Randy David | PUBLIC LIVES

If our legislators did not have pork to spend, many of them would not know what to do with their time in Congress. They see themselves primarily as dispensers of public funds, oblivious of the law that regards this as chiefly an executive function. They are annoyed when asked about bills they have proposed or … Read more

The latest Social Weather Stations public opinion survey on the 2019 senatorial race, which shows longtime Duterte aide Christopher “Bong” Go jumping from 15th-16th place to 5th just before the official start of the election campaign, is hardly surprising. He is, in many ways, President Duterte’s sole senatorial bet, the one and only significant proxy … Read more

By now it is obvious who among the current crop of senatorial hopefuls President Duterte is endorsing.  At the top of the list is long-time Duterte aide, Christopher “Bong” Go, followed by Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who served Mr. Duterte as head of the Philippine National Police, and, more recently, as Bureau of Corrections chief.  … Read more

As an academic and as a columnist, I associate thinking mostly with the written word. I read books and articles, and I write for readers. I listen to music, not to the spoken word. And the columns I write — unlike the editorials I used to write for television — are meant to be read, … Read more

If you keep your money locked in a safe at home, it will steadily lose its value over time.  Indeed, even if you deposit it in a savings account, earning minimal interest, the odds are it will also shed much of its value because of inflation.  Money needs to be invested in property or economic … Read more

In highly unequal societies like ours—where wide disparities in social circumstances at birth determine a person’s access to food, shelter, and healthcare, a good education, a rich and diverse cultural heritage, influential connections, and a successful career—it is common to encounter the belief that all these existing inequalities in life are somehow undeserved and can … Read more

Watching that disturbing video of a Filipino middle school boy threatening, insulting and beating up a terrified fellow student inside a school toilet, in a brazen display of bullying power, struck me in a way that I could not fully understand. I had to review the video a number of times to grasp what it … Read more

If the objection to Angkas, the motorcycle ride-sharing transport network whose operation has recently been ordered suspended, is that the service it offers is not safe and secure, then we may as well ban riding tandem itself, and revoke the licenses that had been given to other ride-sharing networks. Let’s unpack these objections carefully. First, … Read more

So often has President Duterte commanded others to kill that it has become the most ordinary thing to hear in his public speeches. Just last Wednesday, while addressing an audience of local officials from various cities and municipalities, he casually told his listeners: “Your bishops, kill them. Those stupid people are useless. All they do … Read more