1995.12.31 Rules of engagement
To most of us, nothing can possibly be more exhausting than to defend ourselves day after day against those who have chosen us to be their enemies.
1995.12.24 Aetas
If angels are real, then this year they came to us in the form of the Aetas. “Angelos” is the Greek term for messenger. And the Aetas have come with a simple message: think beyond yourselves.
1995.12.17 The art of sleep
In the last few years, a hormone which carries the name melatonin has become very popular among people who have trouble summoning sleep.
1995.12.10 Chito Roque: the alien next door
Why would anyone believe Chito Roque, the man who has come out to name the key players in the underworld of jueteng?
1995.12.03 The ethics of a face
There is a 2-year-old baby in our house. No, she is not the child of any of our children. She is the daughter of one of the maids. She got pregnant and her boyfriend would not marry her.
1995.11.26 Going after Jueteng
Watching the ongoing jueteng investigation in Congress, a friend asked: what do you think is the game plan?
1995.11.19 Admitting guilt: a Korean lesson, part 2
(read at the November 10 Kilosbayan Forum)
An examination of the route that led to former Korean President Roh Tae-woo’s public disgrace suggests that the initial investigations did not immediately target him.
1995.11.12 Admitting guilt: a Korean lesson, part 1
(read at the November 10 Kilosbayan Forum)
“I feel ashamed and full of remorse for betraying the expectations of the people,: said Roh Tae-woo. As president of South Korea between 1998 and 1993, Roh admitted taking illegal contributions from businessmen amounting to $654 million.
1995.11.05 In defense of nature
At the height of typhoon rosing’s fury, someone in my family expressed a thought that must have lurked at the back of every Filipino mind last Friday: “Is this a curse? Is our country being singled out for punishment by Nature?”
1995.10.29 The right to die
A former student of mine, Thetis Abrera-Mangahas, who was in the very first sociology class I taught in the 1960s read my column about life and illness last week and suddenly remembered our discussion about life and death in Sociology 101.
1995.10.22 This too is life
The title belongs to a short essay by the great modern Chinese writer Lu Hsun.
1995.10.15 Memories on lahar land
Apart from the deaths and the huge losses in property, the Pinatubo lahar’s greatest impact on the people of Pampanga has been the defamiliarization of the landscape.
1995.10.08 Dignity in suffering
There is something humiliating in suffering and something elevating and superior in sympathy.
1995.10.01 A lesson from Oseola
For 87 years, Oseola McCarty of Hattiesburg, Mississippi lived her life in total simplicity and anonymity. Today, she is America’s new found hero.
1995.09.24 A child named Sarah
Sarah Balabagan is only 16 years old. By the standards of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, she is just a child.
1995.09.17 Agoo: who needs miracles?
What is interesting about the Catholic Church’s position on the reported Marian apparitions in Agoo is that while it claims there was nothing supernatural in the occurrences, it did not say that miracles could not happen.
1995.09.10 Through Women’s Eyes
“Look at the world through women’s eyes” admonished the souvenir T-shirts, bags, umbrellas, banners and posters from the NGO Forum on Women.
1995.09.03 Angara en garde
Senator Edgardo J. Angara’s rise to political power has largely passed unnoticed. This may partly be ascribed to his non-confrontational and non-controversial persona.
1995.08.27 The Public Career of Mang Pandoy
I first met Mang Pandoy in 1989. He grew all kinds of vegetables then on a strip of cogon land inside the UP campus, and I was one of his regular customers.
1995.08.20 The Powerless Public
Civility is the art of living with others. It is also what we so terribly lack in this country.
1995.08.13 Lola Juanita’s Catharsis
It was if a memory nerve had been activated, and it could not be switched off after the lights had gone out in the studio.
1995.08.06 Tributes to the Living
I am certain that the late Gerry Gil of the “Standard” would have postponed his death by at least a week if only so he could read what his friends and admirers have written about him after his untimely passing.
1995.07.30 3 Daughters & Larry Henares
Like most kids their age, my children love to watch TV. But they’ve always dreaded the thought of ever appearing on it.
1995.07.23 Airport Thieves
It could have been just another typical traveling day for him, my younger brother Isaac.
1995.07.16 A Family on Trial
Soon after Hubert Webb was tagged a suspect in the Vizconde killings, the media became interested in his performance at school.
1995.07.09 In Search of Anonymity
What was popular British actor Hugh Grant (Four Weddings and a Funeral) trying to prove in picking up a prostitute in Los Angeles recently? Was he trying to re-enact a scene from “Pretty Woman”?