One day in early December 2013, a two-year-old child from Guéckédou town in Guinea, West Africa, developed high fever, black stools, and vomiting. No one knew what the boy had or how he got it. He could have picked it up from a half-eaten fruit laced with the saliva of an Ebola-infected fruit bat. When … Read more
Now on its second reading in the House of Representatives is a bill that seeks to prohibit “the establishment of political dynasties.” The bill aims to create an enabling law for a state policy that has been in the Philippine Constitution since 1987. Section 26 of the Charter says: “The State shall guarantee equal access … Read more
Taking advantage of the 3-day weekend last week, I and my group of middle-aged motorcyclists headed for Baler in Aurora province. It was my second ride to this historic town on Central Luzon’s Pacific Coast. This stretch of highway used to be all dirt; now it’s all paved, except for a few remaining patches. Most … Read more
From whatever angle one views it, Makati City is a bundle of contradictions. It is home to the ultrarich as well as to the extremely poor. Gleaming skyscrapers tower above the dilapidated hovels of slum dwellers. Modern firms operate within a territory controlled by a political family that has wielded power continuously for 28 years. … Read more
Starting today, Oct. 5, Catholic bishops from all over the world are congregating in Rome to discuss for the next two weeks the situation of the family in the contemporary world and the pastoral challenges this poses for the Church “in the context of evangelization.” This extraordinary synod reflects the substance and style of Pope … Read more
When the British government returned Hong Kong to China in July 1997—the “handover,” as it was then called—what was transferred was not just a piece of land, but the political administration of the people living there. Land is inert, but people are not. They have memory, identity, aspirations—and, hopefully, the will to act on the … Read more
As graduate students in England in the late 1960s, my wife and I struck a close friendship with a classmate from Iraq and his Lebanese girlfriend. He was a Muslim Kurd, and she was a Maronite Catholic. Although he carried an Iraqi passport and was sent to England on a scholarship by the Iraqi government, … Read more
Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad’s acceptance of an invitation to lecture on the budget at the University of the Philippines School of Economics the other week would have been the perfect occasion to grill him about his brainchild, the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program. Academic culture encourages people to discuss and debate issues in a manner … Read more
As we look back to that fateful day in September 1972 42 years ago, when Ferdinand Marcos proclaimed martial law, we need to understand how and why many Filipinos accepted one-man rule in the first instance. The threat of authoritarian rule will remain so long as we do not recognize that our inherited institutions of … Read more
It must feel terrible for US President Barack Obama to enter the final years of his presidency ordering air attacks against Islamist rebel forces in Iraq and Syria. One can hardly recognize today the idealistic young president who won the Nobel Peace Prize after pledging that he would bring home the last American soldier from … Read more