Note: On June 27, 2024, Dr Anna Marie Karaos, former Executive Director of ICSI and now Program Consultant, was conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Humanities (Honoris Causa) during the 2024 Commencement Exercises of the Ateneo de Naga University. Below is her full commencement speech. (Photo taken from the…
Comments closedAuthor: Anna Marie A. Karaos
Development organizations and practitioners have long acknowledged the benefits of inclusive and participatory processes in the planning and execution of development projects. including those funded by the government. The Philippines has a well-established and long-running program under the DSWD that embodies the principles of bottom-up development through an approach called…
Comments closed
Lawmakers defending the anti-terrorism bill have reacted to what they perceive to be exaggerated fears among the bill’s critics. The fears could be exaggerated, but they make a lot of sense coming from a traumatized people. I do not refer to the trauma of martial law to which a number…
Comments closed
On Feb. 14, 2019, President Duterte signed into law Republic Act No. 11201 creating the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development. The new law did not create much buzz, as it did not substantially alter the powers, policies and programs of the government agencies charged with responding to the…
Comments closed
One of the infrastructure projects in the government’s “Build, build, build” program which is certain to bring great relief to commuters and travelers is the North-South Railway Project. The South line consists of a 68-kilometer commuter line that will run between Tutuban in Manila and Los Baños in Laguna and…
Comments closed
As the two chambers of Congress find themselves in an impasse over the convening of a constituent assembly to amend the Constitution, a fortunate digression has brought the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) back on the administration’s priority legislative agenda, where it should be. The Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC), which had…
Comments closed
A statement that appeared in an article in The Economist concerning the government’s decision to allow the burial of former president Ferdinand Marcos’ remains in the Libingan ng mga Bayani says it well: “… [A]s one strongman buries another, the Philippines appears to be moving backward, not forward.” It won’t…
Leave a Comment
I fought hard to recover from the sickening news of the Supreme Court’s decision on the Marcos burial. After two previous decisions that allowed the release from detention of former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and former senator Juan Ponce Enrile, both charged with the crime of plunder, this decision is…
Comments closed
The Supreme Court’s decision to grant bail to Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, who is accused of a nonbailable crime, on humanitarian considerations, has brought attention to the disagreement between two of the Court’s justices. Disagreement can be a good thing. Far from eroding my respect for the Supreme Court, Justice Marvic…
Leave a Comment
Reducing harm
We often think of the criminal justice system as a way by which society protects the well-being of its members against those who might do them harm. But what about those accused of wrongdoing? Should the criminal justice system also safeguard their well-being and protect them from being harmed? Among…