The pork barrel system of allocating public funds to benefit a local constituency is a feature of politics we borrowed from the United States. Under this system, elected representatives are given the opportunity to insert allocations for their pet projects in the spending program of the national government. Any expenditure not explicitly recommended by the … Read more

The advantage to society of having a president like P-Noy who, unlike most of his predecessors, has kept his popularity and credibility intact halfway through his term, is that people are able once more to look at their government with hope and less cynicism. The disadvantage, however, is that people also begin to think that … Read more

A new papal encyclical has just been released and, as its title “Lumen Fidei” (Light of Faith) suggests, its subject is faith. It bears the signature of Pope Francis. But anyone who has been inspired by the short and simple style of the present pope, as against the sometimes ponderous erudition of Benedict XVI, will … Read more

It was bound to happen. Given an existing system that makes it possible for legislators to get a kickback of 10 to 20 percent from their pork barrel allocations, someone, sooner or later, would come up with a scheme that allows greedy lawmakers to pocket not just a portion but the bulk of the funds. … Read more

Dealing with the government’s frontline offices often feels like running the gauntlet. Meaning: It’s not a pleasant experience but a kind of hazing. There’s danger lurking everywhere, and you feel defenseless. You need a good map or a guide to tell you where to go, what you must have with you, and how to get … Read more

One of the first things we had to face after my wife and I decided in 1973 to live with her grandaunt, music professor Jovita Fuentes, inside the University of the Philippines campus, was the water problem. Built on the gentle slope of a hill at the edge of the sprawling campus, the house of … Read more

Here in the Philippines, we like to call such events “people power revolutions,” a self-description that oozes with political romanticism but carries little analytic value. The term preferred by observers is “civilian-military coup,” a term that traces the initiative for the ouster of a regime to civil society, while acknowledging the crucial role played by … Read more

The term “panopticon,” coined from the prefix “pan” (meaning all) and the word “optic” (pertaining to the eye), refers to an observational tower in the center of a circular compound that is supposed to see everything around it. This architectural concept is associated with the 18th-century English philosopher Jeremy Bentham, who thought of it as … Read more

In September 1991, the Philippine Senate voted to reject a new bases treaty that would have allowed the United States to keep its military facilities in the Philippines. That decision was a watershed in the relationship between the Philippines and its former colonial master.  Many thought of it as marking the true beginning of a … Read more

The P-Noy administration’s plan to clear Metro Manila’s esteros and waterways of informal settlers by offering them money and resettlement is commendable. But it is nothing new. Past administrations devised all kinds of schemes to entice families living in these unsafe areas to go back to their provinces. But, even before the flood and typhoon … Read more