My brother Pablo David, better known as Father Ambo, became a bishop on the same day the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines put out a pastoral statement that puzzled many people. The statement touched on a range of issues, but it was the bishops’ position on impeachment that was eagerly awaited.  Many rightly thought … Read more

In the 1880s, scores of Filipino students started to arrive in Europe to study. Many of them were sent abroad by their parents to keep them from getting into trouble with the Spanish Government in Manila that had become more repressive in its vain effort to pre-empt the revolutionary tide. Many went to Europe to … Read more

“The fight against the Left remains the glue that binds,” Gloria Macapagal Arroyo told her Cabinet the other day, after ordering the budget secretary to release an extra P1 billion to boost the renewed effort to crush the communist insurgency. Whoever fed her this wrong and dangerous line is setting the stage for fascist rule.  … Read more

If a survey were to be run on how many Filipinos know the country’s National Artists and their works, the results would be very revealing. They would show that the artists the state celebrates are not necessarily the people’s own choices.  Indeed, rare would be the National Artist who, by his or her work, articulates … Read more

To cope – to make do with what one has – has always been regarded by Filipinos as a virtue.  Coping belongs to the heroic culture of sharing, sacrifice, and resiliency that one finds in societies besieged by scarcity.  It is a tool of survival, a trait perfected in times of war, famine, and calamity. … Read more

My parents’ idea of fulfillment was to see all their children finish college and become successful professionals. That makes them typical Filipino parents.  But, in addition, my mother’s idea of parental achievement included having a priest for a son. That makes her a typical Kapampangan mother.  After my father died, she imagined keeping house for … Read more

On Feb. 24th, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo issued Proclamation 1017 declaring a state of national emergency.  Invoking her powers as Commander-in-Chief, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered the armed forces “to maintain law and order throughout the Philippines, prevent or suppress all forms of lawless violence, as well as any act of insurrection or rebellion and to enforce … Read more

On January 19, 2001, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, Gen. Angelo T. Reyes went up the Edsa Shrine with the service commanders of the AFP to announce their withdrawal of support for their commander-in-chief, President Joseph “Erap” Estrada.  That act tilted the balance against the incumbent president and precipitated his ouster from … Read more

I am very pleased with the Supreme Court’s decision on Presidential Proclamation 1017.  On hearing the first cryptic reports on radio, I thought this was another one of those win-win verdicts that try to please everyone.  It is not. The Court has struck a blow for liberty and democracy. As one of the lead petitioners … Read more

Not a few people from both the opposition and the administration were surprised by the launching of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s Chacha Express.  The resort to “people’s initiative” as the vehicle for Charter change effectively demobilizes Congress.  It transfers political debate from the halls of Congress to the uncharted terrain of public forums and mass actions.  This … Read more