Randy David | PUBLIC LIVES

When my friend Pierre told me he was coming to visit but mainly to birdwatch, I thought he had flipped.  In the literal sense, he had.  His previous visits had been thoroughly political: to let us know what European solidarity groups were doing to support the struggle against the Marcos dictatorship.  He was active in … Read more

Does the Catholic Church, represented by its bishops, have a right to criticize the government or to influence the political views and conduct of its members?  Does the Catholic Church have a right to criticize Brother Mike Velarde, or to call him to task for supporting charter change in defiance of the Catholic bishops? From … Read more

It was a day of spectacular contrasts, a virtual feast for a visual anthropologist. From the richest side of the city, walled in by the country’s tallest buildings, the “pro-democracy” rally raised the specter of a new Marcos and warned against reversing the gains of the 1986 People Power Revolution.  Clad in signature yellow, with … Read more

On the anniversary of his assassination, it is well to remember what Ninoy Aquino stood for, but to hold a demonstration against amending the Constitution on this day seems an odd way to mark his political martyrdom. A constitution belongs to the living.  It is meant to express a generation’s fluid relationship to the world … Read more

In denying the release of $150 million from the $590 million disputed Marcos funds to compensate the Marcos regime’s human rights victims, Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Francis Garchitorena took the risk of being called an enemy of human rights.  All that he wants is to prevent corrupt people from getting away with their crime. “Does he … Read more

In a democracy, the exercise of power is a proper object of press scrutiny.  By making those who rule more visible than ordinary citizens, the press exerts greater pressure upon them to account for their actions.  This watchdog function is a necessary check against the abuses of power, that is not easily replaced by the … Read more

The quest for justice within the rigidities of the law is what has filled my mind in the past week.  Three young men have just been sent to their deaths one after the other for robbing a passenger jeep and killing a policeman in the process.  A few days later, another man, past middle age … Read more

All punishment, says the Israeli writer Avishai Margalit in his book “The Decent Society”, aims to convey the idea that crime is a disgraceful act.  By punishing him, society inflicts on the offender a loss of social honor.  But does justice require that a criminal be also humiliated? “If humiliation means damaging people’s self-respect,” Margalit … Read more

Bohol Representative Ernesto Herrera has a bill prescribing imprisonment for mothers who do nothing even when they know that their daughters are being sexually abused by their fathers.  I have not seen the full text of the Herrera bill, but I have the feeling that it is unnecessary, insensitive, and possibly counterproductive. Charging them with … Read more

A friend who teaches at a Japanese university tells me of a phenomenon in the classroom that he calls the “shut-out syndrome.” It refers, he says, to the ability of students to mentally block everything they hear inside the classroom.  They are physically present, their eyes are on their professors, they appear to listen, yet … Read more