Randy David | PUBLIC LIVES More than at any other time perhaps, ours is a society that is desperately seeking to recover its faith in the legal system as a source of impartial judgments and stable notions of what is right and what is wrong. Politics has greatly tarnished the credibility of our courts. Our people have become cynical, seeing … Read more
If asking the Pope about condoms was nothing more than an author’s way of drumming up interest in a new book on Pope Benedict XVI, one would have to say: how very clever. Featuring the sacred and the profane on the same page is a compelling casting coup. But, having just read “Light of the … Read more
By a vote of 10-5, the Supreme Court struck down President Benigno S. Aquino III’s Executive Order No. 1 creating the Truth Commission as violative of the constitutional right to equal protection. The high court bars the commission from investigating unresolved high-profile cases of wrongdoing committed under the previous administration. To do so, says the … Read more
For some people, ethical diplomacy is an oxymoron, a self-contradicting idea. Foreign policy, of which diplomacy is but an instrument, is supposed to be driven by the self-interest of nations, not by any notion of what is good for the world or for humanity. Accordingly, no one should be surprised or find offense in the … Read more
WikiLeaks is digital guerilla struggle in its most lethal form. It aims to fight those who dominate and oppress the world by showing exactly how they operate. Its one and only weapon is information. Its sole technique is disclosure. The only ideology it professes is truth and its associated virtues: transparency, democracy, freedom of speech, … Read more
Ang Nobyembre 30, kapistahan ni San Andres, ay ipinagdiriwang tauntaon bilang Araw ng mga Bayani o “National Heroes Day.” “It is not,” sabi ni Carmen Guerrero Nakpil. “It is the day sacred only to one hero, the one called Andres who had guts and gumption like no other.” Kinilala siyang “Ama ng Himagsikan” sapagkat sa … Read more
The arguments against allowing the mass media, particularly television, to do live reports of courtroom proceedings are well understood. Live reports of testimonies and material evidence, unfiltered by legal norms of admissibility, may lead the public to prejudge a case. The sheer presence of television cameras inside the courtroom can affect the flow of the … Read more
Responding to a petition filed by affected residents, Chief Justice Renato Corona the other day issued a “Writ of Kalikasan” requiring the owners of a leaking petroleum pipeline to respond to concerns about the effects of the leak on the public’s health and the environment. It is the first time such a writ has been … Read more
There’s a theory in the study of social relationships that became quite popular in the 1960s. It was called “dramaturgical sociology.” Its author, Erving Goffman, adopted the Shakespearean insight that “all the world’s a stage,” and worked out a cool set of concepts that view human actions as sequences in the elaborate art of impression … Read more
Choosing a president for the University of thePhilippines, the country’s national university, is a complex process. The UP Charter provides that the president of UP is to be chosen by its Board of Regents. But, many assume that the regents’ vote merely formalizes a choice made by the president in Malacanang. The general public regards … Read more