“What will happen when we’re too old [to take care of them] or when these children age out of the school system? They need places to go, employment, housing, and friends.” “They need a structure that helps them navigate life.” These are the sentiments and concerns commonly expressed by parents and family members of children...
Author: Mari-An C. Santos (Mari-An Santos)
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2024 RM Awardees take firm stand for peace, against war
With Tibetan prayer flags inscribed with the word “peace” in different languages hanging above them and fluttering in the breeze, the recipients of the 2024 Ramon Magsaysay Award made definitive statements against all conflicts and pleaded for peace worldwide. Each of them cited the immense value of collaboration in effecting positive change in their corners...
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Tackling mental health at the community level
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article includes mention of suicide and self-harm. September is Suicide Prevention Month. BAGUIO CITY—Last year, my friend died by suicide. It took us all by surprise and the grief that those of us who were left behind felt was unfathomable. According to the University of the Philippines Population Institute’s Young Adult Fertility...
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66th year: Ramon Magsaysay Awards honor visionary leaders in Asia
For the 66th year, the Ramon Magsaysay Awards are being given to individuals and organizations in Asia that embody transformative leadership and greatness of spirit. This year, the Magsaysay Awards laud the efforts of those “whose work challenges boundaries and redefines leadership and community impact,” said Susanna Afan, president of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation...
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The personal is political in ‘And So It Begins’
Let’s get one thing out of the way: “And So It Begins” is not a film about the 2022 Robredo-Pangilinan campaign. The lawyer Leni Robredo herself made this clear as an introduction to the crowd gathered for the Philippine premiere of the latest documentary by Ramona S. Diaz. The plan had been to film a...
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We need mental health care in times of calamity
During extreme events that upend our collective life, we should also be concerned about each other’s mental, spiritual and psychological health aside from the urgent need for food, clothing and shelter. After all, emergencies require attention to both the corporeal and the psychological. The intensity of the southwest monsoon rains exacerbated by Supertyphoon “Carina” (Gaemi)...
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Over a hot stove: ‘Ube halaya’ and love’s labors
I was born into a transnational extended family. My father, the eldest among his siblings, married before his brother (younger by only a year), was drafted into the US Navy. As a consequence, slowly, the brother and his parents and seven other siblings eventually came to live in the United States. We, the family of...
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10 years after ‘Yolanda’: When need met generosity through the Star of Samar
“There was no electricity, no fuel, no internet, or any other way to communicate. There was a severe shortage of all kinds of commodities.” This was how the lawyer Byron Bocar, who was in Eastern Samar when Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) made first landfall in Guiuan in the early hours of Nov. 8, 2013,...