Nestor Cuartero

2 months ago | philippinesgraphic.com.ph | Nestor Cuartero

How’s life, old buddy Between seventy and eighty, eighty and ninety Perpetually in a hurry Heading for the cemetery Amid emotional poverty Are we racing against time Or the lack of it As tiny seconds tick away Tick and click Click and tick I miss every beat Talk of rush hours Caught and missed Then missed again Everything’s touch And go from here Damn that bucket list Under the spell of that cuckoo clock Ticking away precious seconds Long hand, short hand So many more hands to shake Perchance...

Sep 26, 2024 | philippinesgraphic.com.ph | Nestor Cuartero

I sit ugly, like a duck waiting to exhale, in a crowded jeepney on the way to somewhere that seems like nowhere on a morning like this. The old car is at the shop undergoing check-up after wading (Inay, sinking) through floods the week past.           I go public transport. I kid myself I’m stuck here in Dante Alighieri’s first circle of hell because I want to observe the human condition in the city of my dreams of long ago.           I’m kidding myself to death.

Aug 28, 2024 | marketmonitor.com.ph | Nestor Cuartero

By NESTOR CUARTEROHe’s a modern-day Renaissance man, one who blends various aspects of art with science and technology in one beautiful fell swoop. Jordan Shangkuan Ong, recipient of the Asian Pillars Award for his work as a concert pianist, shines brightly in the world of arts and technology. His multi-faceted career spans the realms of music, cinema, and technology.

Aug 25, 2024 | marketmonitor.com.ph | Nestor Cuartero

By NESTOR CUARTEROIn the midst of a busy city life, how refreshing it was to be invited to a traditional barrio fiesta. We responded to just that last May 15, the feast day of San Isidro, patron saint of farmers. After a 45-minute drive from Rosario town heading east towards San Juan, Batangas, we arrived at our destination, the home of Cardo and Eden, in a mountainous barangay called, what else, but San Isidro.

Aug 16, 2024 | marketmonitor.com.ph | Nestor Cuartero

By NESTOR CUARTEROHow would you like your homilies rendered and heard? A common complaint among Catholic mass goers is the often longish, over-extended homilies by officiating priests. Comes now Pope Francis who, for the second time, reminded priests to keep their homilies short (and sweet), 8 minutes the longest. “Or ‘people will fall asleep,” he warned. A report by the Catholic News Agency on June 13, 2024 quoted Pope Francis making an appeal to Catholic priests.