President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo made a bid to become a modern executive by making the formation of a “strong republic” the key goal of her administration.  But in the last three years, she has probably done more to weaken our Republic than any president before her except Marcos.  Her beliefs may be republican, but her … Read more

I will not speculate on how his supporters will react if the Supreme Court rules that Fernando Poe Jr. is disqualified from running for president.  I don’t think anyone knows.  But some people should stop pushing the Court to disqualify FPJ by suggesting this is the only way to prevent the looming disaster of an … Read more

By “masa,” I refer to the class of voters that pollsters identify with the so-called “E” and the middle and lower rungs of the “D” strata.  They constitute roughly about 60 to 75% of the nation’s voting population. The existence of such huge numbers at the bottom of the social ladder attests to the gravity … Read more

My daughter, Kara, who covers prisoners on death row for the TV network, GMA-7, anxiously sat in the van that was taking her to the New Bilibid Prisons.  In a few minutes, prison officials were to raffle the media slots for the January 30 executions.  But there she was, hopelessly strapped to a seat, in … Read more

On the legal merits, the Comelec ruling was clear enough: Fernando Poe Jr. is a natural-born Filipino citizen because he had a Filipino father.  This has sound legal basis in both the 1935 Constitution and the 1987 Constitution.  That FPJ may have been born before his parents were actually married is irrelevant.  He is the … Read more

It is bad enough that we are being made to pick our leaders from what is, by any reckoning, a dismaying list of candidates.  What is worse is that the whole electoral process is being supervised by a Commission on Elections whose top officials have just been effectively pronounced untrustworthy by the highest court of … Read more

Two major forces determine the political life of the country today: the poor and the middle class.  One decides the outcome of elections, the other decides the fate of administrations. Their aspirations for a better life have made them conscious of the power they can wield. United, they can change the system. Divided, they become … Read more

“To be the poets of our life — first of all in the smallest, most everyday matters,” as my favorite philosopher puts it, has always been for me the best formulation of a New Year’s wish.  The metaphor evokes images of meticulous composition and subtle artistry, of wit and beauty, in all the things we … Read more

The mass media devoted considerable attention to the recent filing by obscure individuals of their certificates of candidacy for the presidency.  The news accounts mocked their improbable claims and outlandish statements and provided the public all the reasons to label them nuisance candidates.  Though the form used was one of dismissive derision, such reportage is … Read more

Considering how almost every major event in our nation’s political life since 1972 has led to more problems, we may wonder why we hope that another presidential election might produce anything different. The answer lies, I think, in our people’s inexhaustible faith in new beginnings.  It is our most important source of strength.  We may … Read more