Mention the word “bureaucracy,” and people are likely to take it as a detested term for long delays, inefficiency, clerical ineptness, petty arrogance, and lack of empathy. This is all so ironic. For bureaucracy, in its original sense, referred to the most rational form of organization ever invented—a “regime of experts,” wrote Max Weber, its … Read more
A good friend of mine, Manoling de Leon, who reads my columns with the analytical mind of a well-read autodidact, sent me a question the other day for which I thought I had an adequate answer. “If the prime motive is to attract foreign investment, why not simply ask the Supreme Court how to legally … Read more
Lured by the steep drop in the prices of motorbikes, people who ride bicycles seldom hesitate to trade their bikes for motorcycles as soon as they have saved enough for a small down payment. It doesn’t take long before they realize what they have given up, and how much financial burden they have unwisely assumed … Read more
If Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. had not been murdered, he would have become, sooner or later, the president of the Philippines. He was only 50 on the day he was killed, Aug. 21, 1983, just minutes after the plane bringing him home from exile landed at the then Manila International Airport. He would have easily … Read more
We may never know what impelled P-Noy to say in a television interview that he is open to amending the Constitution to check judicial overreach and restore the equilibrium among the three branches of government. Add to this the admission made in the same TV appearance that he is no longer closing his mind to … Read more
In a previous column, “The Supreme Court as political reformer” (7/3/14), I noted that the recent rulings of the high court striking down the Priority Development Assistance Fund and the Disbursement Acceleration Program may give the impression that the judicial branch has taken on the role of political reformer. The PDAF and the DAP, as … Read more
Trust the Filipino to give a foreign word a culturally-specific meaning. The word “apostolate,” an Old English term taken from Latin, refers to a messenger’s mission in the Christian tradition. But, in the playful jargon of the Pinoy senior citizen, the root word “apostle” is replaced by “apo” (grandchild), even as all the rich references … Read more
When the world was simpler, a man and a woman got together to start a family. From their union, another human being was conceived and nurtured in its own mother’s womb until it was born. Today, through the wonders of in-vitro fertilization (IVF), a zygote may be created from the pairing of a human sperm … Read more
Almost three years have quickly passed since Moammar Gadhafi, the Libyan dictator who ruled his country for 42 years, was toppled from power by a revolution. That revolution drew its stimulus from the youth-powered “Arab Spring” and was celebrated throughout the democratic world as the triumph of the people. In reality, the fractious and poorly … Read more