They who tend our loved ones’ graves

In a few days, it will be All Souls’ Day, and my thoughts turn to those who rarely figure in the ethnography of Undas. They are the freelance gardeners at memorial parks whose livelihood depends solely on the patronage of owners of burial plots. They form an essential part of the infrastructure of our unceasing … Read more

Xi Jinping’s China

Yesterday marked the closing day of the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which opened on Oct. 16. Today, the CCP’s Central Committee will meet in plenary session to approve the membership of the party’s Politburo and Standing Committee. Xi Jinping is expected to be reelected to a third five-year term as … Read more

Testing the strength of our institutions

A country’s institutions are strong when they are able to maintain their autonomy against pressures that seek to alter their standard operating procedures in order to accommodate the interests of powerful actors. The key word here is autonomy or independence. The recent arrest of the 38-year-old son of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla on … Read more

Technocrats in government

Unable to hear anything substantial from him about his plans and priorities during the campaign, the nation couldn’t quite tell what kind of leader Ferdinand Marcos Jr. intended to be if he became president. One hundred days after he assumed the presidency, the public now knows a little, still not enough, about the man 31 … Read more

Our dependence on Pogos must end

The term “Pogos,” as we know, refers to Philippine offshore gaming operators. These are foreign-owned and capitalized enterprises that run online gaming operations beamed to the global market using Philippine-based service providers. Because their transactions are almost entirely conducted in Mandarin, it is generally assumed that their target clientele is gamblers from the Chinese mainland … Read more