Randy David | PUBLIC LIVES There are about 10 million Catholics in today’s China. The majority of them worship in churches authorized and supervised by the government. They are officially called the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association. The rest of China’s Catholics, until recently, refused to attend these state-sanctioned churches, preferring instead to congregate in small prayer groups in the privacy … Read more
Seeing their lives slowly wasted in a country that offers only limited opportunities to improve their lot, many Filipinos have found hope in a globalized world. Overseas employment has allowed them to hone their skills and test their endurance in a world that is both welcoming and threatening, nurturing and abusive. Their years of struggle … Read more
There’s surely more than meets the eye in mainstream media’s recent accounts of how photographs of a whole bundle of highly classified United States’ intelligence files found their way into a social media platform where young people meet and discuss shared hobbies like animé, video war games, music, cryptocurrency, and the like. The whole story … Read more
Like all baby boomers—the generation born shortly after the end of World War II—I am, at 77, of that age when the only time I run into old friends and acquaintances outside my immediate circle is at wakes and funerals. They are mostly the same people with whom I have reconnected through online chat groups, … Read more
In a world of sovereign nation-states, each with their own legal and political systems, is there value to having an international criminal court invested with the power to try individuals for offenses like genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and aggression? It is a question worth revisiting as the world hurtles toward another catastrophic war. … Read more
In November last year, around the time that my late wife Karina and I would have celebrated our 54th anniversary, I received an old-fashioned letter from England. While it was addressed to me as professor emeritus, the envelope bore a handwritten note indicating it was “personal.” I became curious. We came back from England half … Read more
Three cases of shocking killings have hogged the news headlines this past week. The most brazen is the daylight assassination of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo on March 4 by killers in military uniform inside his own compound, in the presence of his security guards and constituents. Eight other persons were killed in the same … Read more
Three years after it began, and with nearly seven million confirmed COVID-19 deaths in 229 countries, the coronavirus pandemic that has upended the world in countless ways is still sickening and killing people. But mercifully, it has slowed down. The rapid decline in cases is largely attributed to the fact that large numbers of people … Read more
Signing for the President, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin issued Proclamation No. 167 last Thursday, moving “the celebration of Edsa People Power Revolution Anniversary from Feb. 25, 2023 (Saturday) to Feb. 24, 2023 (Friday).” The switch in dates, the document states, will enable Filipinos to enjoy a longer weekend pursuant to the “principle of holiday economics.” … Read more
Former senator, human rights chair, and justice secretary Leila de Lima marks her sixth year in detention on Feb. 24, the same week the Filipino people threw off the yoke of political tyranny 37 years ago. Her trial, on charges of alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade run from prison by convicted drug lords, … Read more