On Feb. 17 this year, I taped an hour-long interview with Dr. Edsel Salvaña, director of the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology of the UP National Institutes of Health in Manila. Dr. Salvaña was among the first Filipino infectious disease experts to closely follow developments surrounding the novel coronavirus outbreak first detected in Wuhan, … Read more
President Duterte said so himself: In the absence of a vaccine, it is futile to offer a roadmap to recovery from the massive damage wrought by COVID-19. In his State of the Nation Address last Monday, he went off-script to announce that he had made a plea to China’s leader Xi Jinping “that if they … Read more
When President Duterte delivers this Monday what may well be the most awaited State of the Nation Address of his presidency, he may be disposed to go straight to what needs to be done to revive the economy from its induced coma and to meet the urgent needs of the poorest of our people. I … Read more
Last July 13, two weeks after the fatal shooting of four intelligence officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines by members of the Philippine National Police in Jolo, President Duterte flew to the Sulu capital to address the aggrieved soldiers. He said he had three things to say. But the text of the prepared … Read more
If there is anything that the 12 hearings conducted by two powerful congressional committees on the ABS-CBN franchise clearly showed, it is the gross misunderstanding and simplification by our lawmakers of how the mass media system operates in a modern society. They accused ABS-CBN of being so powerful as to be able to make and … Read more
If we grew up around monuments, chances are we no longer remember what they commemorate or signify. But, since they occupy space as physical objects, they may serve as convenient meeting points, or as perches for birds. This seems to affirm the author Lewis Hyde’s point: “Successful monuments become invisible.” But, for those who are … Read more
Even if a vaccine becomes available by early next year, the pace at which people could be immunized would not be fast enough to permit a return to some semblance of pre-COVID-19 times. And even assuming the discovery of a cheap and effective vaccine, experts doubt that this will spell a quick and total end … Read more
The phrase “open season” aptly describes the situation we are in today. Merriam-Webster defines it thus: “1. A period when it is legal to kill or catch game or fish protected at other times by law. 2. A time during which someone or something is the object of sustained attack or criticism.” The period typically … Read more
Using an Emilio Aguinaldo photo to represent Andres Bonifacio, or—which amounts to the same thing—mistaking Bonifacio for Aguinaldo, seemed like a sick joke, a flagrant example of historical ignorance. But, I wouldn’t be so harsh. Perhaps it was just the unfortunate result of a harassed researcher’s futile effort to fight drowsiness in the rush to … Read more
One of the unforeseen consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic is the way it has conditioned the public to obey police orders without question. Law enforcement, not public service, has become the dominant motif of governance. The original rationale of emergency quarantine measures—the protection of public health—has been reconfigured as the protection of public safety against … Read more