After I finished high school, there was only one career that my father had in mind for me: law.  And there was only one school in which he thought I should get an education: the University of the Philippines. His lifelong dream was for me to follow in his footsteps. I had no problem embracing … Read more

Outgoing President Macapagal-Arroyo’s appointment of Renato Corona as the new Chief Justice was burdened from the start by the public perception that she was putting him there to protect her when she is no longer president.  He had loyally served her as presidential legal counsel.  More important, in crucial landmark cases, as an associate justice … Read more

Having just survived a risk-filled election week, during which we suspended disbelief and reposed our collective trust in an untested automated system, we Filipinos can be forgiven for paying scant attention to the political violence that is rocking neighboring Thailand. But we cannot ignore the Thai crisis.  It is telling us something important – not … Read more

If anyone is still looking for confirmation of the determining role that the Filipino family plays in the nation’s political life, he will not find better proof than the results of this year’s national and local elections. It is the victory of entire clans that is being heralded – particularly that of the Arroyos of … Read more

The precinct count optical scanner (PCOS) did what it was supposed to do—read the votes from the precincts and rapidly transmit the results to computers that automatically add them up at both local and national levels. With only about 15 percent of the results [as of Thursday] waiting to be transmitted due to mechanical malfunctioning, … Read more

As in previous elections, political programs once more took a backseat to issues of personal character in the current presidential campaign. What has been projected is not how we will solve our problems as a nation, but who we can trust not to abuse political power if elected. Indeed we demand so little of our … Read more

Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel is 44.  She belongs to that generation of Filipino leaders that, if they are not already in command of the nation, should firmly be in the line of succession to the nation’s leadership. Historically, the builders of our country have been much younger. Rizal, Bonifacio, Aguinaldo, and the countless others who fought to … Read more

The most important testament to our aspiration to be a modern democratic state is the Constitution no less.  Although some of its formulations may sound traditionally moralistic, one cannot fail to detect in all its basic provisions the unequivocal commitment to modern values such as equality before the law, separation of powers, supremacy of civilian … Read more

In modern democracies, the ideal role of political parties is to listen to the problems and aspirations of citizens, and, in the course of this, to organize and empower them. The outcome of this effort should be a collective force devoted to a vision of the common good and subscribing to set of well-defined policies … Read more

At the annual Lenten gathering of the David family on Black Saturday, I asked my brother Bishop Ambo if he could lead us in a collective reflection on death — not Jesus’ but our own.  This unusual request startled my siblings and their spouses, who discreetly inquired if there was any terminal illness in the … Read more