Randy David | PUBLIC LIVES Last Thursday, Oct. 5, a short video clip posted on X, formerly Twitter, went viral. The video shows a police officer stopping traffic along busy Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City, purportedly to let a VIP convoy freely cross the wide avenue. Within a short span of time, the video had been reposted and uploaded on … Read more
CIFs or “confidential and intelligence funds” are all over the news, and we are becoming aware of the creative ways by which public officials spend taxpayers’ money. Less known is a 2012 Commission on Audit (COA) circular that was expressly crafted to define, disallow, and prevent what it calls “irregular, unnecessary, excessive, extravagant, and unconscionable” … Read more
When young activists Jonila Castro, 21, and Jhed Tamano, 22, who were reportedly abducted on the night of Sept. 2, were presented at a press conference by the military and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Conflict (NTF-Elcac), I felt great relief at merely knowing that the girls were alive. Had they said … Read more
The other day, I was briskly walking toward an automated teller machine (ATM), happy to see no one waiting, when an elderly man wearing a jacket and a hat emerged from behind a concrete post, shuffling toward the same machine. I stopped to give way. But instead of proceeding to the ATM window, he … Read more
When Sen. Risa Hontiveros asked Vice President Sara Duterte what it is in the mandate of her office that justifies allotting P500 million for confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) in its proposed budget, Duterte’s first instinct was to let her chief of staff offer an answer. The soft-spoken Risa courteously insisted that it might be … Read more
Only a few public agencies are as visible to the public eye and as exposed to media scrutiny as the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), which manages the Ninoy Aquino International Airport terminals. No public facility has been subjected to more constant and carping commentary than our premier airports. The reason for this is simple: … Read more
Though they may come from different social classes and ranks, a nation’s heroes are different from the average citizen in that they tend to be driven by a singular instinct—to promote the survival and flourishing of the people that constitute the nation. In doing so, heroes relegate their personal lives and careers, their own advancement, … Read more
Two weeks after President Marcos issued Proclamation No. 297 declaring the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency, I caught the virus. Like a sick joke (pun intended) played on someone who felt triumphant at having evaded this deadly pathogen, the infection came almost stealthily, after a restful afternoon nap. “No, it can’t be,” I … Read more
Whenever I look back at more than four decades of teaching at the university, I often ask myself what it was about a student’s exam, a term paper, or a thesis that impressed me most, or made me say, “Wow! This is exceptional!” It is such moments that a teacher remembers most, and which make … Read more
With the indictment of former United States president Donald Trump on Aug. 1, for his unlawful attempts to overturn the election results and interfere with the orderly transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election, America has moved closer to making a decision that will either save its democratic system or finally tear it … Read more