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Never forget

Editor’s Note: To mark the 38th anniversary of the Edsa People Power Revolt that toppled the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and brought the Philippines back to the league of democratic nations, human rights activist Ed Garcia remembers three friends whose lives were snuffed out in their youth and who continue to serve as inspiration.   ...

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Heed lessons of history, Comelec told on 38th anniversary of historic walkout

Thirty-eight years ago today, Feb. 9, a group of computer technicians of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) walked out of the tabulation center of the presidential “snap election” called by the dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. They were protesting irregularities in the election results being reported to the public, which they observed as efforts to subvert...

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What it’s like in the WOMB

“It’s a struggle!” When one said that in the ‘70s and ‘80s, they would most certainly have been referring to any of the multifront resistance groups against Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s dictatorship, martial law, and the assassination of the opposition leader and former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. Today, when spoken by some members of the...

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When food tourism in US colonial period spurred fight for Filipino cuisine

The adventurous palate of foodies and their #willtravelforfood motto are interesting phenomena. The trend mentioned in a recent lecture intrigued me and moved a university student in the audience to ask Dr. Kristine Michelle L. Santos if Filipinos of yesteryear inherited their fondness for food from the Americans during the colonial era. Santos, an assistant...

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Norma Rae, Sister Stella L, and newspaper union organizing under martial law

They said it couldn’t be done. It was martial law, after all, and among many freedoms suppressed by Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s repressive regime (1965-1986) was the right to organize a legitimate union. Strikes were banned, and only government-friendly unions were recognized. But a hardy group of journalists at the Journal group of publications (Times Journal,...

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Barbie’s story in the Philippines is not all glamour and glitter

The pink, sparkly dress of the Barbie doll has been veiling something much less glamorous—the loss of thousands of jobs when the company that manufactured the toy in the Philippines closed shop. It is now a blurry episode for most Filipinos, but it may still be fresh in the memory of the workers, mostly women,...

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Film continues to help Filipinos remember the sins of martial law

Shortly after World War II, many survivors of the attempted annihilation of Jews by Nazi Germany and its allies recalled the final plea of their fellow prisoners while being herded to impending death: “Remember! Do not let the world forget!” It was in honoring that anguished plea that Holocaust survivors set up exhibits and scholarly...

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Doing justice to Ninoy Aquino’s memory

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following message was delivered on Sunday, Nov. 27, 2022, by Kiko Aquino Dee, son of Viel and Dodo Dee and one of the eight grandchildren of the late opposition leader Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., to mark his 90th birth anniversary.  Ninoy Aquino, then a senator, was one of the first to be...