Randy David | PUBLIC LIVES

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

Outside of religious circles, Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David used to be introduced as my brother. Now it’s the other way around, especially after he became the latest target of President Duterte’s rants against the Catholic Church and its leaders. I take deep pride in this affinity. We take similar positions on most social issues, … Read more

In recent years, sociological and philosophical studies of political sovereignty and governance have featured fascinating references to biblical literature — in particular to the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans. “Romans” in the New Testament contains 16 chapters and, together with many other letters, forms a whole body of works known as the Pauline … Read more

Those who fought the Marcos regime and rejoiced over its overthrow in 1986 will surely welcome the recent Sandiganbayan decision convicting Imelda Marcos for graft and corruption, and ordering her arrest and imprisonment. They have waited a long time for this. Despite repeated disappointments over the failure of our legal system to deliver a clear … Read more