Iris C. Gonzales

Manila

Reporter and Columnist at The Philippine Star

reporter and columnist, @philippineStar EyesWideOpen (T-Th-Sun) Iskolar Ng Bayan/Konrad Adenauer Fellow/UPAA Awardee/USFPA '24/Iceland Writers Alum

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Articles

A legacy of nation-building

1 day ago | philstar.com | Iris C. Gonzales

JG Summit at 35MANILA, Philippines — At the Ninoy Aquino International Airport’s Terminal 3 last Monday, election day, check-in counters of Gokongwei-led Cebu Pacific were busier than usual amid the snaking lines of passengers. It is a testament to the low-cost carrier’s continued dominance – with a commanding 54.1 percent share of the domestic market in 2024 – and to JG Summit Holdings’ success in providing consumers with wider choices at fair prices.
High stakes

2 days ago | philstar.com | Iris C. Gonzales

Now we wait with bated breath, anxiety levels are through the roof. It’s a high-stakes midterm poll, after all, which will no doubt be a referendum on the administration of President Marcos. Halfway into Marcos 2.0, there is nothing much to applaud in terms of economic or fiscal progress or any new big infrastructure project.
3rd generation Ty takes driver’s seat at Toyota Motor Philippines marketing unit

3 days ago | philstar.com | Iris C. Gonzales

On the road with Andy TyMANILA, Philippines — Andrew Ryan “Andy” Ty, grandson of the late banking and automotive tycoon George Ty, has taken the driver’s seat at Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP)’s Marketing Services Department as its assistant vice president – and he’s loving it. Andy, after all, grew up loving cars and dreamed of working at TMP long before he was old enough to do so.
Notes on the elections

4 days ago | philstar.com | Iris C. Gonzales

Tomorrow, the 12th of May, the campaign circus comes to an end, and the real thing begins. Will the winners really help the masses? Will the campaign promises be kept? The elections, for sure, will herald a new era in the country’s political landscape.
Robina on recent kidnappings, retirement

1 week ago | philstar.com | Iris C. Gonzales

Outside the Gokongwei Group and the UP Fighting Maroons, tycoon and sports patron Robina Gokongwei is famously synonymous with two enduring tales that refuse to die – one a cult urban legend, the other a real-life horror story. The first involves a snake twin said to haunt a Robinson’s department store ladies’ fitting room, a story that spread like wildfire in the ’90s, like retail folklore.
Tragic

1 week ago | philstar.com | Iris C. Gonzales

A father has lost his daughter in yet another tragedy that came like a thief in the night – on a quiet Sunday morning. The man, an OFW, wailed in helplessness, a sound coming from the depths of despair. This was all very painful to watch. Days ago, a two-year-old boy lost both his father and mother. He will grow up an orphan and who knows where life will take him with his parents gone.
Who will be the next SEC chairperson?

1 week ago | philstar.com | Iris C. Gonzales

5 topnotch lawyers among contendersMANILA, Philippines — Five of the country’s top lawyers are in the running to become the next chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), as the seven-year term of incumbent Duterte appointee Emilio Aquino ends on June 6, 2025.
Press freedom

1 week ago | philstar.com | Iris C. Gonzales

May 3, World Press Freedom Day, is always bittersweet for journalists, but more so now with the spread of fake news and the continued attacks on journalism. We mourn the death of veteran journalist Juan “Johnny” Dayang, who was brazenly attacked and shot dead inside his home in Aklan on April 29. A prominent journalist, Dayang was the president of the Publishers Association of the Philippines, a former publisher of the Philippine Graphic and a former president of the Manila Overseas Press Club.
Labor Day, OFWs, Camille Villar’s pitch

2 weeks ago | philstar.com | Iris C. Gonzales

They will march today – our tireless laborers – as they do every year, out on the streets under the scorching summer heat. It is Labor Day, after all – a lamentation rather than a celebration – as they continue to be burdened by the same problems they have struggled with for decades: low pay, skyrocketing cost of living and labor migration. It doesn’t get better. The high cost of living in the country has worsened.
Headwinds at the airport

2 weeks ago | philstar.com | Iris C. Gonzales

Critics of the country’s main gateway or the San Miguel Corp.-led consortium now managing its operations may not agree, but there have been noticeable changes at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) – and yes, they’re all for the better. That’s the good news. The bad news is that some disgruntled groups are again waging a war against the airport franchise of the consortium, the New NAIA Infra Corp. or NNIC, which operates NAIA. But first, the positive changes.