I encountered Francisco Nemenzo—Ka Dodong to his colleagues and comrades—well before I met him in person. That is, I read one of his papers—isn’t that how we get to know great scholars and thinkers, through the works they have penned? They may be halfway around the world, or they might have passed away long ago,...
Tag: activist
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The uncommon life and struggles of Francisco ‘Dodong’ Nemenzo
Once in an era an uncommon person comes along whose life bears the stamp of profound influence on the actions of others and on society. Such was the life of Francisco “Dodong” Alfafara Nemenzo who passed away at the age of 89 last Dec. 19. An unorthodox Marxist scholar of politics, an inspiring socialist leader-activist of...
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In search of beloved ‘desaparecidos’
How does a family mark the birthday of a loved one missing for 16 years, abducted by unidentified men believed to be military or police agents? By strengthening solidarity with other families in the same sorrowful straits. On April 2, some of these families gathered at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani grounds in Quezon City...
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Justin Jones: Black, Filipino, civil rights activist
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Republican-dominated House of Representatives in Tennessee in the United States has expelled two of three Democrat lawmakers who took part in a protest action calling for more gun-control measures a week after a school shooting in Nashville in which six persons, including three children, were killed. One of the two expelled is...
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Nelia Sancho: the last conversations
Early in August, after watching “Katips: The Movie,” I was reminded of a friend from my days at the University of the Philippines. Nelia Sancho: Yes, the beauty queen and activist. I wondered what her reaction would be to the movie making waves among a woke youth. As August was also her birth month, I thought...