Societies re-affirm their values in two ways: first, by punishing crime, and second, by recognizing good deed. The moral crisis of today’s societies arises from the fact that they now tend to do less of the latter. Not so much for a lack of willingness to reward the good, but from a growing inability to … Read more
On August 22, 1979, exactly 25 years ago today, the government of revolutionary Nicaragua was formally established in the wake of the collapse of the regime of Anastacio Somoza Jr. Under a revolutionary charter known as the Fundamental Statute of the Republic of Nicaragua, the new Sandinista government abolished the old constitution, dismissed the existing … Read more
On the occasion of Language Month, I received three invitations to speak on the politics of language. Because of other commitments I was unable to accept any of them. What I would have said at these symposia I have however tried to synthesize in today’s column written in Filipino . My thesis is that a … Read more
On April 30 this year, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed Executive Order 314 creating a Presidential Commission on Values Formation (PCVF), which, we are told, she herself will head. To this new commission have been invited, as members, the leaders of the country’s various religious communities. EO 314 is being billed as a component of Ms … Read more
Of the many problems the President ignored in her last State of the Nation Address, the most glaring perhaps is the population growth. Ms Arroyo’s silence on this issue is not unexpected. From the moment she assumed the presidency in 2001, population growth became a non-issue. So when Malacanang says it welcomes a debate on … Read more