In a previous column, “The Supreme Court as political reformer” (7/3/14), I noted that the recent rulings of the high court striking down the Priority Development Assistance Fund and the Disbursement Acceleration Program may give the impression that the judicial branch has taken on the role of political reformer. The PDAF and the DAP, as … Read more

Trust the Filipino to give a foreign word a culturally-specific meaning. The word “apostolate,” an Old English term taken from Latin, refers to a messenger’s mission in the Christian tradition. But, in the playful jargon of the Pinoy senior citizen, the root word “apostle” is replaced by “apo” (grandchild), even as all the rich references … Read more

When the world was simpler, a man and a woman got together to start a family. From their union, another human being was conceived and nurtured in its own mother’s womb until it was born. Today, through the wonders of in-vitro fertilization (IVF), a zygote may be created from the pairing of a human sperm … Read more

Almost three years have quickly passed since Moammar Gadhafi, the Libyan dictator who ruled his country for 42 years, was toppled from power by a revolution. That revolution drew its stimulus from the youth-powered “Arab Spring” and was celebrated throughout the democratic world as the triumph of the people. In reality, the fractious and poorly … Read more

When we find ourselves having to make decisions in the face of so much confusion, we rely on trust to find our way and keep going. Trust simplifies what is complex. It dwells in the familiar, in the expectations that people have about their world and about the other people around them. Unlike hope, trust … Read more

The most fascinating thing about the “Philippine Arena,” billed as “the world’s largest indoor multipurpose venue,” is probably not that it stands on Philippine soil but that it has been built by the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC). Known for the distinctive architectural style of its churches, the INC usually builds small replicas of its central … Read more

I am trying to understand the strong surge of emotion that has been unleashed by the Supreme Court’s recent decision on the Disbursement Acceleration Program or DAP. So much moral agitation fills the air that one cannot help but suspect that dormant political grudges and prejudices are being manipulated in order to portray the DAP … Read more

The good news is that Albay province, which has chronically stood on the path of countless devastating typhoons, registered zero casualty after Typhoon “Glenda.” The bad news is that in adjacent Quezon, Batangas, Laguna, and Cavite, 54 people lay dead in the wake of this killer typhoon, the great majority of them pinned inside their … Read more

Anxious talk over a looming constitutional crisis instantly filled the air the other night after President Aquino announced on national TV that he did not agree with the Supreme Court’s decision nullifying key elements of his administration’s Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP). More than a week has passed since the Court assailed the DAP for usurping … Read more

There are at least two types of laws found in the Constitution. The first defines the nature and limits of governmental power over the nation’s citizens. The other assigns state power to the various branches of government, demarcating their proper spheres and prescribing their relationship to one another. A constitutional regime is a government bound … Read more