Marcosian martial law made us Humpty Dumpty and we will never be put back together again. It broke us in ways so deep and permanent no amount of talk about reconciliation and unity will ever make us whole. But we can cope with it in a very Filipino way. We have always been described as...
For someone who has been battling obesity, type 2 diabetes, liver disease and depression for years, trying to stay fit is a constant challenge made more difficult as I grow older—and simply because I love to eat. Being overweight isn’t the same as being obese. The World Health Organization defines both overweight and obesity as...
Presumptive president Ferdinand Marcos Jr. flew on Monday to Melbourne in Australia where his youngest son Vincent, 25, is preparing to start studies for a Juris Doctor degree at the University of Melbourne, according to reports in The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. On Tuesday, protesters picketed outside the Victoria One apartment building where...
Our political party system is flabby, almost irrelevant. -Elections 2022 – Political parties are a mere supplement to the fluid alliances of dynastic families serving as the main political machine for churning out votes in national elections 2022. At the local level, the clan of the moment can secure for the family the posts of governor,...
There was no better day to open the first-ever Bikol Book Festival than last Easter Sunday, April 17. Like Mary Magdalene who came to visit the tomb of her teacher, the delegates visited the graves of two of our pioneering women writers in the region, Dr. Maria Lilia F. Realubit and Soccoro Federis Tate. Realubit...
My dearest Kim, I am deeply sorry that I failed you as a grandfather and guide.You were voting for the first time, and I could sense your exuberance in finally participating in a momentous event in our country’s history, in being able to help shore up a badly battered democracy, in restoring respect and decency...
Spurious last-ditch reports of candidates being disqualified and a buildup of fabricated vote tallies of presidential contenders took hold of social media as voters trooped to precincts on Monday. The misleading and deceptive narratives on election day largely targeted now presumptive president Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his rival, Vice President Leni Robredo; their running mates,...
Philippine rural development has basically been the handiwork of colonialism and world capitalism. But the dominant role of external forces in development is not simply a colonial extension. Internal structures having already been laid in place by colonialism, they were able to continuously reproduce themselves in harmony with the external demands of the global capitalist...
In a world where changes are increasingly disruptive, creative works matter more than ever, not just to better understand our complex reality through stories, but also because stories shape our imagination and inspire the future. “Harvest Moon is a book that heeds the call to reimagine how we are going to survive and thrive in...
The Philippines has missed a number of opportunities toward long-term economic development. While it was in pretty good shape in the 1960s through the late 1970s—and certainly highly competitive with other developing countries in Asia—it began to falter at the turn of the decade. By the early 1980s it started to miss the boat in...
