Features

  photo by Angeline M. Tanqueco/THE FLAME BREATHE IN, breathe out. These were the things that Marilen Balolong, a University of the Philippines Manila microbiology professor, did freely one calm morning while jogging around their neighborhood in Alabang. With no one around in sight, Balolong freely inhaled the morning breeze without the inconvenient mask the COVID-19 pandemic forced people to wear. While people like Balolong have to ensure that an area is not that crowded before removing their face masks, it wasn’t that bad compared to the situation two years ago. Back then, people had to wear both face masks and face shields to protect themselves. The face shield requirement was then lifted, making it easier for people to move around. On Oct. 28, 2022, President Ferdin...

  art by Tcheky Nicole D. Cabrera/ THE FLAME THE DAY before the Ukraine invasion was a normal day for Filipino migrant worker Joy Tolentino. After work, she went to her phone—peacefully scrolling her social media—without anticipating the storm that was to come. She went to sleep feeling at ease. It was five in the morning of the following day when her phone suddenly rang—an unusual event for her. On the other end of the line was a Filipino reporter, telling her that a war had begun in Ukraine. The words woke her. She immediately got up from her bed and walked towards the window. She opened the curtains and saw what was happening outside: panic; traffic; an exodus. She must immediately leave Ukraine, the country she left home for a living, to save her life. A run f...

  DESPITE THE bumpy road, Matthew Opeña has long accepted his situation.  Opeña’s condition presented when he had to explain his inversive actions and how his pace was not as linear as his peers. At an early age, Opeña was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).  His whole family migrated to Canada years after being diagnosed. Living in an unfamiliar landscape, he had no choice but to adjust his mental condition and lifestyle to a foreign culture. Growing up with ADHD, he narrated how his desire for self-gratification made him act out of impulse so that he could actually quench his thirst for constant dopamine. Opeña said, “Living with it is actually difficult because I am always eager to get something done quickly and sometimes no matter ...