Vladimir Putin was elected to a 4-year term as President of Russia in May 2000, a few months before Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo took power as Philippine president following the January 2001 civilian-military coup. He ran for re-election in May 2004, reluctantly ending his second and final term in May 2008. He said that the four-year presidential … Read more
As a motorcycle rider, I resolutely avoid riding in the city. I think one cannot find a more unsafe place for bikers than Metro Manila’s streets. That is why I can’t help being distressed by daily reports of road accidents involving motorcycles in Metro Manila. A growing number of fatal accidents seem to happen between … Read more
Before he became Pope Benedict XVI, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger was head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In this role, he was in charge of defending the one true meaning of the church’s doctrine against a range of other interpretations. On April 24, 2005, this chief “ideologue” of more than a billion … Read more
We sometimes believe we have seen enough of what is happening to our country to make us think of it in the worst possible way. The behavior of some people in our midst can often be so brazen that we find ourselves engulfed by a recurring sense of a society spinning out of control. We … Read more
Filipinos know instinctively that the election season has started when the surveys pare down the presidential choices to about five frontrunners. The faces of the so-called “presidentiables” get front page treatment. Strategists warn their principals against the peril of peaking too early, and dissuade potential candidates for lesser positions from making firm commitments prematurely. The … Read more
In the face of pervasive corruption, various sectors — including the government itself — have called for moral renewal. This response has the same impact as appealing to a person’s conscience to stop him from doing something that is almost habitual or customary to him. His conscience may bother him, but he will find a … Read more
From out of the blue, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has issued Administrative Order No. 255, “directing the heads of the executive department to lead moral renewal in their agencies.” Dated January 30, 2009 but released only on Feb. 15, A.O. 255 reminds heads of agencies of the moral obligations of public office, and commands them to … Read more
Of the many presidents we have had, Ramon Magsaysay is consistently singled out as the most loved. For a long time, Ferdinand Marcos held the dubious distinction of being the most despised. Magsaysay continues to be remembered as the most beloved of all our presidents, but Marcos has been dislodged from his ignoble perch by … Read more
The Guardian, the newspaper, recently ran a fascinating series titled “The road to ruin: Twenty-five people at the heart of the meltdown.” Written by city editor Julia Finch, the series satisfies a public yearning not only to understand the causes of the global economic crisis, but more important, to know whom to blame. The list … Read more
The period of industrial boom in Europe gave rise to the welfare state. Its purpose was to extend social assistance to the many who were adversely affected by industrialization. Today’s global financial crisis, in contrast, has given us the “bailout state,” the corporate elite’s version of the welfare state. Its purpose is to extend financial … Read more