Singapore prides itself in having the greenest and cleanest city in all of Asia. Its environmental laws are exacting. A government agency religiously monitors the quality of the country’s air. Smokers are treated like an outcast race exiled to a few corners where they can poison their own lungs without harming the health of others. … Read more
Whatever it was that motivated our colleagues and students at the University of the Philippines College of Business Administration to name their college—the academic program itself, and not just the building—after their esteemed alumnus and former dean, Cesar E.A. Virata, I am quite sure it had nothing to do with the pledge of an endowment. … Read more
What is it exactly that we praise in fathers? The answer, of course, very much depends on the culture. While there are traits (like being a good provider) that are universally admired, our notions of what constitutes ideal fatherhood will tend to vary not just across cultures but also across generations. I grew up being … Read more
When General Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed Philippine independence from Spain on June 12, 1898, he had only the vaguest idea of how to proceed to establish a self-governing nation. The act was mainly the initiative of the military chiefs of the revolution. Missing was the civilian component. It fell on Apolinario Mabini to work out what … Read more
A parent whose biggest goal in life is to see all her children graduate from the University of the Philippines wrote me the other day to ask what advice to give her son who had taken a leave of absence from his studies in UP in order to work in their town’s local government. The … Read more
Something unusual is happening in Turkey today that is not eliciting much local interest, mostly because there are not many Filipinos living and working there about whose safety we usually worry. Since last week, the tail end of May, waves of antigovernment mass demonstrations have rocked this ancient land straddling Europe and Asia. People have … Read more
Invited to give the keynote speech at the 7th National Social Science Congress the other day, I welcomed the occasion not as a celebration of the work we have done but as a cue to allow the next generation to shine. The congress had “Generations” for its theme. I spoke about the political oligarchies that … Read more
POPS is an acronym for “privately-owned public space,” a concept that is fast replacing our traditional notion of public space. The old public space we knew referred to town plazas, parks, squares, and promenades where citizens congregated in their free time. Nowadays, the most common public spaces are the shopping malls that were built for … Read more
From the moment we first beheld the unique magic of people power in 1986, we have scanned the political horizon for signs of its recurrence. The possibility that it will appear again gives us eternal hope. Its unpredictability, however, keeps us guessing when and in what form it will happen again. Its elusiveness tells us … Read more
To my last column on the current conflict between the Philippines and Taiwan, a country with whom, until recently, we have had only friendly relations, a reader from Canada has written a most thoughtful rejoinder. He wishes to remain anonymous, but, with his permission, I will quote from the rich account he has shared of … Read more