SPECIAL REFLECTIONS

 SPECIAL REFLECTIONS

By Klaus Döring

Simply put, self-reflection (also known as “personal reflection”) is taking the time to think about, meditate on, evaluate, and give serious thought to your behaviors, thoughts, attitudes, motivations, and desires. That's what I do now.

Not long ago, I passed a milestone marking 55 years since I began writing my first published article in a daily newspaper. I started keeping all the clippings since then. Believe me, it's like a book. As I re-read my first articles, I was amazed, I ever kept it up. But now you couldn't pay me to stop.

Nowadays all my publications are stored in my electronic-archive. 

Back to my clippings. Can you imagine that there are some benefits from keeping them? From life experiences, I see that progress and failure are both parts of my journey. My columns are mostly a view into a mirror. I am reminded of God's grace when I read (and wrote before) how He helped me to find solutions to problems. I also gained insight from past struggles that help with issues I am currently facing. I remember one of my previous columns entitled "If failures get results". 

God has indeed been faithfully working in my life. 

I read a story by Dennis Fisher, who didn't keep publishing clippings but a spiritual journal. He advised: "Journalism may be useful to you too. It can help you see more clearly what God is teaching you on life's journey. To begin a journal, record your struggles, reflect on a verse that is especially comforting or challenging, or write a prayer of thankfulness for God's faithfulness."

The most awaited season of the year has finally come. For many of us, December is still a glow that blossoms across the eastern horizon bringing the promise of a new beginning. December and Christmas should be the song to awaken our hardened hearts, to touch those people around us, who might have waited a long time for such a move. Let's become "new people" at last.

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Email: doringklaus@gmail.com or follow me on Facebook or LinkedIn or visit my www.germanexpatinthephilippines.blogspot.com or www.klausdoringsclassicalmusic.blogspot.com .

Inflation remains top concern in Mindanao

 

By  Bea Gatmaytan

MindaNews

DAVAO City — Inflation remains the most urgent issue for Mindanawons, but concerns over illegal drugs, criminality, and support for farmers are rising in the region, according to a Pulse Asia survey released this week.

The survey — conducted from February 27 to March 2 — found that 62% of respondents in Mindanao identified inflation as a top concern, close to the nationwide figure of 59%.

However, beyond inflation, regional priorities diverge: concern over the widespread sale and use of illegal drugs (41%) and criminality (31%) ranks significantly higher in Mindanao than nationwide, where only 21% and 17% of Filipinos, respectively, cited these as urgent issues.

This places both issues among Mindanao’s most pressing concerns.

Urgency and political narratives

Issues that resonate more strongly in Mindanao — such as illegal drugs and criminality — are closely associated with the Duterte administration’s political messaging and policy focus. Read alongside this survey, this suggests that what people consider urgent can shape how leadership is viewed.

This gestures towards an alignment between public concern and political narratives, where priorities and perceptions reinforce and are reinforced by one another.

Gap between priorities and performance

At the national level, the survey highlights a consistent pattern: the issues Filipinos consider to be most urgent are also those where dissatisfaction with government performance is highest.

A majority of Filipinos (73%) disapprove of the administration’s handling of inflation — the country’s top concern.

Majorities also expressed disapproval of efforts to fight illegal drugs (68%), address corruption (67%), reduce poverty (53%), and reduce taxes and fight criminality (46% each).

Meanwhile, the only issue where the administration receives majority approval is in the protection of overseas Filipino workers (53%) — an issue only 3% of respondents identified as urgent.

For Mindanao, this overlap is particularly visible: inflation, illegal drugs, and criminality — all among the region’s top concerns — are also areas where national disapproval remains high.

Davao City dad appeals: Save gas on Araw ng Dabaw civic parade

By Ivy Tejano

Published Mar 19, 2026 10:34 pm

DAVAO CITY – The Davao City Council passed a resolution on Thursday, March 19, urging all participants in the 2026 Araw ng Dabaw Civic Parade to join the event on foot and refrain from using fuel-powered and electric vehicles.

Committee on Government-Owned Properties chairperson Councilor J. Melchor Quitain Jr. called on all participants to avoid deploying gasoline, diesel, oil-powered, and even electric vehicles in the parade on March 28.

Quitain said the initiative aims to underscore the importance of conserving energy resources amid ongoing global supply concerns stemming from the conflict in the Middle East.

According to the resolution, the Araw ng Dabaw celebration, observed annually in March, will culminate in a civic parade that traditionally draws hundreds of participants and often features motorized floats and displays.

The councilor cited the impact of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which he said has disrupted petroleum product supplies and contributed to rising fuel prices in the Philippines.

Quitain added that the resulting increase in transportation and production costs has also driven up the prices of basic commodities and utilities, including electricity.

The resolution emphasized that limiting fuel consumption, even during large public events, could help mitigate the economic strain brought about by these global developments.

It also noted that the situation remains uncertain, with no immediate signs of stabilization in fuel supply and pricing, amid continuing geopolitical tensions and volatile global oil market conditions.

Quitain appealed to Davaoeños to contribute in their own way by conserving fuel and resources, stressing that collective action can help cushion the broader economic impact.

Under the resolution, participants are strongly encouraged to take part in the parade without vehicles to promote awareness of energy conservation and responsible resource use.

What's the hardest truth of life?

 

Anjali Kriplani

 · 

Your mind is your instrument, it's time for you to tune it.

1. You are replaceable. Period.

2. You are nothing to anyone. To everyone. (Repeat to yourself thrice a day)

3. If somebody doesn't reply you, never ever disturb them again. Forced relationships and friendships never work.

4. They say, "Never give explanation for loving someone, being over sensitive and your weirdness", and I say "don't ever give explanation for anything to anyone. Full stop.”

5. Never ever try to change people. No one's going to change for you, write this sentence on your fortitude.

6. If you have got a chance to choose between your self - respect and your close one, choose former one. I repeat choose self - respect, because the person who has brought you on this path is not close to you. That's it.

7. One sided love is going to destroy you.

8. Repetition is poison.

9. Never reveal yourself completely to anyone because 90% of people play with your weakness.

10. People are going to judge you anyhow, no matter how many times they say they love your imperfections.