Crisis, say the Chinese, is both danger and opportunity.  One must accurately read the danger, and seize the opportunity to do something extraordinary.  In the last few months, many thoughtful Filipinos have asked whether the present national situation is a time of  crisis.  I am one of those who believe that a crisis is upon … Read more

President Ramos said something very disturbing at his last Ulat sa Bayan speech.  He would make more trips abroad, he said in pique, defying calls that in a time of crisis he must lead in conserving precious foreign exchange.  He tried to soften this verbal tantrum by adding that he would also travel as often … Read more

In an ideal democracy, citizens form parties in order to realize a shared vision of the tasks of government.  On this basis, they choose the most capable among their leaders and offer them to the electorate as their candidates.  Because the candidates must personify the party, their selection is dictated less by popularity than by … Read more

Three times I attempted to replicate a beef-in-olive-oil dish I first tasted on Bau Alunan’s table.  I love to reconstitute recipes from the sheer memory stored in my taste buds.  But this particular dish I simply could not get right.  My concoction was unquestionably edible, my children assured me, but I knew there was something … Read more

How does one choose a vice president?  What makes a good team? It is the season for matchmaking, and just about everyone is playing the role of casting director, operating with certain notions of what is an attractive president-vice president combination and what is not.  What is often overlooked is that, while they may subscribe … Read more

“It is a piece of cloth used for cleaning,” Speaker Jose de Venecia told a talkshow audience recently, as he tried vainly to recover the positive meaning of a word that has stubbornly clung to him.  In the unique vocabulary of Philippine politics, it is not, of course, the trapo’s cleaning power, but its natural … Read more

The NPA has not been conducting those raids on police detachments and taking hostages in the process just to show it is not a spent force. It has been doing so, above all, to remind the government that it is engaged in a civil war, that there exists a duality of political power in the … Read more

In September this year, CP, the eldest of our four children,  left home to start a new life.  Not as a husband, which would have been appropriate at his age, but as a graduate student abroad.  Twenty-nine years ago, at age twenty-three, I undertook both transitions at the same time, whereas our son seems willing … Read more

The actor Martin Sheen was in Manila this week, not to promote a movie, but to focus public interest on the situation of the Filipino urban poor.  Not too many people know that Sheen’s background is working class, and that for many years now, he has quietly championed the cause of the poor and the … Read more

There is hardly any news about the Centennial these days, apart from the launching of a watch especially designed for the occasion by Jaime Zobel de Ayala.  President Ramos himself recently expressed disappointment over the lack of appreciation by the general public of the significance of the nation’s coming 100th birthday.  What clearly excites most … Read more