The debate about the protest by Carlos Celdran exposes fault lines in the way Filipinos think. The reactions have been most telling: Filipinos still love their churches and their courts, however much and often they had been let down in the past.
The members of the parliamentary opposition to reproductive health must face the music. They owe their power to the democratic process. They mustn’t disdain the democratic verdict. If only to show respect for the source of their power and all the perks they now enjoy, they must stop delaying the vote. It isn’t kosher to enjoy democracy’s bounties while shrugging off its burdens. President Aquino said it more diplomatically when he convened the pro-RH congressmen in Malacañang: “Leadership comes not just with perks but also with responsibilities, and among those responsibilities is that of making a choice.”
AS AN alumnus of the UP College of Law, I join my co-alumni and well-wishers in jubilating over the well-deserved appointment of two alumni to positions of responsibility in our country—Marvic Fomorca Leonen as the new associate justice of the Supreme Court, and Raul Cano Pangalangan as the new publisher of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. [...]
One more not rise to a standing ovation for a trailer even before the movie is made, lest unrealistic expectations spoil the actual viewing. Similarly, the Framework Agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front is a milestone for sure, but unrestrained hype may well derail peace in the end. The Framework says little but the public has been conditioned to believe it says everything. What will happen when our people check under the hood and discover what’s not there?
The so-called Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro uses words to conceal rather than reveal. For instance, it grandly declares: “The relationship of the Central Government with the Bangsamoro Government shall be asymmetric.”
Critics of the Cybercrime Law (RA 10175) err when they target its punishment of defamation. Libel has been punished in the Revised Penal Code since 1930, and presumably before that in the Spanish-era Codigo Penal. The Cybercrime Law didn’t invent it. That is completely understandable. After all, libel is defined as “a crime against honor,” [...]
Recent debates on mining allow us to go beyond the usual skirmishes over minutiae and draw us into the war over bigger ideas. It’s about time, the better to confront the tyranny of political correctness and expose our underlying attitudes and philosophies.
WHY DO those who are old enough to remember martial law make great effort today to mark its 40th anniversary? Because many of us are worried that the next generation seems blasé about a return to dictatorship and some even sound like they would relish it. I have in the past looked at the pedagogical [...]
On Thursday last week in Kuala Lumpur, I opened the newspaper and, lo and behold, saw the banner of Malaysia’s Star (“The people’s paper”): “Bye, Bye, Filipinas.” The report opens thus: “With the Philippine Government’s plan to phase out the sending of citizens overseas to work [as domestic helpers], it’s as good as saying goodbye to Filipina maids.”
Finally, someone high up in government has raised the alarm about the rise of on-the-job training (OJT) requirements as a cover for unpaid or underpaid labor. Vice President Jejomar Binay has rightly called our attention to a phenomenon that opens the door to the exploitation of Filipino students. Abroad, such internships have been called the modern-day form of slave labor.
A Jewish rabbi asked why “bad things happen to good people,” and wrote a book to help him find the answer (Harold Kushner, “When Bad Things Happen to Good People”). Filipinos can likewise ask why a bad thing happened to Jesse Robredo, a good man and outstanding public servant, but we can find our peace best in remembering him by embracing the many causes and reforms he dreamt for our nation.
Given the heated arguments, maybe the title should end with a question mark. Is it possible to be sober, rational and truthful about reproductive health (RH), and still be a good Catholic? I, for one, certainly wouldn’t give up trying. My father was prefect of the Sodality in his student days at Ateneo (and member [...]
