Randy David | PUBLIC LIVES

The below-average test scores of most Filipino students in Mathematics and Science that have been reported in various international assessments are all ultimately attributable to a reading comprehension problem. Our students simply can’t grasp the meaning of what they’re reading, or relate this to what they know, even when they may be able to utter … Read more

The United States’ commemoration of the 245th anniversary of its independence this year coincides with China’s celebration of the centenary of the founding of its Communist Party. This fascinating conjunction of events succinctly conveys the rivalry between two contrasting systems of society. It is a rivalry that is no longer usefully summed up as a … Read more

In deference to the dead and to those in mourning, propriety demands that the community avoid talking in public about the possible impact that someone’s death may have on the world he or she leaves behind. This is not easy to follow, especially when the death is untimely, and the deceased has been a public … Read more

By “opposition,” I simply mean here the many groups and individuals that are determined to prevent the Duterte regime from perpetuating itself beyond the 2022 presidential election. I do not use the term in the context of the “government/opposition” rivalry that one finds in mature democracies, where stable political parties regularly compete with one another … Read more

Whoever thought that a Sara Duterte-Rodrigo Duterte tandem might be the ideal team for the country in the 2022 presidential election is either joking or being cynical. He or she — or they — show no respect for the Constitution, and no regard for the incalculable time and effort the Filipino people have invested in … Read more

When the World Health Organization team tasked to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic reported its findings in March this year, one of its aims appeared to be to dismiss all speculation that the virus had been engineered by scientists engaged in “gain-of-function” experiments at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. It was “extremely unlikely,” … Read more

Daily, we are informed of the number of new coronavirus cases, of people who have died from the disease, and of the many who are presumed to have recovered. These figures provide a general picture of the toll the pandemic is taking on our population. We are less aware of the lingering health problems that … Read more

The main problem that COVID-19 vaccine rollouts everywhere have had to confront is vaccine refusal or hesitancy, not brand preference or vaccine “choosiness.” Vaccine preference has been observed particularly among those who have already made the decision to be vaccinated. This suggests that, rather than being a mere expression of colonial mentality — as presidential … Read more

Nowhere is the stark inequality between Israelis and Palestinians, who live in one of the world’s most hallowed lands, more evident than in their COVID-19 vaccination record. With 60 percent of its population fully vaccinated, Israel leads the world in the race to herd immunity. In contrast, Palestinians who are noncitizens of Israel have vaccinated … Read more

What would Mama say? It’s a question I would frequently hear from our four children. They don’t mean: How their mother would react to something, but how she would interpret a situation or problem with her remarkable clear-mindedness, without passing judgment or assigning blame or telling them what to do. It is what they most … Read more