In mature democracies, people run for president or prime minister because there are fundamental priorities or goals they want to pursue through the political system. As these are typically complex and interconnected, no one can realistically aspire to accomplish them by oneself. Thus, modern politics involves the organization of a lead group called a party, … Read more

In mature democracies, people run for president or prime minister because there are fundamental priorities or goals they want to pursue through the political system. As these are typically complex and interconnected, no one can realistically aspire to accomplish them by oneself. Thus, modern politics involves the organization of a lead group called a party, … Read more

Who killed Marwan? How was he killed? These and many other questions are supposed to have been answered by the various official reports issued on the Jan. 25 Mamasapano incident. But a recent statement by President Aquino has prompted renewed interest in the details of that tragic encounter. In particular, contrary to the official Philippine … Read more

Last Tuesday’s nightmarish traffic in Metro Manila’s major roads forced commuters to do what many of them have forgotten: walk home. Walking to and from work has become such a rare phenomenon in the city that some residents try to recover the health benefits from this lost habit by marking time on treadmill machines inside … Read more

Confronted by the sudden influx of migrants fleeing from the war-torn and impoverished countries of West Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, Europe has responded in two fundamental ways—one, out of fear; the other, out of love. The first has taken the form of barbed-wire barriers to keep aliens out of Hungary’s borders. In … Read more

Being an island nation, we tend to be indifferent to the great human tragedies that are happening in the rest of the world. Our national media reflect and reinforce this insularity. These past few weeks, for instance, while Europe has been at its wits’ end trying to find a way to deal with the massive … Read more

In my column last week on the Iglesia ni Cristo protest action at Edsa, I wrote that nothing could be more explosive than the encounter between religion and politics. I meant it as a warning. My mind was flooded with gory images of government forces moving in to disperse the crowd that had taken over … Read more

Sen. Francis Escudero was on broadcaster Anthony Taberna’s radio program last Thursday evening, echoing the Iglesia ni Cristo’s demand that it be left alone to solve its own problems. “Away pamilya ito (This is a family spat),” he said, breezily advising Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to back off from the illegal detention complaint filed by … Read more

Sen. Francis Escudero was on broadcaster Anthony Taberna’s radio program last Thursday evening, echoing the Iglesia ni Cristo’s demand that it be left alone to solve its own problems. “Away pamilya ito (This is a family spat),” he said, breezily advising Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to back off from the illegal detention complaint filed by … Read more

Customs Commissioner Alberto Lina touched a raw nerve when he recently announced that the Bureau of Customs would be randomly opening and examining balikbayan boxes as part of the agency’s effort to curb smuggling. He said that smugglers have been using this iconic door-to-door delivery system to bring in contraband items like illegal drugs, guns … Read more