Randy David | PUBLIC LIVES The armed group behind the hostage situation in Sulu tries to disguise its real purpose by throwing in all kinds of cause-oriented sounding demands into the negotiations. The Abu Sayyaf leaders style themselves like rebels with a cause, and some of them may have been, but the incoherence of their demands shows that their objective … Read more
The most visible political casualty in the ongoing kidnap crisis in Mindanao is Nur Misuari. The 21 mostly foreign hostages who were taken from Malaysia more than two months ago are being held in Sulu. This province is Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) territory. The maintenance of peace and order there is Misuari’s responsibility. Yet … Read more
By inclination, I can’t get excited by rituals of scheduled affection. Not that I do not value Father’s Day or Mother’s Day, but I prefer casual thoughtfulness to pious greetings induced by remembered dates. I cringe at the idea of seeing love crammed into those special days set aside by merchants of sentiment, but I … Read more
When you apply for a visitor’s visa, you may expect to be given a tough time by consular officials of the country you wish to enter. You may be asked to produce proof that your visit is legitimate, that you are not going to be a burden or a danger, and that you have no … Read more
In a previous column, I wrote that while Moros and Filipinos may have sprung from the same racial stock, the accidents of history have made them different nations. I argued that any attempt to arrive at a just and enduring solution to the Mindanao problem must begin with this recognition. But I did not mean … Read more
If you were a Moro who grew up in Mindanao, you would be telling stories of how your ancestors defended their homes against waves of invaders who tried to subjugate them and take away their lands. If you were a Filipino, you might have been told stories of how your ancestors tried to protect their … Read more
It is difficult not to feel demoralized as a Filipino at a time like this. The country is being torn apart by war, and you wonder if our leaders care. Innocent civilians are caught in the crossfire, or maimed or killed by bombs exploded in public places. Hundreds of thousands abandon their homes and farms … Read more
Onel de Guzman, the AMA Computer College student who is being eyed as one of the authors of the ILOVEYOU virus that paralyzed at least 45 million computers worldwide, could not graduate this year because his thesis had been rejected. According to school officials, De Guzman submitted for his thesis a program which steals passwords … Read more
Most tourists avoid newspapers while on holiday. They go away precisely to escape the world rather than to wallow in its problems. But there are some who cannot begin the day without reading the papers even if they know that nothing they read will give them any assurance that the world is at peace and … Read more
Because it is Easter, my mind like everyone else’s inevitably turns to the unending project of rebirth, to the quest for a higher self, and to the possibility of self-fulfillment. I mean this in respect both to ourselves as individuals in search of perfection and as a nation in search of progress. Any day, of … Read more