The urban poor group Kadamay staged on Holy Monday what it called the calvary of the poor to highlight their daily struggle under the Aquino Administration resulting from, it says, the lack of decent housing, education, basic social services and high cost of utilities.

At least 200 protesters gathered at Plaza Salamanca on Taft Ave. in Manila before noon and marched to the eight “stations,” patterned after the Roman Catholic Church’s “stations of the cross” depicting Jesus Christ carrying the Cross to his crucifixion.

First Station at University of the Philippines Manila. Protesters lit candles to show their solidarity and remember UP Manila student Kristel Tejada who committed suicide.

Second Station at the Supreme Court. Protesters burned a symbolic sign of the Urban Development Housing Act (UDHC) which ,according to the group, is behind the demolition of homes of urban poor communities. A petition to junk anti-poor provisions of UDHA is

Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad (middle) receives his plaque as 2012 Metrobank-Ateneo Professorial Chair for Public Service. Photo from Metrobank Foundation Inc.

By Cherry Joy Veniles, VERA Files

In Florencio “Butch” Abad’s book, the national budget is a game—a game, he says, in which “political actors with conflicting demands and competing to get a larger pie of the nation’s scarce resources.”

But years of experience as politician, lawmaker, academic and Cabinet secretary in three government administrations have also shown him the huge potential of the budget: “It is also a very good point to start a reform process that will pursue an agenda of empowerment.”

And that was what he said he set out to do when he was made boss of the Department of Budget and Management in 2010.

The reforms he has since instituted under the DBM’s “Paggugol na Matuwid” program have not gone unnoticed. The Metrobank Foundation recently named him 2012's Metrobank Professorial Chair for Public Service.

In a lecture to a packed audience of students, NGO leaders, teachers and representatives from the DBM at the awarding ceremony held March 7 at the Ateneo de Manila

No Way To Treat A Lady cast

By Pablo A. Tariman, VERA Files

Founded by the late Zeneida Amador and Baby Barredo, Repertory Philipines is on its 46th year and going strong on its 77th season.

Like it or not, it has enriched Manila’s theater scene for over three decades with the world’s classic plays from Antigone to Lysistrata and pioneering productions of the “ Sound of Music,” “The King and I, “Les Miserables” and “My Fair Lady,” among others.

Over the years, it has produced a Lea Salonga, the first Filipina to win the Tony and Sir Laurence Olivier Awards in London and New York. Actors who appeared in its initial seasons have since then formed their own theater groups and doing very well despite the volatile audience turn-out in Metro Manila.

And to think that Repertory Philippines opened with “Miss Julie” in 1967 with seven people in the audience. The theater group has survived the ups and downs of the performing arts starting in a modest school theater in Quezon City and on to Insular Life Auditorium in

Video by Mario Ignacio

You have your plane tickets. You have made the hotel reservations.

You are all set for fun in the beach. But, is your body ready for it?

Three physical fitness personal trainers – Angie M. Miranda and Jensen G. Centeno of Fitness First, Mall of Asia, and Christian S. Cerezo, formerly of Fitness First Southmall and now a freelance PT, say it’s never too late to start getting in shape.

Centeno says the lure of the summer breeze is a good excuse to start going to the gym. Or to those who regularly workout, intensify one’s exercise regimen.

The three share tips, that coupled with proper diet, will help you achieve the body worth a second glance when on the beach. In the video, they show several variations to the basic exercises like lunge or squat in order to give options, depending on one’s capability to perform the activity.

Angie M. Miranda shows the perfect squatMiranda demonstrates variations of lunge and squat to work on the legs, buttocks, and arms.

To do a lunge,

Text and photos by Elizabeth Lolarga, VERA Files

Painter Alfonso "Dayong" Mendoza Jr. has a continuing love-hate relationship with the jeepney.

He has been a commuter for much of his life. When he looks at jeeps from the point of view of a car owner, he sees how the typical jeepney drivers' proprietary attitude towards roads and byways enables them to defy traffic rules and road courtesies.

It is a world Mendoza is familiar with, having had to take on a regular job as coach and teacher to provide for his young family. After two well-received shows, he concentrated on training players for the Philippine Basketball League, University Athletic Association of the Philippines and the Philippine Basketball Association. Even when he was doing well as a coach, he got around in jeeps while other coaches drove BMWs or Benzes.

His "Dyip! Dyip! Dyip!" at Blue+Gray Gallery at L2, Serendra, Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, is his patriotic declaration of "Pinoy ako!" He looks at the jeep as a

Gov. Joseph Cua, Espy Tresvalles, Rep. Cesar Sarmiento

By Pablo A. Tariman, VERA Files

The first time former London-based OFW Esperanza Tresvalles showed up in a Catanduanes concert was in May 1992 when she graced the concert of Manila-based soprano Luz Morete and pianist Najib Ismail in a well-received voice recital in a small venue near the historic Bato Church.

In her summer rag-tag attire and with some wild flowers on her hair, she entered the hall just in time when the soprano was singing Sisa’s aria from Felipe Padilla de Leon’s Noli Me Tangere. Contrary to what people feared, she was well-behaved during the concert. In the post-concert reception in the church convent, the visiting artists noticed Tresvalles spoke perfect British English.

From 1984 to 2011, Tresvalles -- who became a modern Sisa in the island after a case of family betrayal compounded by unrequited love -- roamed the streets of Virac and Bato towns, lived in church belfries, town squares, by the lake and found short-lived menial jobs in parish convents in exchange

Commentary

Evelio Javier2

By Ellen Tordesillas

Evelio B. Javier, former governor of Antique, died while performing a task for the restoration of democracy on Feb. 11, 1986.

He was assassinated while keeping watch over the canvassing of votes in the snap presidential election between the well-entrenched dictator Ferdinand Marcos and Corazon Aquino, widow of the assassinated senator Benigno Aquino, Jr and mother of the current president, Benigno Aquino III.

Justice was not fully served with the acquittal of the suspected brains of the murder but it was a consolation for the Javier family that some of the accomplices in the crime were convicted.

One of those convicted was lawyer Avelino T. Javellana, who has applied for executive clemency.

The sons of Evelio B. Javier, are opposing the executive clemency for Javellana. Following is the letter of the lawyer, Victorina Javier, sent to Board of Pardons and Parole

Wednesday, which is under the Department of Justice:

“We represent the sons of the late

By Patrick King Pascual, VERA Files

They are shapeless in form but they are captivating to one's eye.

They are made of intricately structured clay with different colors on its finish.

They look unusual but there is beauty in each piece.

They are “Terrain: The works of Nelfa Querubin,” at the Ayala Museum in Makati. The exhibit, a collection of magnificent ceramic art pieces that dates back to the 1970s, runs until April 28.

Unlike sculptures, ceramic pieces or clay artworks require a more complex approach to its creation: from the molding of the clay to shaping it and finally making a piece of art out of it. One Filipino artist from Iloilo mastered and pioneered this art form.

“I was dealing with Iloilo clay and it’s experimental at the same time. I want to express myself artistically through clay. I always get these surprising results when I'm molding a piece, which I like very much. I can express my artistic aesthetics when I do clay art. So it’s science and art at the same time,”