In the telephone surveys conducted by radio and TV programs on Quezon City Rep. Michael Defensor’s intervention in behalf of four young women arrested for vagrancy, majority of the callers sided with the police and labeled Defensor’s act improper. This is distressing. The arresting policemen had asked the girls to come out of the pubrestaurant … Read more
This coming Thursday, March 2, 2000, Dr. Francisco Nemenzo Jr. will be formally installed as the 18th president of the University of the Philippines. The investiture ceremony, by which heads of universities are given the traditional insignia of their office, is feudal and ecclesiastical in origin. Dodong Nemenzo, the Marxist scholar and activist, is right … Read more
Every new government is a reminder of old mistakes. We fail to retain even the plainest lessons. That a popular leader is not necessarily a good leader. That we cannot expect honest people who join government to ultimately prevail over a corrupt system. That there are no shortcuts to good governance; that we must work … Read more
One of the warnings that my parents drummed into my ears when I entered the University of the Philippines in the early ‘60s was to resolutely avoid the fraternities. I took this to mean staying out of their path as a neophyte or as an unwitting target of their notoriously violent wars. That early, UP … Read more
Everyone who is concerned about the future of the besieged Estrada presidency eagerly awaits the results of the next surveys. Many think that if the President’s net ratings fall below zero, he may have a hard time fending off moves to remove him from office or to make him resign. If we want to know … Read more
For the kind of talent he has, Mike de Leon should be making more films. But he is not. Every film he makes is followed by a long continual absence. It is as if every film he does consumes every drop of his overflowing genius. His film on Rizal never made it to the Centennial. … Read more
The image of newly-appointed DILG Secretary Alfredo Lim and of PNP Chief Panfilo Lacson is that of results-oriented practical men who will not be deterred by legalities in the pursuit of what they think is good for the country. They are the icons of an exhausted nation. The wide public approval of the “Dirty Harry” … Read more
Or, is Metro Manila in a state of war? The Constitution gives the President as Commander-in-Chief the power to call out the armed forces in cases of invasion, rebellion, or lawless violence. By no stretch of the imagination can the situation in the shopping malls today be classified under any of these conditions. If we … Read more
When do you say, “Enough is enough?” It is a question that pops in the mind of decent people who accepted appointments to public office on a firm belief that government service is the highest vocation of a citizen. And now, face to face with the brutal realities of power, they must decide whether to … Read more
If the ratings are bad and they cannot be refuted, tthen the next best thing is to find worthy reasons to account for them. This seems to be how the spin doctors at Malacanang are dealing with President Estrada’s tragic descent to unpopularity. Instead of humbly acknowledging the mistakes that have led to a growing … Read more