A panel of three internationally acclaimed authors and experienced literary judges named Filipino author Miguel Syjuco the winner of the 2008 Man Asian Literary Prize for his novel Ilustrado, a fictional account of a young Filipino caught within a notorious scandal spanning over the Philippine history.

(The same novel also won the grand prize for the novel in this year’s Palanca awards. More about Syjuco and his novel here.)

By Yasmin Arquiza | Vera Files  |  Because of their rapid expansion, Davao’s big banana plantations are encroaching into the city’s built-up areas and farmlands, where small farmers grow crops and fruits that are sold in Davao City markets. Communities around these plantations have been complaining of health problems every time toxic pesticides would drift their way.

By Ninotchka Rosca |  In my New York neighborhood, a 20-block run takes you to Argentina, Chile, Columbia, India, Pakistan, Philippines; 30 blocks and you’re in Africa, Jamaica and other places whose names escape even a geography fan.

“In honoring the plunderers of this nation and letting them off easy without any punishment (like Erap) we not only condone their infamy; other rapists of this nation will also feel redeemed, convinced that they did no wrong. Then, they pave the way for future criminals to do the same, sure that, like Imelda and her gang, they will not be punished and that after their foul deeds, they can even preen in the limelight before a people without memory.”

The “GMO-free rice restaurants” campaign, launched Wednesday at Fish and Co. restaurant in Ortigas Center, aims to gather the commitment of restaurants around the country to serve only GMO-free rice.

In a statement to mark World No Tobacco Day on 31 May, WHO said the tobacco industry preys on the vulnerability of young people, knowing that they underestimate the risk of becoming addicted to nicotine. WHO called on policy-makers to support the ban on advertising, sponsorship and promotion.

They usually approach you in shopping malls and ask you if you already have a credit card. If you tell them that you don’t have one, they would then shove a paper in your hand, asking you to fill it up so you can enjoy the benefit of having a credit card. The banks have been increasingly using such a marketing tactic to encourage people to sign up for credit cards, which perhaps partly explains the explosion of credit-card use in the Philippines. But the next time one of these agents approach you, know this: a scam may have developed out of this aggressive marketing strategy by the banks.

Amado Hernandez (Photo courtesy of tinig.com)

A mini-controversy has erupted in the blogosphere. It involves blogger Connie Veneracion who, in a recent column in the Manila Standard Today newspaper, trashed Amado V. Hernadez’s “Mga Ibong Mandaragit” because she, her daughter and her husband didn’t get it.

Blogger Exie Abola wrote what Newsstand has called a “cogent” response to Veneracion’s tirade (”a complete evisceration” of Veneracion, Newsstand says). Others have weighed in, but of course. There’s Stuart Santiago, calling Veneracion “lazy,” “stupid” and “anti-Filipino.” Ouch.