Randy David | PUBLIC LIVES

The brutal suppression by Burma’s military junta of Buddhist monks and civilian protesters has sparked global outrage.  The generals who have ruled this unfortunate country for 45 years remain seemingly impervious to worldwide appeals for moderation.  We in the Philippines who resisted and overthrew a comparatively milder dictatorship can do no less than to encourage … Read more

Under questioning at the Senate on the National Broadband Network contract with ZTE, former Socio-economic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri stated that he truly believed it would be beneficial for the government to operate its own network.  Asked whether he thought such a project was best pursued through a government-togovernment loan or through a build-operate-transfer (BOT) … Read more

Thirty-five years ago, Ferdinand Marcos invoked the emergency powers provided by the 1935 Constitution in order to seize control of the main levers of government.  Proclamation 1081 ushered in a dictatorship that lasted almost 14 years.  The events that unfolded on that fateful day in September 1972 were not entirely unexpected. People knew martial law … Read more

It was indeed a historic moment in our nation’s life – the first time a former president has ever been convicted for an offense committed while he was in office.  Because of the stature of the accused, we are led to think that, finally, the rule of law in our society has prevailed. I’m afraid … Read more

I remember the first time I drove a motorcycle on the expressway.  It was 1967, and the new North Diversion Road, as it was then called, was almost finished, although it had not yet officially opened. I realized that some motorcycles were made for open highways, while others did better on city roads.  The concept … Read more

If there is one public official in our country today who does his work seemingly without regard for the political consequences, that person has to be Bayani Fernando, the current chairman of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA).  In a just society, he would be a model public servant.  But in our kind of society, … Read more

The Hello Garci controversy posed two important questions that, to this day, remain unanswered.  First, did the military undertake operations, including wiretapping, for partisan political purposes during the 2004 presidential election?  Second, did President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo conspire with election officials to manipulate the results of the 2004 election? The taped conversations at the center … Read more

All of us carry in our minds a map of the place in which we live or work – as natives or as settlers, as residents or as commuters.  This map will never correspond point by point with the area it seeks to represent.  There will be many other maps of the same place, reflecting … Read more

In mature democracies, the majority governs and the minority opposes.  This is how the political system serves the larger society. The majority forms the government, and the minority shadows it. In this manner are issues clarified, and collectively-binding decisions made. The principal actors in this process are political parties, not individual politicians.  Parties are presumed … Read more

Posted on YouTube last July 26 are video clips from a United States Congressional hearing on the controversies spawned by the $600 million US Embassy construction in Baghdad.  Two of the testimonies refer to the circumstances under which Filipino workers were brought into the work site by their employer, the First Kuwaiti Company, and the … Read more