the ease of their […]
By J. Irving Just like most of us, General Nick Ojeda and many others, we began as an infantrymen — trained to fight face-to-face with the enemy, to hold ground, and to prevail through courage. That identity never leaves us. But warfare has changed. Today, battles are fought not only on hills and streets, but across […]
By J. Irving ft. Generative Pre-trained Transformers Ipil had already learned how to whisper before it learned how to scream. In the weeks before the massacre in 1995, fear moved quietly through the town—passed from market stalls to parish pews, from fishermen to teachers. Men with guns had been seen too often, their faces hidden […]
By J. Irving ft. Generative Pre-trained Transformers The 2022 elections taught us a painful lesson. Senator Ping Lacson ’71—arguably one of the most qualified candidates—lost. And many of us asked: Why can’t a Peemayer win the presidency? This massive and blatant corruption that is happening now is our own fault for placing the corrupt ones […]
Reference Book: Yuson, Alfred. In the Footsteps of St. Ignatius of Loyola (The Life of Bishop O. Escaler, S.J., D.D.). Jesuit Communications and Ernest Escaler. 2017. —————– By the time I finished writing the manuscript of my book (The Expired Valor), I stumbled on an article (from Philippine Star webpage dated 27 August 2017) of […]
