They used to be called “spiritual retreats”—communal gatherings governed by silence and led by retreat masters who offer personal reflections aimed at stimulating a review of one’s inner life. When I was young, I slept through most of them, finding little in them that was worth keeping. The intensification of guilt was what they seemed … Read more
I have just finished reading the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s report on the Mamasapano incident. It is very short compared to the reports of the Philippine National Police board of inquiry and of the Senate. As expected, its account of the events does not diverge significantly from the narrative previously offered by MILF peace panel … Read more
When we Filipinos talk about Singapore, it is nearly always in the context of a broader discussion of what is wrong with the Philippines. Rarely do we talk about our affluent neighbor in order to highlight the positive in our own way of life. Singapore is for many of us the mirror of our aspirations … Read more
Hearing it from the US state department, one would think American security personnel played no more than a peripheral role in the Mamasapano encounter. Here’s how its spokesperson, Jen Psaki, put it at the department’s daily press briefing last March 18: “At the request of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, personnel serving in the … Read more
The report on the Senate Report on the Mamasapano Incident has predictably zeroed in on the finding that President Aquino “bears responsibility” for what happened on Jan. 25. Given our general obsession with presidential lapses, this focus is understandable. But, for those who are concerned with the future of the peace process in Mindanao, the … Read more
Eight separate investigations have been launched to determine the truth behind the Mamasapano incident. They are likely to produce eight shades of truth, rather than one. This should not pose any problem—except to those who think of the truth as if it were something “out there,” waiting to be “ferreted out.” As I said in … Read more
The Philippine National Police’s board of inquiry (BOI) released the other day the result of its six-week investigation of the Mamasapano incident. Masterfully blending the somber tone of an academic paper with the narrative arc of a war movie script, the 125-page document, tersely titled “The Mamasapano Report,” is a fascinating read. The report offers … Read more
Nearly every Filipino must know the name “Marwan” by now. If this nom de guerre did not exactly ring a bell when its owner, Zulkifli bin Hir, was alive, it has definitely acquired unprecedented notoriety after his death. “Oplan Exodus,” the secret operation launched against him and Basit Usman, took the lives of 44 highly … Read more
Every time the country faces a crisis, we tend to go back to the question that has obsessed us since independence—what kind of president can best lead us? A presidential election looms before us once again, this time framed by two critical events that have increasingly defined our expectations of an ideal leader: Supertyphoon “Yolanda” … Read more
What does it mean to talk peace with someone you’ve been fighting? In the beginning, you review the reasons that brought about the conflict. In the course of doing this, you start to allocate blame for what has happened. That is natural. Soon, you realize that, rather than be stuck in cycles of unproductive recrimination, … Read more