Two be thankful for

This year, 2026, is turning out to be a year full of milestones and challenges, especially in terms of health and career.

I am not the “anniversary” conscious type of person, but friends have been telling me that certain milestones are unlike others and you will never do this again.

For instance, try forgetting your wife’s birthday or your wedding anniversary or our collective “date” with the BIR which expects us to give them their cut from our salaries during the filing of income tax returns!

So, if there is reason to celebrate and not weep, enjoy it, celebrate it and, not least of all, be grateful for it. As today’s column title suggests, I have “two to be thankful for,” aside from the many other daily things in life for which I do thank God for regularly.

This year, I turned 70 years old. That was last April 14 and before the date arrived, I didn’t feel 70 and I “refuse to let the old man in.” My body, on the other hand, disagrees.

I supposed my friends were right since average lifespan of Filipino men is only 72 years old. Then there is the fact that I landed in Rizal Medical Hospital twice in two months this year due to atrial fibrillation. So yes, I’m lucky, actually very blessed to be alive!

The next one is the realization that I have been writing this column for The Philippine STAR for a full 20 years! (6/06 to 6/26). Thank you, Lord and thank you, “Tito Max” Soliven for the unexpected, almost miraculous, open door you led me through.

It has always been clear to me that the Lord used “Tito Max” to bring me to my next platform and assignment four days after I resigned from ABS-CBN. All I needed to do was let go of my most cherished TV show, Straight Talk.

Many years down the road, I realized that God brings us from season to season, to different platforms, with a set of friends, mentors or colleagues who play a crucial role in completing our assignment and then they go “backstage.” It’s not “goodbye,” it’s “see you around.”

So, what was it like? You might ask. Considering I started out one column a week in 2006 and now doing three columns a week in 2026, I confess it has not been easy. People think “it’s just writing your opinion” but it isn’t.

Topics are not always what you feel strongly about. Sometimes it has to do with correcting people or misinformation; often, for me, it is about supporting causes or calling out concerns. My biggest one is public health, public hospitals and medicine. You could say it’s personal.

In 2026, my big worries have been energy or the lack of it, the cost of electricity that has almost doubled and now really hurts every Filipino family, food security and depleted available natural water deposits, dams and reservoirs.

Tito Max Soliven called these topics “human interest” and told me to focus on that and not politics because everyone else would be doing that. As a very successful journalist, he knew what he was talking about because the one word that defines his coverage was “variety.”

I picked up on some of that and almost always write about my trips or travels abroad. Unlike selfies and travel vlogs, journalists are also making an effort to help Filipinos understand the physical and social difference of “Pinas” versus the world.

Through the years I have gone through topics like a pinball trying to hit all the right spots: personalities, sports, motoring, tourism, environmental concern, education, as well as personal issues such as aging, personal finance and medical procedures, and lately religion.

The idea is to talk about what I have experienced personally, observed directly or been affected or infected by. I confess that I am an “experiential writer,” not an “intellectual or political writer.” I leave that to the “experts.”

So, through the years, I developed a pattern, if not a habit, where I pray anywhere from two days to two minutes to countdown when I am already seated in front of my laptop still praying, calling out to God to lead me or guide me on what to write. He never fails.

Most of the time, I start with the “headline” or “column title.” Whatever it is, it has to be eye catching, intriguing, shocking or blatantly obvious. I learned that from the journalism classes under my father Louie Beltran as well as the preaching style of Victory Christian Fellowship services.

It can be an appropriate movie title, a song title, a figure of speech, a parody or a question leading to something else. In terms of content, our dear readers know that I try to always share information, go beyond the local version or people’s limited knowledge on an issue like solar power.

I am sadly a late starter when it comes to writing about spiritual” teachings, practices and beliefs, as well as testimony. For many years, whenever I wrote about religion, God or the Bible, I tried to do so diplomatically, indirectly, almost camouflaged, so to speak.

Then one day I realized that if there is anything  of human interest and primary concern to all Filipinos, it would be, should be about God, and so I now do so unashamed and unapologetically. God bless each of you who read and pray for this column.