The book exposes one of the biggest deceptions ever foisted on the Philippine nation, the total domination of our telecommunications industry by foreigners and its deliberate concealment. This is a grave violation of the Philippine Constitution, a fact that was ignored by the Aquino administration when it chose to side with foreign interests instead of following a Supreme Court order to stop the foreign control of a strategic public utility. While claiming to be majority-owned by Filipinos, the reality is that the biggest stockholder of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., which operates Smart Communications, is the Indonesian billionaire and former Suharto crony Anthoni Salim with his minor partner the giant Japanese telco NTT. Globe Telecom's biggest stockholder on the other hand is the Singaporean state firm Singtel. With their lucrative duopoly the foreign firms have remitted out of the Philippines gargantuan profits totaling $9 billion from 2000 to 2015. How are these foreign firms able to bypass the constitutional limit on foreign control of public utilities with little resistance from the Philippine body politic? This book exposes the chicanery behind the acquisition of the country's biggest corporations, the corruption and cronyism that had allowed this to happen, and the pernicious plot to amend the Constitution to perpetuate the foreign control of companies over vital sectors of our economy.

This is about a man, his lost love, the imperfect world he lives in, and how he finds his true love after he discovers his true self and life’s purpose when he realized that much of the world’s imperfections are caused by lack of love for others, fueled by greed and selfishness, which cause social cancer. Anton Hinirang was unhappy for the last twenty-four years, after losing his first and only love, when Marian’s parents forced her to marry someone with money and stature. Decades later, not even success could make Anton happy. When his unhappiness was complicated by tragic events that happened to his father and two siblings, caused by his country’s social ills, it woke and changed Anton forever. It led to his self-discovery of his life’s purpose, which in turn led him to find his true love. In its core, the story is about love, how its absence can render a person’s life unhappy and miserable, and how lack of love in people’s hearts, especially among leaders, can cause poverty and misery among many in society and the world. Alex Lacson is a bestselling author in the Philippines. He is known as a builder of hope in his country, especially among the youth. Alex believes that love is the answer to most of the problems confronting humanity today; love as expressed in kindness, compassion, generosity, fairness and justice. Though a lawyer by profession, Alex’s first passion is writing. He served as a newspaper columnist for seven years. He also worked as editor-in-chief of a lawyers’ magazine for a few years before he wrote in 2005 his first book, which became an instant national bestseller in the Philippines. Alex is a graduate of the College of Law, University of the Philippines. In 2002, he took a short summer program at Harvard Law School, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, US. He also took a leadership training at Haggai Institute, Singapore in 2007.

The Modern Principalia is about the Philippine ruling elite--who they are and how they evolved in history. It delves into their economic interests as well as their lifestyles, how they acquired their wealth and built a world of their own. It describes their family links and their interlocking interests with other elites and foreign partners. The book also examines the values and behavior of the elite in politics and government, how they exploit the poverty and ignorance of the masses to win political power, and what they do with that power.

The novel THE NEWSPAPER WIDOW, by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, is a literary mystery set in the Philippines in 1909, shortly after the Spaniards lost to the Americans, and the Americans occupied the Philippines. The widow Ines and her friend the French seamstress Melisande solve the crime of the dead priest in the creek in order to free the son of Ines from jail. Inspired by her great-grandmother who was the first woman publisher in the Philippines, Brainard has written a character-driven novel that raises interesting and complicated questions about morality and justice while the protagonist searches for the priest's true killer. What begins as a murder mystery transforms into something greater as love, loyalty and friendship are tested and refined. Shortlisted for the Inaugural Cirilo F. Bautista Prize for the Novel, Brainard's novel is a captivating read.

When Muhammad Ali met Joe Frazier in Manila for their third fight, their rivalry had spun out of control. The Ali-Frazier matchup had become a madness, inflamed by the media and the politics of race. When the "Thrilla in Manila" was over, one man was left with a ruin of a life; the other was battered to his soul. Mark Kram covered that fight for Sports Illustrated in an award-winning article. Now his riveting book reappraises the boxers -- who they are and who they were. And in a voice as powerful as a heavyweight punch, Kram explodes the myths surrounding each fighter, particularly Ali. A controversial, no-holds-barred account, Ghosts of Manila ranks with the finest boxing books ever written.

The New York Times bestselling author of Fly Girls shares the riveting story of an unsung World War II hero who saved countless American lives in the Philippines. When Florence Finch died at the age of 101, few of her Ithaca, NY neighbors knew that this unassuming Filipina native was a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, whose courage and sacrifice were unsurpassed in the Pacific War against Japan. Long accustomed to keeping her secrets close in service of the Allies, she waited fifty years to reveal the story of those dramatic and harrowing days to her own children. Florence was an unlikely warrior. She relied on her own intelligence and fortitude to survive on her own from the age of seven, facing bigotry as a mixed-race mestiza with the dual heritage of her American serviceman father and Filipina mother. As the war drew ever closer to the Philippines, Florence fell in love with a dashing American naval intelligence agent, Charles "Bing" Smith. In the wake of Bing's sudden death in battle, Florence transformed from a mild-mannered young wife into a fervent resistance fighter. She conceived a bold plan to divert tons of precious fuel from the Japanese army, which was then sold on the black market to provide desperately needed medicine and food for hundreds of American POWs. In constant peril of arrest and execution, Florence fought to save others, even as the Japanese police closed in. With a wealth of original sources including taped interviews, personal journals, and unpublished memoirs, The Indomitable Florence Finch unfolds against the Bataan Death March, the fall of Corregidor, and the daily struggle to survive a brutal occupying force. Award-winning military historian and former Congressman Robert J. Mrazek brings to light this long-hidden American patriot. The Indomitable Florence Finch is the story of the transcendent bravery of a woman who belongs in America's pantheon of war heroes.

In these nine globe-trotting tales, Mia Alvar gives voice to the women and men of the Philippines and its diaspora. From teachers to housemaids, from mothers to sons, Alvar’s stories explore the universal experiences of loss, displacement, and the longing to connect across borders both real and imagined. In the Country speaks to the heart of everyone who has ever searched for a place to call home—and marks the arrival of a formidable new voice in literature.