When one looks at pictures of the devastation wrought by Supertyphoon “Yolanda,” it is easy to be overwhelmed by the enormity of the rehabilitation work that is required to make the affected cities and towns livable again. The sheer planning and logistical problems it implies so boggle the mind that we are led to focus … Read more

Nelson Mandela lived so long that he outlasted all his contemporaries. One of them, Walter Sisulu, his friend, mentor, and comrade in the African National Congress who himself spent 26 years in jail, worried that his own frail health might not allow him to be present at his friend’s funeral to deliver his eulogy. So … Read more

Endorsements and recommendations are such a commonplace in a sharply hierarchical society like ours that it is difficult to say what legal significance they may have. When a person occupying a high political or social rank endorses an individual for appointment, or a contractor for a project, or an applicant for public assistance, what kind … Read more

It was he who founded the underground movement that ended centuries of Spanish colonial rule over our people. Yet, the relative obscurity of Andres Bonifacio’s life and the controversial circumstances surrounding his death made it difficult to define his role in the nation’s history. No doubt, this difficulty was compounded by the coming of the … Read more

A day after returning to a grateful and adoring nation from his redemptive win over Brandon Rios in Macau, boxing legend and Saranggani Rep. Manny Pacquiao faced the press to complain about the way Philippine tax officials have been treating him. The Bureau of Internal Revenue apparently had earlier ordered a freeze on all his … Read more

In the early hours following the exit of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” from Leyte, residents staggered out of their flattened homes like zombies. But somewhere in downtown Tacloban, a small group of survivors spontaneously gathered in front of the Gaisano shopping mall.  Wielding improvised crowbars, they began to pry open the metal shutters protecting the mall’s glass … Read more

By striking down the controversial Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) for lawmakers’ projects for being unconstitutional, the Supreme Court signaled the urgency of reforming the way we conduct the affairs of government. The high court took a bold step in reversing its two previous rulings on the same issue. It did not articulate a new … Read more

Dr. Vicente B. Malano, Pagasa’s OIC administrator since June, must be one of the unhappiest public officials in the country today. Although the agency he heads performed an excellent job in providing clear advisories about Supertyphoon “Yolanda”—from the time it took shape as a band of threatening clouds over the Western Pacific to the moment … Read more

Struck by calamity, a nation may be able to withstand the most horrific loss of lives and the most extensive destruction of homes, factories and farms, public facilities and private property. But, perhaps, nothing brings more distress or leaves a deeper trauma on society than the descent to barbarism of those who have survived. This … Read more

Of the first images of the devastating power that Supertyphoon “Yolanda” bore as it barreled through the Visayan islands, what struck me most was the grainy footage of the frenzied swaying of chandeliers in an old cathedral in Leyte whose roof was torn piece by piece by the howling wind. Throughout the day, television stations … Read more