Randy David | PUBLIC LIVES If the ratings are bad and they cannot be refuted, tthen the next best thing is to find worthy reasons to account for them. This seems to be how the spin doctors at Malacanang are dealing with President Estrada’s tragic descent to unpopularity. Instead of humbly acknowledging the mistakes that have led to a growing … Read more
Our daughter Kara, the woman who will try everything once, intends to climb Mt. Apo again just before New Year’s Eve so that from the summit, she may report on the first millennial sunrise. I wanted her to stay home. I am quite certain it will rise the same way, I told her; it is … Read more
The dawn of a new millennium may be, for some people, just a day like any other. But for the rest of us who are captives of time, the day must signify something so vital as to make its slow breaking out of the shadows of the previous night a wonder worth watching. Except for … Read more
At no point, even when it was tempting to do so, did I ever doubt the competence, goodness, and sincerity of the doctors who attended to my mother throughout the period of her recent hospitalization. And I still do not. And if I may, I will use this occasion to thank them for their kindness … Read more
Manny Pangilinan, Philippine Long Distance Telephone’s and Smart’s top gun, began his keynote address at the 16th Philippine Advertising Congress in Cebu with these thoughts: “I retain a strong affection for Cebu, and I’m always inspired when I visit this beautiful city. This is where Lapu-Lapu, a Filipino, slew Magellan, a Tisoy. Any contemporary similarity … Read more
When governments are corrupt, irresponsible, incompetent, and shortsighted, it becomes easier to accept the idea that the world might be better off being completely ruled by markets. Markets are supposed to be more honest, more stable in their outcomes, more efficient, and more forward-looking. In a world rendered unpredictable by the vagaries of politics and … Read more
When governments are corrupt, irresponsible, incompetent, and shortsighted, it becomes easier to accept the idea that the world might be better off being completely ruled by markets. Markets are supposed to be more honest, more stable in their outcomes, more efficient, and more forward-looking. In a world rendered unpredictable by the vagaries of politics and … Read more
When she woke up from her long sleep the day after her 77th birthday, her eyes had the weariness of someone who had dreamt a lot but could remember nothing. “My mind is not clear,” she said blankly. “What day is it today?” It was the 18th. “And when did I enter the hospital?” On … Read more
I used to think of my TV program “Public Forum”, later “Public Life”, as a contribution to political literacy. When we launched the show in 1986, just after Edsa, our goal was simple. We would try to provide our viewers enough information and context to enable them to follow discussion of public issues, and to … Read more
The basic ingredients are there: rising prices, worsening unemployment, protests in the streets, impatience and demoralization, the spread of smut as social anesthesia, corruption in high places, cronies without accountability, a Cabinet without power, a President without insight. To top it all, a sense of helplessness born of the awareness that presidential elections are more … Read more