Category: Narratives
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This pandemic is a litmus test on my mental health
“In hiding” is my reply in jest when family and friends text me how I am these days. I know they are concerned about my mental health, but I use this spoof of quarantines and lockdowns as my comic relief. They totally get me because they text me back with a big grin emoticon or…
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The Faithful and the Playful, and Other Taal Tales That Bind
The Taal Volcano eruption brought back decades-old mysteries of Batangas province that had been passed from one generation to another. Here’s what contributor, Shei Datinguinoo, found out.
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Internet is all the rage now, but libraries remain relevant
Written by Gilbert Felongco, contributor (First of Two Parts) Twenty-year-old Mechanical Engineering student Arvin Lagman visits the Manila Public Library almost every day after class. “I find the library conducive to studying, it has air conditioning, and it’s quiet. I can concentrate more here [than in] school where there are a lot of distractions,” he…
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Life without fathers
Written by Danielle Uy, contributor She is a teenager, beautiful and intelligent, two qualities considered by many as essential for an adolescent in this country. Those around her are excited about what she can become. This bright young lady could charm the world, they say. Then she gets pregnant. People still believe she is beautiful,…
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Caring for Baler’s ocean
Written by Danielle Uy, contributor There was once a place 12 hours away from the metropolis, with roads paved with rocks, and where waves crashed into shores. The route from the city to this surfer’s haven is now a lot more accessible — the travel time has been cut by at least four hours. This…
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UP Enkindle: Becoming young servant leaders
In 2014, a group of university students reached out to the children of laborers in Barangay Payatas, Quezon City in the Philippines to provide storytelling. The barangay is home to one of the biggest garbage dumps in Metro Manila. Each participating child was paired with a student volunteer to become buddies in doing the activities…
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This Filipino mariner saved lives
The water was starting to catch the color of dusk. The captain was taking his dinner in the mess hall. His crew called him from the bridge, and his duty officer came for him and told him that they picked up a distress signal. “It was very close to us, about 20 miles,” the captain…
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100 Filipino millennials weigh in on what’s important in life
Thirty-year-old Ralph*, a systems administrator for a local outsourcing firm, dreaded the thought of being considered a millennial, a group that he described as “childish.” He was one of the 100 Filipino millennials we asked to get an idea of their goals and aspirations. Indeed, millennials have been scrutinized and criticized over the years, both…
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Poverty: More than meets the eye
The mere mention of the word ‘poverty’ evokes a certain kind of sadness. A family of five living under a dilapidated bridge in highly-urbanized Manila or students in slippers walking miles to get to their school because of lack of money even for transportation—these images of poverty can tug at the heartstrings. What is poverty?…
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After Duterte’s Second SONA, Now What?
The continued fight against illegal drugs, the Martial Law in Mindanao, the peace talks between government and rebel groups, and the elimination of corruption were among the central points of the second State of the Nation of Address (SONA) of Philippines President Rodrigo Roa Duterte delivered at the session hall of Batasang Pambansa on July…
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THE GOAL Wired Correspondence aims to be an independent and progressive online newsmagazine that will focus on crowd-sourced stories on under-reported social issues in the Philippines and elsewhere written in narrative, longform journalism. We intend to extensively cover stories of people and communities whose struggles are left under-covered, unheard, or un-addressed by the governments or other institutions. But as…
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Sugar-sweetened Beverages: Obesity, Health Risks, and Taxes
When a pre-teen child has an enormous diet of instant noodles, rice, fish, meat, fish, and huge amounts of cola in one meal for five times a day for years, putting on 190 kilograms of body weight is no wonder. The huge food servings could have primarily driven this child’s weight to the ceiling, but…
