I don’t believe in charity. I suspect we often do it more for ourselves than for those we help. I also think it takes away the urgency from the need to reform society itself. But, in practice, I have trouble ignoring those who come to my door or knock on my car window for help. … Read more
It is a question that was asked soon after Congress hastily proclaimed Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo winner of the controversial 2004 presidential election. But the swift withdrawal from the streets of the protesting voters who felt cheated in the canvassing and the filing of a formal election protest by the opposition gave the proclamation an aura … Read more
If Filipinos in the Philippines were voting in the American presidential election, they would give George W. Bush a landslide win over his rival, John Kerry. Bush is our kind of leader. Like him, we see the world as either black or white. The moral lenses we use divide nations into good or evil, friends … Read more
One interesting observation that Rep. Joey Salceda makes in his recent dissection of the country’s fiscal crisis takes the form of a question: “But, why is it that the power sector invites much of our major fiscal follies, from Marcos’ nuke plant (one for the price of two) pushing Aquino to mothball it which then … Read more
It took a fiscal crisis to force the government to take a hard look at the outrageous salaries that a few public officials are getting for the privilege of serving the nation. If the crisis had not been recognized, if the habit of taking out loans to cover recurrent deficits had not been criticized, the … Read more
Ms Arroyo’s dilemma was whether to acknowledge the full magnitude of the country’s fiscal and debt crisis, or to continue her pre-election policy of finessing it by reducing the problem to a simple budget deficit. Confronted by a paper from University of the Philippines economists, which showed that the country faced a serious fiscal and … Read more
Next to banks, telecommunication companies, and shopping malls, the most profitable business in the country today is the private security agency. No other country in the world, except maybe unstable Iraq, hires so many private security personnel. “Blue guards,” as we call them, are everywhere, providing countless homes and neighborhoods, firms and offices that singular … Read more
Societies re-affirm their values in two ways: first, by punishing crime, and second, by recognizing good deed. The moral crisis of today’s societies arises from the fact that they now tend to do less of the latter. Not so much for a lack of willingness to reward the good, but from a growing inability to … Read more
On August 22, 1979, exactly 25 years ago today, the government of revolutionary Nicaragua was formally established in the wake of the collapse of the regime of Anastacio Somoza Jr. Under a revolutionary charter known as the Fundamental Statute of the Republic of Nicaragua, the new Sandinista government abolished the old constitution, dismissed the existing … Read more
On the occasion of Language Month, I received three invitations to speak on the politics of language. Because of other commitments I was unable to accept any of them. What I would have said at these symposia I have however tried to synthesize in today’s column written in Filipino . My thesis is that a … Read more