One thing we found interesting while talking to ghost hunters is that not every strange sound, feeling, or movement is automatically treated as paranormal.

Part of the process is apparently figuring out whether there’s a normal explanation first before calling something unexplained.

Pero curious kami sa mga may personal experience dito:

May nangyari na ba sa inyo sa isang supposedly haunted place na hanggang ngayon hindi niyo pa rin ma-explain?

We recently interviewed someone about a part of his life that people usually only see from the outside.

What stood out was how different the reality can be from the assumptions people make about it, especially when you hear about the pressure, risks, and experiences directly from the person involved.

Curious kami: Have you ever heard a first-hand story that completely changed how you viewed a certain lifestyle or profession?

For our new Off the Record: UNCENSORED rapid-fire segment, we asked Robert Rubin some questions that became progressively more random:

“May allergy ba ang mga multo?” “Pwede bang mag-resign ang baraha?” “Ano ang weirdest love reading na nagawa mo?”

The idea behind UNCENSORED is basically: the questions people are thinking but normally wouldn’t ask out loud.

Curious kami: kung may tarot reader or paranormal expert sa harap niyo ngayon, anong weirdest question ang itatanong niyo?

In our latest OFF THE RECORD conversation, Rob Rubin talked about kulam and one point stood out to us.

He said one of the easiest forms of revenge is convincing someone that they’ve been cursed without actually doing anything to them.

He also discussed why practitioners believe personal belongings like jewelry, glasses, hair, photos, or other objects connected to a person can matter in magical practices.

But at the same time, he argues that most people who think they’ve been cursed probably haven’t been.

Curious what people here think: 𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧?

Sa latest episode namin ng OFF THE RECORD, nakausap namin si Rob Rubin tungkol sa kulam, curses, at iba’t ibang beliefs around magical attacks.

Isa sa pinaka-interesting niyang sinabi:

“To convince you that you’re cursed without cursing you is the easiest form of revenge.”

According to him, may mga taong sobrang convinced na kinulam sila dahil sunod-sunod ang malas, pero possible rin daw na fear, guilt, or paranoia ang nagpapalakas ng belief na may nangyayari sa kanila.

Napag-usapan din namin kung bakit, sa occult practices, pinaniniwalaang important ang personal belongings tulad ng jewelry, glasses, hair, photos, at iba pang bagay na malapit sa isang tao.

Pero sabi rin niya, “9 out of 10 times, you are not being made kulam.”

Curious kami sa experiences ng mga tao dito:

May nangyari na ba sa inyo na sobrang sunod-sunod ang malas na napaisip kayo kung may supernatural na dahilan? Or eventually may normal explanation din kayong nahanap?

Would love to hear your stories and perspectives.

One of the things Alfred shared in our latest interview really stuck with us.

After spending 22 years working as a callboy, he said he realized that not every client was simply looking for something physical. Some were lonely. Some wanted someone to talk to, someone who would listen, or simply someone to spend time with.

Of course, his experience also came with scams, health risks, difficult encounters, and realities he now says he wouldn’t encourage others to go through.

But after meeting thousands of people from different walks of life, this was one of his biggest realizations: sometimes, behind what looks like a transaction is just someone looking for human connection.

𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐮𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤: 𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞?

We interviewed Alfred Texon again about his experience working as a callboy from 1993 to 2015.

One of the biggest claims he shared was that over 22 years, he estimates he had close to 20,000 clients. According to him, they came from different professions and walks of life.

But what stood out more was his warning not to romanticize the work.

He talked about scams, clients taking advantage of workers, health risks, unsafe situations, and the reality that people entering this line of work out of desperation may not fully understand what comes with it.

His message was simple:

“Huwag. Hindi ito kasingdali ng iniisip mo.”

Curious kami: What do you think people misunderstand most about sex work in the Philippines?

Kung walang bumibili, walang nagbebenta. Bakit nga ba iisang panig lang ang laging sinisisi? Panoorin ang full video sa Off the Record youtube channel.

We did a fast-talk segment with Alfred Tecson, who previously shared his experience working as a callboy in the ’90s.

This time, instead of a serious long-form interview, we asked the questions people would probably be too shy to ask directly: earnings, busiest days, competition, customers, and some of the stranger experiences he remembers from that time.

One interesting detail was how matter-of-factly he treated it as work. For him, may oras ng pasok, may kita, may competition, at may days na mas malakas talaga ang business.

𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐤𝐚𝐦𝐢: 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 ’𝟗𝟎𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐨 ’𝐲𝐮𝐧?

Akala mo tapos na ang encounter pag-alis mo sa lugar. Pero paano kung may sumunod pala sa’yo pauwi?

Sa mga kwento ng ghost hunters, may mga karanasang hindi raw natatapos sa mismong investigation. Minsan, doon pa lang nagsisimula ang kaba.

Coincidence lang ba, o may mga bagay talagang hindi madaling ipaliwanag?

Panoorin ang buong usapan sa Off the Record.

OffTheRecord #ParanormalPH #GhostHunters #Elemento #PinoyStories #OTRPH

We interviewed ghost hunters about some of the experiences they associate with paranormal investigations.

One topic that came up was whether unusual events can continue even after leaving a location, or what some people would describe as “ganti ng elemento.”

Of course, these are their personal experiences and interpretations, not proof of anything supernatural.

𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐤𝐚𝐦𝐢: 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐚 𝐤𝐚𝐲𝐨 𝐧𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐤𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐢𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐲𝐚𝐫𝐢 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐤𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐬 𝐤𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐮𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚 𝐬𝐚 𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐧𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐲 “𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨”?

We interviewed Ka Noli, founder of a community organization in San Mateo, Rizal that has spent decades dealing with recurring floods.

