In December 2002, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo felt so discouraged about how the country was faring under her leadership that she found herself suddenly announcing she was not standing for election in 2004. The decision jolted even her closest allies who were only too aware of her consuming quest for another six-year term. By then, two years … Read more
My three sisters who live in the States used to come home every year mainly to visit our ailing mother. They would bring her everything they thought she needed, and for the whole duration of their vacation, they took care of her, compressing in two weeks what in their hearts they felt was a lifelong … Read more
The debate whether we need a change in system rather than a change in leaders is a sterile one. The shift to a parliamentary, or federal, or unicameral system will not mean anything if not accompanied by changes in the distribution of power, wealth, and opportunity across social classes. The pressures toward a radical re-ordering … Read more
If the President’s husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, is truly not the owner of the Jose Pidal accounts, then the more details his brother Ignacio can share about these accounts the better. Ignacio, who came forward on his own volition to claim the fictitious name Jose Pidal, has to prove he is really the owner of … Read more
Joseph Stiglitz, the 2001 Nobel laureate for economic science, puts it bluntly: The United States and Europe subsidize their cows at $2 per day, more than what a human being in many parts of the world earn in a day. I have come across more disturbing figures. An article by Hamish McRae for a South … Read more
Politics is an inescapable element of collective life. In itself, it is neither good nor bad. All of us engage in politics when we seek to enhance our power or influence over others or try to free ourselves from others’ control over us. In the life of nations, politics is a way of negotiating and … Read more
A professor of psychology from the University of Virginia, Dr. Jonathan Haidt, called it “elevation” – that warm glow that spreads through our chest and brings tears to our eyes when we witness an act of selflessness, compassion, or kindness. Our breathing slows down, and gladness quickly fills our hearts. We not only feel good, … Read more
In the aftermath of the July 27th mutiny led by young officers, among them the top graduates and the most be-medalled in their batch at the Philippine Military Academy, not a few opinion makers have advanced the proposition that the PMA should be abolished. The suggestion is that, in producing highly politicized officers who will … Read more
It could have been just an ordinary interview with a couple of young officers who wanted to talk about corruption in the armed forces. The interview led to a broad exchange on theories of corruption – its origins, the forms it takes, its consequences, and solutions. The young officers, among them Navy Lt. Sonny Trillanes, … Read more
The People Power Revolution of 1986 was in many ways a political emancipation. It not only freed us from a dictator; it also freed us from the notion that the only road to political power is by election. For all the moral meanings that shrouded it, people power was an extraconstitutional route to power. Its … Read more