Randy David | PUBLIC LIVES Voters everywhere are desperately turning to leaders from outside the political establishment, demanding bold action to rescue their countries from the incompetence and indecisiveness, the corruption and complicity, of conventional politicians. This clamor is encapsulated by slogans like “Take back our country” or “Save the next generation.” From what? In America’s case—from a myriad of … Read more
There’s a theory in sociology that sees society as a network of self-creating function systems, and human beings as entities lying outside these systems. Examples of these are law, politics, the economy, science, religion, art, the mass media, etc. Evolving as embodiments of specific rationalities and each operating by a distinctive medium, these communication systems … Read more
On April 8 and 9, Manila will be the venue for an international conference aimed at expressing solidarity with the Cuban people in their bid to end more than half a century of American sanctions against their country. I understand that President Duterte, a self-described socialist, has been invited to speak at this conference, which … Read more
A fact that the Duterte administration has to learn to come to terms with is that there is such a thing as global public opinion. No government, no matter how popular, can command the rest of the world to “leave us alone” — and expect to be taken seriously. World opinion today will weigh in … Read more
On March 13, the Senate passed Senate Bill No. 1304, known as “The Free Higher Education for All Act,” in pursuit of the state policy “to make higher education accessible to financially disadvantaged but deserving students.” The social justice intent behind the proposed law is admirable. It seeks to widen, if not equalize, the opportunity … Read more
Late in January, President Duterte suspended the police-led war on drugs in the wake of the gruesome abduction and murder of the Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo by police elements assigned to the Philippine National Police Anti-Illegal Drugs Group. What ostensibly prompted the suspension order was the realization that the war on drugs was being used … Read more
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and US President Donald Trump seem like twins in terms of political style. They appear to revel in their repeated breach of correct speech and behavioral codes, treating these as the hypocrisies of a detested political establishment. They have both been antagonistic toward the mainstream media, seeing them as complicit guardians … Read more
As a participant in and direct witness to the dramatic events that unfolded at Edsa on Feb. 22-25, 1986, I sometimes turn to written accounts of that period in order to refresh my recollection of those events. Almost always, I find myself flinching from these published narratives and, even more, from their interpretations of what … Read more
President Duterte and his controversial justice secretary, Vitaliano Aguirre II, are so confident the government has built foolproof cases against archcritic and incumbent senator Leila de Lima that they expect to see her locked up in jail any time soon. For the sake of the credibility of our justice system—or what remains of it—I hope … Read more
People are puzzled by President Duterte’s abrupt turnabout in his quest for an enduring peaceful resolution of the decades-old communist insurgency. I suspect that at some point he felt he was being taken for a fool, or shortchanged, by a movement whose friendship he had avidly cultivated, and whose aspirations he thought he shared. Since … Read more