Hazing and the culture of violence
The death of Adamson University student John Matthew Salilig at the hands of his presumptive fraternity “brothers” is a wake-up call to everyone, specially those with a relative in a college or university, that hazing is a continuing problem in many schools as well as in other Philippine institutions.
PH’s ‘improved’ human rights situation
As the visiting European Union (EU) parliamentarians were declaring that the human rights situation in the Philippines has “improved,” a 17-year old male and two others had apparently been abducted in a Batangas town. Very few details were available as this column was being written, but it was only one of the many abductions that…
The revolution that wasn’t
What makes celebrating EDSA 1986 less than attractive even for the better informed is that, while often described as a “revolution,” it was hardly that. But EDSA 1986 was nevertheless a historic moment, though brief, of mass empowerment.
Real problems need real solutions
Unless the real problems of Philippine basic education are addressed with real solutions, it will continue to be the less than reliable foundation for the making of the employable citizens millions of parents hope their children will be.
Media access and the right to know
The accreditation of bloggers that Marcos Junior’s choice for Press Secretary (she will also head the Presidential Communication Operations Office) is planning is not new. It was also considered by her predecessor, but abandoned because of problems over which bloggers would join the Malacañang Press Corps in covering the President. There are thousands of bloggers…
A chance to do better — and move on
“Do something about it” should be the incoming administration’s mantra, if, as Imee Marcos implied, having been given a “second chance,” it indeed intends to do a better job at governance than the first Marcos regime.
Church and politics
Although historically part of the power elite, the Catholic Church in these isles has at least been equal to meeting some of the most urgent challenges of the times.