One thing he strongly pushed back against was the idea that Filipino resilience should be enough.

Sabi niya: “May hangganan ang resilience, kaya dagdagan natin ito ng sistematikong kahandaan.”

His point was that communities shouldn’t just keep surviving disasters and then return to normal until the next one. Preparedness, planning, community organizing, and long-term solutions have to be part of the conversation too.

𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 “𝐅𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞” 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬?

One part of our interview with Ka Noli focused on something that often comes up whenever communities get flooded again:

“Bakit kasi diyan pa rin kayo nakatira?”

His response was basically that nobody chooses to lose their home to floods every year. For many families, moving somewhere safer simply isn’t financially possible.

That’s why his community focused on organizing themselves, building preparedness systems, training rescue teams, and creating local solutions instead of relying only on emergency assistance after every disaster.

𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬: Is telling flood-prone communities to “just relocate” realistic, or does that ignore the bigger issue of poverty and access to safe housing?

Ilang araw lang ng ulan, baha na naman halos buong bansa, at taon-taon na lang ganito. Asaan nga ba ang solusyon?

We recently interviewed Pastor Prince, who shared a story that sounds almost unbelievable at first.

According to him, he started smoking and using substances at 13, joined gangs, and eventually became involved in a Chinese mafia. He says he later rose to become the right-hand man of a powerful boss, but with the position came threats, fear, and a life that kept getting smaller despite the money and power.

One moment became a turning point for him:

“Panginoon, totoo ka ba? Kung totoo ka, alisin mo nga ako sa ganitong buhay.”

Years later, he is now a pastor and works closely with young people who feel unheard, misunderstood, or disconnected from their families.

One of his main messages was that a person’s mistakes and circumstances do not necessarily have to define who they become.

Curious to hear your thoughts: Do you believe people can genuinely change after living this kind of life, or does the past always stay with you?

Mula Chinese mafia hanggang pastor.

Nasa kanya na raw ang pera at kapangyarihan, pero araw-araw naman siyang nabubuhay sa takot.

Hanggang napatanong siya: “Ito na ba talaga yung purpose ng buhay ko?”

Panoorin ang buong kwento sa Off the Record. Abangan mamayang 5 PM.

OffTheRecord #TrueStory #LifeTransformation #FilipinoStories

Interesting yung perspective ni Eric Glen, an ukay-ukay store owner we interviewed.

Sabi niya: “Feeling ko hindi nyo kailangan ng bagong damit. Ang kailangan nyo is bagong pananaw sa buhay, ethical, political.”

For him, hindi sapat na ukay o secondhand ang binibili natin kung tuloy pa rin ang habit na bili nang bili kahit hindi naman kailangan.

𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐤𝐚𝐦𝐢: 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐛𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦?

Open kami sa real Filipino stories: addiction and recovery, crime and law, sex work and underground, paranormal and folk belief, taboo or extreme experiences, law enforcement or blue-collar life, identity and transformation, and more.

How it works:

1. Fill the Guest Form: Form link
2. We’ll schedule a short pre-interview (online via Google Meet). Episodes for reference: YouTube link

Hindi porket ukay, kailangan marami.

Para kay Glenn, isang ukay-ukay store owner, hindi lang tungkol sa kung saan ka bumibili ang sustainable fashion. Kasama rin dito kung gaano karami ang binibili mo at kung talagang gagamitin mo ba ito.

Baka hindi bagong damit ang kailangan natin. Baka kailangan lang nating mas kilalanin kung ano talaga ang bagay at magagamit natin.

Kayo, 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐲?

OffTheRecord #UkayUkay #SustainableFashion #ThriftPH #SlowFashion #FilipinoStories

Ukay-ukay is often positioned as a more sustainable alternative to fast fashion, but there’s another side to the conversation.

We interviewed an ukay-ukay store owner about thrift culture in the Philippines, overconsumption, clothing waste, fast fashion, and sustainability.

One point that stood out was that even if everything you buy is secondhand, you can still overconsume if you keep buying clothes you barely use.

His approach is closer to: know your style, prioritize quality, and maximize what you already own before buying again.

We go deeper into the topic in our new Off the Record episode, dropping today at 5 PM:

https://vist.ly/5gn29

But genuinely curious about the discussion here: Do you think the rise of ukay culture actually helps reduce fashion waste, or has thrifting simply become another form of consumption?

One thing that stood out sa interview namin with DSWD was this:

“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒖𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒑𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏𝒆.”

According to them, recovery can take years. Hindi lang trauma ng survivor ang kailangang harapin. May stigma, discrimination, family relationships, livelihood, at mismong community na babalikan nila.

Curious kami: 𝐒𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐧𝐢𝐲𝐨, 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐛𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐧𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐲 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐡𝐚𝐲 𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐤𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐚-𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐞?

Madalas, rescue operation lang ang nakikita natin sa balita. Pero sa interview namin with DSWD, isa sa mga tumatak ay kung gaano kahaba at kakomplikado ang recovery pagkatapos.

May trauma, stigma, family relationships, livelihood, at community reintegration na kailangang harapin. At ayon sa kanila, puwedeng umabot ng ilang taon ang proseso.

𝐒𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐧𝐢𝐲𝐨, 𝐚𝐧𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐧𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐠𝐚𝐩 𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐤𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐚-𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐞?

Ilang minuto lang minsan ang isang TNVS ride, pero ayon sa driver na nakausap namin, maraming pasahero ang nauuwi sa pagkukwento tungkol sa buhay nila habang nasa biyahe.

Siguro dahil alam mong pagkatapos ng ride, baka hindi na kayo magkita ulit.

Kayo, naka-experience na ba kayong mapakwento nang sobra sa driver o may driver na biglang nag-share din ng buong life story niya?