February 19, 2024

The Flop Heard ‘Round the World

By David Haldane Feb. 19, 2024     A Filipino comedian told a joke that flopped. And now the universe is talking about Taylor Swift and […]
January 15, 2024

The Winding Road to Zamboanga

By David Haldane Jan. 15, 2024   We should have been there by now. We should have grabbed a flight the day after Christmas and enjoyed […]
December 19, 2023

Socorro Bayanihan: Commune or Cult?

  By David Haldane Dec. 18, 2023     We were a mile off the coast of a remote Philippine Island when I realized the boat […]
November 23, 2023

One-Sided News

By David Haldane Nov. 23, 2023     I had just put the finishing touches on a three-minute video presentation for an annual gathering of would-be […]
November 16, 2023

Hitler on Lazada

By David Haldane Nov. 16, 2023   It felt like someone had yanked out my kidneys. Unable to sleep, I’d opened my cell phone to Facebook […]
October 20, 2023

Filipino Love

By David Haldane October 19, 2023     She could have been my sister-in-law. Angelyn Aguirre, a 32-year-old native of Pangasinan, had spent the last six […]
October 12, 2023

Survival

By David Haldane October 12, 2023   I had a whole other column prepared for this week, an amusing little piece about Filipinos getting 20% disability […]
September 14, 2023

A Fungus Among Us

By David Haldane September 14, 2023     The experience impacted my life profoundly. It was 1969, and I was a 20-year-old student at a hippie […]
July 27, 2023

Should Parents Be Told?

 By David Haldane July 27, 2023   It seems like a question with a simple answer. If a child exhibits symptoms of mental illness in school, […]
June 1, 2023

Reinventing Einstein

By David Haldane June 1, 2023     The Facebook photo demanded a double take. There he was, Albert Einstein, standing on a street in SoHo, […]
May 4, 2023

Digital Nomads in the Philippines: A New Mode(m) of Living

By David Haldane May 4, 2023     The meeting was long overdue. As my publicist and I waited at the Pancake House in Cagayan de […]
April 27, 2023

Whiplash!

By David Haldane April 27, 2023     It felt like riding a rollercoaster. First there was the comforting click of rails, accompanied by an anticipation […]