Boracay — that tiny island at the northern tip of Panay, a destination renowned for its fine white sand beaches, shallow gentle waters, and all-day partying — recently reopened to tourists after being abruptly shut down six months ago to enable it to recover from its shameful deterioration into a “cesspool,” to borrow President Duterte’s … Read more

Delicadeza — the sense of shame or kahihiyan that restrains people in positions of power, trust or authority from doing what is improper — is all but dead in our society. But, far from mourning its passing, the powerful cannot wait to bury it. They seem to draw additional satisfaction from flaunting its absence, as … Read more

Our political institutions are as modern in conception as they could possibly be. They were, after all, copied from the most advanced democratic system of our time — the United States of America. But, like almost all our borrowed institutions, our political system can only perform to the extent permitted by our society’s basic structure. … Read more

In the dark days of apartheid in South Africa, detainees who, despite being white, resolutely opposed the white supremacist regime, were often subjected to mean punishment. The scholar and writer Ruth First, charged with treason, was the first white woman to be jailed under the so-called 90-Day Detention Law. In her memoir, “117 Days,” she … Read more

In an in-your-face attempt to promote a favorable view of the martial law regime of Ferdinand Marcos, and to justify his own presidential ambition, the dictator’s son and namesake Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has turned to the 94-year-old Juan Ponce Enrile for assistance. Agreeing to sit down with Marcos Jr. for an unusual interview on … Read more

So great is our desire to see our presidents succeed that, unless they were thrust into office under dubious circumstances, we usually give them, during their first three years in office, higher approval ratings than could be reasonably accounted for by their actual performance or by the size of their electoral base. It is as … Read more

Lacking experience in state affairs, President Duterte has made many mistakes during his brief presidency. He has shocked the Filipino people and the world with his murderous war against drug users and drug pushers. He has turned off many sympathizers by his crude language and blasphemous tirades against organized religion. But, a tolerant nation has … Read more

Acts of remembering and forgetting pertain not only to individuals but, indeed, also to the State, which represents the sovereign will of the people. The State remembers by proclaiming public holidays to commemorate important events in the nation’s past, thus inscribing them in the nation’s collective memory. Independence Day, the birthdays and death anniversaries of … Read more

In cynical and despairing times such as ours, nothing perhaps lifts the flagging spirit more than to witness an event that expressly celebrates what some people do for others and their communities, quietly, persistently, and, often, in defiance of convention. Brimming with ideas and energy, they have a peculiar need to empty themselves.  They are … Read more

The children of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos—namely, his namesake Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and his eldest daughter Imee Marcos, whose respective political careers have received a special boost under the Duterte presidency—have repeatedly admonished their father’s critics to stop wasting time talking about the Marcos martial law regime. As the nation marked the Aug. … Read more