Randy David | PUBLIC LIVES

Like the many who have so little of it, I’ve often wondered what rich people do with the material wealth they accumulate.  Bill Gates, for example,  or the Sultan of Brunei, or our very own Tan Yu, Henry Sy, and George Ty – all recently listed as among the world’s billionaires. What do they do … Read more

Highly unusual, and most certainly illegal – this is how human rights lawyers have described Mayor Alfredo Lim’s order to spray-paint the homes of arrested drug pushers with anti-drug graffiti.  A petition for injunction they will file seeking to stop the mayor from pursuing this unorthodox campaign will likely be resolved in favor of the … Read more

I’ve often wondered why some people joke about suicide as being Sweden’s national pastime.  It is hard to believe that a society so prosperous,  so seemingly intimate and relaxed, and so communal in the way it attends to basic needs, could produce one of the highest suicide rates in the world.  But then maybe, we … Read more

I wasn’t sure the organization was real, but on my way home from a conference in Stockholm a few weeks ago, I found myself stopping over in London to accept an invitation to speak before the NPA – the National Pampangueno Association. The NPA, one of 2 ethnic associations from my home province operating in … Read more

Rizal refined his concept of nationalism while living in Europe.  It was the age of colonialism, when the right or duty of a “higher”  power to occupy a “lower” people in the name of civilization was taken for granted as natural. In the hands of the colonized, nationalism became a progressive weapon because it provided … Read more

“Dial this number, and just listen to the voice message; don’t ask what it’s about,” my daughter admonished me the other night.  A classmate of hers had earlier beeped her to do the same.  My son got a similar tip from a friend.  Our youngest daughter got phone calls from at least two other friends, … Read more

You could see the little miracles wrought by their handlers’ wise counsel by the way they conduct themselves in front of the media these days.  Erap Estrada has been telling less and less jokes.  We now hear him on radio on Saturday mornings seriously addressing questions of governance and problems of policy, the stuff we … Read more

The present problems of Monte de Piedad began with the idea of extending small loans to tricycle drivers.  The project bore all the credentials of piety, Christian love and charity, which alone could justify Church involvement in commerce.   When it was shown that the project would not only help the poor become productive, but that … Read more

The famine that is today rapidly descending upon North Korea reminds me of a rare visit I made to that country in 1986.  The North Koreans were then just beginning to expand their interaction with the non-socialist world.  They had invited some scholars from the United Nations University (UNU), including myself, to come and meet … Read more

Misconduct involving sex and money is always hot material for media everywhere; more so when it involves persons of power and moral influence.  That is why politicians and priests are particularly favored subjects of reportage on sleaze.  It is not right to assume that the media attention is necessarily “politically-motivated” or “wellorchestrated”.   Nor should it … Read more