A group of Filipinos based in the United States, convened by prominent business leader Loida Nicolas-Lewis and lawyer Ted Laguatan, has called for a boycott of China-made products as a way of protesting China’s bullying behavior in the disputed waters of the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). They are not talking of a government-supported … Read more

For the first time in its 45-year history, the Association of South East Asian Nations failed to issue a joint communiqué at the end of its annual conference. This self-imposed muteness merely confirms what the Philippines has long suspected: that Asean members will do nothing to disturb the beneficial economic relationship they each enjoy with … Read more

Here’s a question for those who, in the wake of Dolphy’s death the other day, may be discussing his impact on the Filipino consciousness: In his portrayal of the two TV-movie roles in which he made the greatest impression—the impoverished but easygoing padre de familia in “John en Marsha” and “Home Along da Riles”—and of … Read more

A few days ago, my 11-year-old granddaughter, Julia, who is in Grade 6 at Miriam, a Catholic school, came up to me asking: “Lolo, why did God create the world?” It was a question her teacher in Christian Living Education had given to the class to think about over the weekend. “Hmm, let me see,” … Read more

I’m writing this on July 4, the Independence Day of the United States of America.  We used to celebrate our own independence as a nation on this same date, until we decided that we owed it to ourselves to mark our full emancipation as a people by going back to June 12, 1898, when our … Read more

Pedro Reyes Abraham Jr., the all-around performing artist everybody fondly calls “Edru,” officially retired as a member of the University of the Philippines faculty last June 4, capping his teaching career with a month-long tour of the Visayas where, together with his students, he tirelessly performed and lectured for the common folk. Like many of … Read more

Following the ouster of its long-time president, Hosni Mubarak, Egypt has taken the first step toward building a modern democracy.  Last Sunday, it proclaimed the first-ever democratically elected civilian president in the nation’s history. It is not easy to read from the outcome of this closely contested election what urgent hopes and needs the people … Read more

Though I’m not a regular church-goer, this does not mean I am faithless. Most of the things I believe in I learned growing up in a Catholic family. Later in life, I realized these are found in equal measure in other religions.  They are the beliefs that help us find meaning in life, set lifelong … Read more

This school year, when public school teachers begin using 12 of the country’s mother tongues as languages of instruction in the first three years of grade school, they may find that employing the local language for writing and reading won’t be as easy as speaking it. They have to persist and not give up easily. … Read more

Twice during the impeachment trial of then Chief Justice Renato Corona, petitions were filed before the Supreme Court praying for its intervention in the unfolding process at the Senate. The first sought to abort the trial on the ground that the complaint endorsed by the majority in the House of Representatives was not properly verified. … Read more