Editorial cartoon, October 31, 2011
Who’s the greatest Filipino film director? No, it’s not Lino Brocka, Ishmael Bernal, Eddie Romero, or Brillante Mendoza. It’s Gerardo “Gerry” de Leon, himself a National Artist for Cinema like the first three, but the least known especially among younger Filipinos who have hardly heard of him, much less seen his movies. Alas, there’s little [...]
Those were some awesome things 2nd Lt. Erren Khe had to say last week in “Strictly Politics.” Erren is the brother of Lt. Jose Delfin Khe, one of the officers killed in Al-Barka, Basilan. First off, he cried to the heavens, why did his enemies have to mutilate the body of his brother and those [...]
Government declares war. Government negotiates. Rebel forces attack. Why are we not surprised? Military solutions of the past have never worked out. Since colonial times, under Spain and the United States, no assault on the conflict areas of Mindanao has ever succeeded. Nor have we seen a breakthrough under any Philippine president, including under Erap [...]
Justice Douglas, in Aptheker v. Secretary of State, said: “Free movement by the citizen is, of course, as dangerous to a tyrant as free expression of ideas or the right of assembly, and it is therefore controlled in most countries in the interest of security . . . . That is why the ticketing of [...]
For more than 10 years, I have advocated that we avoid visiting the cemeteries on All Saints’ Day. With no significant improvement in the traffic situation in Metro Manila, with more vehicles on the road and no additional roads to handle the increasing load, and with toll rates already shooting sky high, it is sheer [...]
I don’t know what it is with humans that they want to be scared by ghosts and ghouls on Halloween, All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. Thus was born a whole new genre of ghosts and horror stories in literature, movies and television. Even children are immersed early in ghosts and ghouls with the [...]
Incendiary language has roused and war drums have been sounded following the recent ambush-slaying of 19 Army Special Forces troops in Al-Barka, Basilan in southern Philippines. As in other civil wars, the battle on the ground ignites a similar battle on the air lanes, with each of the contending side trying to communicate its version [...]
I was stupefied upon reading the news story titled “Huge ‘BATANGAS’ sign to rise on Taal Volcano island.” (Inquirer, 10/20/11) Excuse me, but can’t Batangas Gov. Vilma Santos and Vice Gov. Mark Leviste think of anything better than to imitate another Hollywood original? Are we Filipinos so wanting of our own “true, good and beautiful,” [...]
We write in connection with the letter titled “e-Pass system faltering in SLEx tollgates.” (Inquirer, 10/22/11) Many weeks prior to the publication of the letter, both Citra Metro Manila Tollways Corp. (the Skyway project developer) and Skyway O&M Corp. (the Skyway operator) had already begun distributing leaflets to e-Pass users as they passed the toll [...]
First Lt. Vladimir Maninang, 27, witnessed life’s hardship even at a young age. As a child, he helped his father tend their farm and raise pigs to provide for his poor family. He was a consistent honor student in school. After graduating from high school he was admitted to the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) and [...]
I still recall a lot of basic journalism rules from my days as a writer and editor of my high school paper. One of them is that the paper’s editorial is supposed to reflect the views of the entire staff or, at the very least, of the editorial team. A consensus is made as to [...]
