On a trip to New Delhi in the late ‘70s, the cab I am riding stops at an intersection.  As the driver impatiently waits for the traffic lights to change, a woman with an infant approaches the car.  She is dressed in rags.  Half of her face is ulcerated; bits of flesh and skin hang … Read more

The problem with state-of-the-nation assessments is that they are often empty political rituals.  The government describes the institutional problems and prospects – the economic climate, jobs and investments, the budgetary picture, the peace and order situation, the state of our political life, and shows the way forward.  Critics paint a grim picture of the realities … Read more

The American sociologist C. Wright Mills offers a useful distinction between “personal troubles” and “public issues.” “When, in a city of 100,000, only one man is unemployed,” Mills says, “that is his personal trouble, and for its relief we properly look to the character of the man, his skills, and his immediate opportunities.  But when … Read more

Angelo Mawanay, alias “Ador,” is either lying or telling the truth. The information he discloses is very detailed but it does not provide a neat picture of the world of crime he inhabits. The more he tells, the more incredible his story sounds.   His confession would make of newlyelected Senator Panfilo Lacson the biggest crime … Read more

The other day, my youngest daughter, who finished college two years ago, offered to buy my old car so that, she said, I could get myself a new one.  It was a chance for me to ask how much her monthly pay was.  She assured me it was more than enough.  I found out that, … Read more

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has warned against a repeat of the protest mass action that unfolded on April 25, 2001 and ended in the violent attack on Malacanang on the first day of May.  She says the same conspirators who planned “Edsa Tres” might try it again on June 26-27, the days set aside for the … Read more

The story is told that in Basilan public school teachers know more or less when the dreaded Abu Sayyaf would strike again.  The older boys in their classes suddenly disappear at the same time.  These schoolboys, meek pupils a good part of the year, are the bandit group’s reserve army, trained to become fighters for … Read more

When our parents are gone, and our friends and kin have moved on to distant parts, there is often little delight to be derived from returning to the place of our childhood.  The landscape alienates us.  Nothing in it seems to fix memory.  Our past life vanishes like a mirage. The monuments, markets, streets and … Read more

The subtext of the ongoing military operation against the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan is that this is as much a reassertion of national sovereignty over Mindanao as it is a bid to rescue civilian hostages taken by a bandit group. In many ways, the Manila government is still conducting a pacification mission in uncharted territory.  … Read more

The rule of law and the norm of equal justice are being invoked to oppose giving special treatment to the detained former president.  But the enormous security precautions deployed to ensure his safety under detention already single him out for special treatment. We cannot treat Erap like an ordinary criminal; he is not an ordinary … Read more