I’ve sometimes wondered why “corruption” is the word used for acts of dishonesty committed by people in positions of trust.  Corruption means debasement, decay, deterioration, weakening.  These terms are usually applied to metal and, in particular, to living matter.  So, what is it that decays, deteriorates, or weakens in corrupt people? Is it morality?  Virtue?  … Read more

It is a testimony to the power of modern symbols that the name “Hacienda Luisita” today evokes only images of a busy shopping mall, a sprawling golf club, and a techno-business park.  Not too long ago, it referred distinctly to the largest sugar land estate in all of Central Luzon, owned by one of the … Read more

Macarascas is one of the many sparsely populated barrios of Puerto Princesa in Palawan.  It is the home of the St. Ezequiel Moreno Parish, about an hour’s ride by jeep from the city center on the newlybuilt concrete road to Sabang and the famous St. Paul underground river.  A cut on this tourist highway leads … Read more

No other country today affects the world the way America does. Americans have a full appreciation of their nation’s immense power, but in general they tend to have a retarded view of the great responsibility that comes with this power. Global in reach, they remain incredibly parochial in consciousness. The presidential election last Tuesday brought … Read more

“More than any other comparable Filipino elite, the officer corps had been created and defined by the nation.  No other group had its social role, ideology, and personal values so directly, so fundamentally shaped by the state.”  So writes the historian Alfred W. McCoy in his fascinating book, “Closer Than Brothers” (Anvil Publishing), a comparative … Read more

Many who lived through martial law cannot look at a man in uniform without somehow recalling its horrors. It is a perceptual association that has survived the graying of memory.  You have to keep telling yourself that the evil was in the regime, not necessarily in the individuals it used. It’s not always easy to … Read more

I don’t believe in charity.  I suspect we often do it more for ourselves than for those we help. I also think it takes away the urgency from the need to reform society itself.  But, in practice, I have trouble ignoring those who come to my door or knock on my car window for help. … Read more

  It is a question that was asked soon after Congress hastily proclaimed Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo winner of the controversial 2004 presidential election.  But the swift withdrawal from the streets of the protesting voters who felt cheated in the canvassing and the filing of a formal election protest by the opposition gave the proclamation an aura … Read more

If Filipinos in the Philippines were voting in the American presidential election, they would give George W. Bush a landslide win over his rival, John Kerry. Bush is our kind of leader.  Like him, we see the world as either black or white. The moral lenses we use divide nations into good or evil, friends … Read more

One interesting observation that Rep. Joey Salceda makes in his recent dissection of the country’s fiscal crisis takes the form of a question: “But, why is it that the power sector invites much of our major fiscal follies, from Marcos’ nuke plant (one for the price of two) pushing Aquino to mothball it which then … Read more