Not a few people from both the opposition and the administration were surprised by the launching of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s Chacha Express. The resort to “people’s initiative” as the vehicle for Charter change effectively demobilizes Congress. It transfers political debate from the halls of Congress to the uncharted terrain of public forums and mass actions. This … Read more
Not too long ago, it was typical for Filipinos to work, start a family, and die in the same town where they were born. Today our people live and work in 192 countries in the world. They are exposed to a diversity of social systems and cultures. They are sources of new expectations. This global … Read more
For two hours last Sunday, I watched with great interest the National Geographic documentary on the lost Gospel of Judas. I have since read the English translation of this Coptic text. Unlike my brother, Fr. Ambo David, I am not a biblical scholar, and so I will turn to him for historical context when we … Read more
On Feb. 24, the day Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared a state of national emergency, I experienced something that completely illumined my outlook of our country’s political crisis. I refer not to my arrest under Proclamation 1017, but to what I saw at Camp Karingal, where I was briefly detained. There I witnessed first-hand the hidden … Read more
One can be certain that almost every Filipino today desires change in the way the nation is run. What form that change should take is, however, the subject of much debate. Some believe that if only we can have better leaders, there may be no need to change the system. Others think the quality of … Read more