By inclination, I can’t get excited by rituals of scheduled affection. Not that I do not value Father’s Day or Mother’s Day, but I prefer casual thoughtfulness to pious greetings induced by remembered dates.  I cringe at the idea of seeing love crammed into those special days set aside by merchants of sentiment, but I … Read more

When you apply for a visitor’s visa, you may expect to be given a tough time by consular officials of the country you wish to enter.  You may be asked to produce proof that your visit is legitimate, that you are not going to be a burden or a danger, and that you have no … Read more

In a previous column, I wrote that while Moros and Filipinos may have sprung from the same racial stock, the accidents of history have made them different nations.  I argued that any attempt to arrive at a just and enduring solution to the Mindanao problem must begin with this recognition.  But I did not mean … Read more

If you were a Moro who grew up in Mindanao, you would be telling stories of how your ancestors defended their homes against waves of invaders who tried to subjugate them and take away their lands.  If you were a Filipino, you might have been told stories of how your ancestors tried to protect their … Read more

It is difficult not to feel demoralized as a Filipino at a time like this.  The country is being torn apart by war, and you wonder if our leaders care. Innocent civilians are caught in the crossfire, or maimed or killed by bombs exploded in public places.  Hundreds of thousands abandon their homes and farms … Read more

Onel de Guzman, the AMA Computer College student who is being eyed as one of the authors of the ILOVEYOU virus that paralyzed at least 45 million computers worldwide, could not graduate this year because his thesis had been rejected.  According to school officials, De Guzman submitted for his thesis a program which steals passwords … Read more

Most tourists avoid newspapers while on holiday.  They go away precisely to escape the world rather than to wallow in its problems. But there are some who cannot begin the day without reading the papers even if they know that nothing they read will give them any assurance that the world is at peace and … Read more

Because it is Easter, my mind like everyone else’s inevitably turns to the unending project of rebirth, to the quest for a higher self, and to the possibility of self-fulfillment.  I mean this in respect both to ourselves as individuals in search of perfection and as a nation in search of progress. Any day, of … Read more

Four TV broadcasters are among the top 10 senatorial preferences of the public, says the latest Asian Research Organization (ARO) based on its survey of 1200 respondents conducted in March this year.  Noli de Castro of “TV Patrol” ties for 1st place with Senator Ramon Magsaysay Jr., Korina Sanchez of “Balitang K” shares 3rd place … Read more

As young boys growing up in a small town, my friends and I used to attend almost every funeral in the community.  We would climb the highest tomb and from there observe the unchanging patterns of grief. We wondered who would wail the most, and who would pass out.  We took note of the words … Read more