Glimpses
The proxy elections
By Jose Ma. MontelibanoI really like what Sen. Serge Osmeña said about the recently concluded senatorial elections, “P-Noy won but Binay did not lose.”
I really like what Sen. Serge Osmeña said about the recently concluded senatorial elections, “P-Noy won but Binay did not lose.”
I am on a ferry boat from Cebu on its way to Hilongos, Leyte. It has been some time since I have taken this route to reach Maasin, Southern Leyte, which is my final destination for today. My age does not encourage me to do traveling like this anymore. After all, I had to wake [...]
Losing a friend as many and I have in William MacGregor Esposo, or Billy, despite our having accepted a long time ago that death was an active and constant threat to him, is always an emotional trauma. We who had been among Billy’s closest friends in the last two decades are not strangers to the dramas of life, not at our ages. And we have not been strangers to danger, excitement and radical change either – these had brought us together, kept us together, and made our friendships even stronger.
Politicians have become entertainers, and entertainers have become politicians. For as long as Filipinos seek entertainment more than good governance, then it will continue to be entertainers becoming politicians and politicians become entertainers. Entertainment tends to distract us from our daily worries, or the exhaustion from our daily routine. With the kind of extreme poverty [...]
For five days, the largest and most inspiring volunteer event in Philippines history, the Bayani Challenge, witnessed upwards of 70,000 participants daily. The Bayani Challenge is a joint event of Pilipinas Natin and Gawad Kalinga hosted in 37 sites in 33 provinces. It began on March 23 and ended, the other day, March 27.
It is time to review the program of subsidizing state universities and colleges. Like any government expense, school subsidies must have justification, their objectives clear and desirable, and their results measurable and proportionately beneficial to the common good. The massive support for public school system from grade school to high school is understandable and necessary. [...]
Twenty-seven years ago, the miracle of a peaceful revolution that removed a dictator from power unfolded in Edsa. Since then, much has happened that could never have been predicted at that time. Personal and political fortunes had serious ups and downs, heels became heroes and heroes became heels.
When the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution removed a dictator, it was not only the physical Ferdinand Marcos that Filipinos sought to get rid of, it was also what he represented. Much has been said of his brilliance as a lawyer, his journey to political greatness, his brand of leadership. Yet, great power in the [...]
The campaign season for candidates aspiring for national positions has kicked off. There is little cause for me to be excited, though. The coming May 2013 elections are a far cry from the 2010 presidential elections when an air of change was so rife in the air, when Filipino citizens saw a good reason to volunteer – and did in massive numbers. The campaign that has just formally opened offer little to the imagination, devoid of great vision for an emerging nation and a most probable descent to politics rather than an impetus for continuing change.
I am in the middle of a late night drive from Santa Clara to Long Beach, from Northern to Southern California, a full six hours without stopping. There are two young Fil-Ams traveling with me to meet with fellow advocates and volunteers in a common cause in the Bay Area. The last meeting was with Fil-Am students from Santa Clara University.
I am not sure who started what, whether political dynasties co-opted Church leaders or Church dynasties nurtured political dynasties. I guess that the history of societies would give us the final clue on who began dynasties – the agents of God or the agents of the State. Religious rivalries have often brought out different [...]
In a reversal that astounds, the Philippines has been the focus of positive and exciting news. It used to be that the most prevalent of commentaries heaped on both Filipinos and the Philippines centered on two societal cancers – corruption and poverty. Then, stemming from that corruption and poverty would flow a myriad of horror [...]
