The everyday term for it is “split-personality.” The schizoid is a personality type troubled by a disconnection of mental functions. When attuned to the shared reality of the moment, he is a portrait of lucidity.  Most of the time, however, he is simply lost in the world of his own private language.  His mental framework … Read more

When, finally, this is over, and we are asked to tell the story of what we did – why we tirelessly poured out into the streets to demand the ouster of yet another president — I hope we will remember to recount the big picture and not just the details. This is not just about … Read more

Knowing Erap — knowing where he came from, what lifestyle he led, what company he kept – do we have a right to be shocked by Chavit Singson’s revelations about the man we elected president?  Why can’t we, as Malacanang suggests, dismiss these charges as a boring replay of old gimmicks that a defeated opposition … Read more

R is for Resignation, I is for Impeachment, O is for Ouster, and S is for Snap election, or for the Status quo, as in “Stay, you’re doing well” or “Stay, but reform.” These are the scenarios being offered today as options for resolving the country’s worst political and economic crisis since the 1983 assassination … Read more

A growing number of Filipinos have seen enough, heard enough, to be able to form a conclusion about Joseph Estrada the president — he is destroying the nation.  They want him out as soon as possible. They cannot wait for a tedious impeachment process to strip him of his position.  They are asking him to … Read more

More than the souvenirs that a tourist mindlessly accumulates in the course of a trip, a Filipino traveler’s most treasured memories are those of fantastic bargains struck with local merchants.  The experience has all the flavor of that first historic encounter between foreigner and native.  The huge communication gap is instantly bridged by the most … Read more

The image that summed up China for me in 1983 was that of a vast country of immense highways filled with bicycles.  I went back in 1990 and found a country still teeming with bicycles but beginning to choke from the fumes of motor vehicles.  On my last visit two weeks ago, I was shocked … Read more

One of the intriguing ideas floated at the occasion of the recent UN Millennium Summit is the concept of an international court that will try crimes against humanity.  This idea rests on the belief that acts like genocide constitute a global injury that must be redressed globally. There is a strong feeling that the instruments … Read more

Virtues must be our self-defense and necessity, says Nietzsche. What virtues might we wish for our children as they make their way into the 21st century? TOLERANCE.  The capacity to accept difference and not to feel threatened by it.  Its opposite is bigotry, the tendency to judge others by one’s own unexamined beliefs.  As travel … Read more

It is not exceptional to hear of incest rape cases where the mother is found to have closed her eyes to her husband’s crime.  The initial shock of knowing is replaced by a passive acceptance of a situation in which she feels she has no control.  Her mind works this out for her, producing incredible … Read more