Since the start of the year I’ve been speaking at various schools in the country.  I think I have gained a clear idea of the concerns and aspirations of young Filipinos in these uncertain times.  In the exchange that follows every talk, I ask how many in the audience are seriously planning to go abroad … Read more

Reacting to my column on outdoor advertising (“Billboard nation,” PDI 04/03/05) and to another piece on the same subject by fellow Inquirer columnist Augusto Villalon, a reader, Neil Magno, raises a couple of points that give us the chance to place this issue in a larger context. He writes: “I cannot agree with both of … Read more

Cambridge. I like coming to Cambridge not so much to see Harvard but to visit my old friend Daniel Boone Schirmer.  He turned 90 this year, and is wheelchair-bound.  A thin line of mourning marks his handsome Pilgrim face, but his blue eyes are undiminished in their brightness.  Last year, he lost his wife Peggy, … Read more

The most fascinating thing about the tributes and the media coverage that have accompanied Pope John Paul II’s death is the relentless message that this particular man’s life will not be forgotten. Many are already calling him a saint. He is dead but his spirit lives in the hearts of the many who admire him. … Read more

When 1500 parliamentarians from Asia, Europe, and the Americas converge in Manila today for the 112th General Assembly of the InterParliamentary Union (IPU), what first images will they have of the Philippines? From the moment they step out of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, they will see a nation hopelessly scarred by billboards.  As they … Read more

On his way to Calvary, Jesus foretold many events that astonished his followers.  He said he would be arrested, that one of his own disciples would betray him, and that Peter himself would deny that he knew him, not once but three times.  He said he would be crucified, and he would die on the … Read more

Today, Palm Sunday, marks the first day of what is perhaps the most important week in the Christian calendar.  Jesus, the Messiah, enters Jerusalem on a donkey.  His reputation precedes him and he is greeted by the people with branches quickly cut from nearby trees. Being a Jew, he has come to Jerusalem to celebrate … Read more

The population problem has many sides to it, and often various issues are mixed together in one emotional brew, preventing reasoned discussion. Debate highlights the disagreements while ignoring the many points of a possible consensus. Does our country have a population problem?  There are at least three ways of viewing this problem.  In its most … Read more

The strong state that Ferdinand Marcos built in 1972 became so wholly associated with human rights violation and massive corruption that when we got rid of it in 1986, we resolved never again to concentrate political power in any single branch of government. In reaction, we found ourselves swinging to the opposite model of a … Read more

Sometime during the Christmas holidays, 21-year-old Onak asked me if I needed someone to look after the little orchard I was starting at the foot of Mt. Malasimbo in Bataan.  I remembered him as a sprightly teenager who helped around in my brother’s garden.  Slightly deaf because of chronic ear infection, he had quit school … Read more