It’s less than two days before the midterm polls, and one’s sense of foreboding takes on deeper proportions with the Social Weather Stations’ final pre-election survey suggesting the composition of the next Senate. Earlier surveys have already suggested the future makeup of the chamber, with observable differences only in the placements of those in the...
Category: Opinion
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The big question at the conclave: the pope and the Church we should have
As the Vatican’s College of Cardinals gears for the conclave to choose the next pope, the Christian world is rife with speculation as to who will be chosen. The names of “frontrunners” are bandied about, often briefly described as either “conservative” or “progressive” (like the late Pope Francis). Observers also remind us that the next...
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How the Comelec means to fight sex and hate in the election campaign
Incredibly, the disgraced congressional candidate in Pasig City doesn’t get it. In another campaign event he trotted out a member of his team and commented on her looks, prompting the Commission on Elections to again order him to explain why he should not be charged with a poll offense. It’s the second show-cause order issued...
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‘Nanlaban. Tepok.’
At the height of Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs,” there was a huge billboard along C5 in Pasig City that advertised a pesticide called Tepox. It had an image of a dead cockroach, flat on its back and its feet up in the air, with this message: “Ipis. Nanlaban. Tepox.” The tongue-in-cheek ad played on the...
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Duterte’s arrest is about crimes against humanity, not ‘pamumulitika’
Too bad that after the daylong wait on Tuesday for President Marcos Jr. to enlighten the nation on the arrest of Rodrigo Duterte, no one thought to ask, when he agreed to take questions, what he thought of his sister’s statement lamenting the supposed failure of Filipinos to learn from the past. Minutes after the...
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Where love continues to live
EDITOR’S NOTE: With this new section called Young Voices, CoverStory opens space for young people feeling their way into the world and trying to formulate the rhyme and reason behind the paths they choose to take. I came across a post that presented a question: “How do you deal with grief?” Many had answers: Sit...
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Interregnum
Three impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte are pending in the House of Representatives, filed respectively by members of civic organizations, activist groups, and a coalition of priests and lawyers. A fourth complaint is reported to be in the works. The first two complaints were filed with the expectation that action would be taken...
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Tying up loose ends, or more unraveling in 2025?
We can see more clearly the cycle of renewal and rebirth whenever the holiday season comes and the new year approaches. We want to leave our old selves behind and become better in our collective and individual lives in the new year. As an economy, we want greater wealth and productivity. As a government, we...
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Mary Jane Veloso’s Christmas miracle
Mary Jane Veloso’s return to her motherland under a prisoner transfer agreement between Indonesia and the Philippines is the ultimate Christmas gift to those who love her. After close to 15 years of imprisonment, she is now 39. Her parents have aged; her two sons approached adulthood beyond her motherly embrace. But the death row...
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Who will save us from the bicam?
The bicameral conference committee (bicam) is the most powerful and the weakest phase in our budgeting process. It is in the bicam where vested interests not only lurk but also come to fruition. Without benefit of deliberations, its members reduce the funding of agencies, transfer funds from one program to another, defund programs, and increase...