Donald Trump is finding the US presidency a complicated job. Our own President Duterte says he doesn’t need or relish the office. The first is naive to think the presidency would be a picnic. The second’s reaction is mystifying; why run for the office if you don’t need it in your life? The presidency is the toughest job… Read More »
No apologies. The “Nothing!” below that you are about to see – and perhaps, read – is a product of just one of those bad hair days that creeps me when I dare to write. Before “Wala lang!” burst out, the 16 paragraphs — that claim to be poetry without… Read More »
Dalawang magulang ang dumalo sa isang university commencement exercise. Kumpare 1: Sa wakas, nagmartsa din ang aking panganay. Magna! Kumpare 2: Inggit ako sa iyo, Pare. Kumpare 1: Magna-nine years na sana sa college kundi pumasang-awa! Teka, bakit tila malungkot ka? Kumpare 2: Summa kasi ang anak ko. Kumpare 1: Wow, ang galing. Ano ‘yan, luha ng tuwa?… Read More »
More than a half century after United Airlines launched its famous slogan “Fly the Friendly Skies,” the giant airliner has become a paradox on how to treat its passengers properly and in a friendly manner. After the brutal and bloody removal of Vietnamese doctor David Dao, a paying passenger who had confirmed booking and seat, last Monday to… Read More »
The plan of the University of the Philippines (UP) to confer an honorary doctorate degree on President Rodrigo Duterte has created quite a stir. What is the significance of the ruckus? As soon as word got out that UP was going to give Mr. Duterte an honoris causa, an uproar erupted, not only among UP students and alumni… Read More »
No apologies. The “Nothing!” below that you are about to see – and perhaps, read – is a product of just one of those bad hair days that creeps me when I dare to write. Before “Wala lang!” burst out, the 16 paragraphs — that claim to be poetry without… Read More »
In the past two weeks, President Duterte and his allies have been kept busy attacking the President’s critics, in particular Vice President Leni Robredo, the European Union and the media. If there’s anything certain in the Homeland these days, it’s that if you criticize the President, you should expect a torrent of curses and counter-attack from the tough-talking… Read More »
Who was it who said about rape that “if it’s inevitable, relax and enjoy it?” This seems to sum up the policy of the Duterte administration with regards to China’s bullying in the South China Sea. We can’t afford to fight China, so let them do what they want to do in the South China Sea and let’s… Read More »
Butch Galicia It was a long trip. Anxiety gripped us along the way. Earlier, we were told stuff about the place and its people. We tried hard to let the relatively new information sink in. Yet, we still harbored opinions of concern and feelings of unease. … Read More »
Described by the great President Abraham Lincoln as “a nation conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal,” the United States of America is now being transformed by one man into a nation guided by bigotry and injustice. In just one week, the image crafted by the country’s fathers and strengthened by… Read More »