As the campaign heats up out in the hustings, so too are temperatures in cyberspace, with candidates and their handlers coaxing, cajoling, co-opting, and — some say — compromising members of the online community in order to get the attention and support of the country”s 24 million Internet users.

Crisostomo Aquino or Cris, as he is commonly called, is the perennial flag-bearer in Pacquiao fights. He also designs the shirts worn by members of Team Pacquiao.

Part of Pacquiao”s mythic status stems from his ability to defy the odds. Through hard work and an impeccable work ethic, he has become a boxing demigod, a feat that is all the more inspiring because he started out with so much less. The only thing deadlier than Pacquiao”s punches is his charisma, yet through it all, one thing has remained constant — his unswerving faith.

His stature on the world stage may very well qualify Manny Pacquiao as pang-mundong kamao, a lofty but not altogether an impossible a goal, seeing how well-received he is internationally. The number of teams and subteams that have latched on to the Pacquiao bandwagon is mind-boggling, a measure of how much a national treasure he has become.

Billions in national funds have been given to Maguindanao, controlled by erstwhile Arroyo allies the Ampatuans. But the province still suffers from a dire lack of teachers, classroom chairs, and other basic services. The enrollment ratio for school-age children is just 70 percent, among the lowest in the nation. Clan members control regional purse strings.

A least a dozen things can go wrong during the first automated elections this May 10, according to a new interactive voting guide, The Journey of the Vote, developed by GMANews.TV. Voters are told to prepare for brownouts, long lines, and pre-marked ballots being fed secretly into the voting machines. And that's just in the first stage.

Modern globalization has given birth to a new breed of humanity that shares the souls, blood, and cultures of different races. I am a product of such an intermingling. Like many others, my parents found soul mates from distant lands: my fatherland is Persia (Iran) while my motherland is the Philippines. An essay by Richard Javad Heydarian.

In a recording accompanying his latest photo essay, “This is my home,” US-based Filipino documentary photographer Rick Rocamora talks about his poignant images of people living on the streets of Manila. Sometimes, he says, he just gets in a cab and tells the driver to take him somewhere interesting.

In the book “Shadow of Doubt: Probing the Supreme Court,” multi-awarded journalist Marites Da

There is no cure for psoriasis, which produces inflamed lesions covered by a silvery scale on the skin, but it is not a contagious disorder. Yet, many patients are suffering from discrimination and humiliation due to public ignorance about the disease. GMA News reporter Claire Delfin writes about the many facets of psoriasis.

Mico Halili reflects on Joshua Clottey's defensive tactics. On the one hand, Clottey's super defense ensured that he wouldn't be knocked out. On the other hand, the same strategy produced a one-sided fight that deprived us of an epic battle.

The revelation by US authorities of the possible impact of “narcopolitics” on the May 2010 elections has drawn new attention to the links between established political clans and the criminal underworld. Meanwhile, their increased access to foreign aid and reconstruction assistance in conflict-affected areas has enabled warlords to embellish their legitimacy. An analysis by Francisco J. Lara Jr.

Mico Halili writes how the basketball-crazy Filipinos will go bananas for another sport on Sunday, when boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao embarks on another of his missions inside the ring.

Mexican telecom giant Carlos Slim has topped Forbes magazine’s billionaire’s list – the first time since 1994 that an American has not led the rankings. Mr Slim’s fortune rose by $18.5bn (

From their perch in Tagaytay, tourists for years reveled in awe-inspiring views of Taal Lake without knowing the messy truth. Squalid checkerboards of floating fish cages were spreading pollution with excess feeds and causing fish kills that indicated a dying lake. Enter a movie-star governor who once played Darna.

It took the University of the Philippines in Diliman more than four years to fully automate student council elections among 20,000 students. Can the Comelec do it for 50 million voters with barely a year of preparation? UP graduate student and GMANews.TV writer Jerrie Abella gives a first-hand account of electronic voting.

Twenty-four years ago, the nation was swept up in a miraculous wave of magic that toppled two decades of dictatorship without bloodshed and catapulted the Philippines to worldwide fame. For veteran and young musicians, the EDSA revolution left a legacy that continues to be reflected in their songs.

Back in the 1970s, labor migration was seen by the government not as a problem but a solution to rising unemployment and inadequate foreign exchange earnings to pay for increasing foreign debts.

What the presidential candidates say about OFWs

They may have brought home the bacon – $17 billion in 2009 or over 10 times bigger than last year's expected foreign direct investment – but more than an economic force, overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have evolved into a social phenomenon that the country”s next president needs to resolve decisively.