There have been a variety messages coming from bishops, catholic lay groups, and organizations regarding the involvement of the Church in politics for the coming May 13 elections. While organizations like PPCRV and Simbahan Lingkod have continued to work for non-partisan voters’ education, some coalitions of Catholic lay groups have…
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I write as one of the 9.2 percent of adult Catholics in the Philippines who, according to the recent Social Weather Stations survey, have sometimes thought of leaving the Catholic Church. These instances occurred mostly in the “bad old days” before Cardinal Jaime Sin gave a new face to the…
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On the tiny island of Boracay there is a treasure arguably more valuable than its famed white beaches—the way of life of the island’s earliest settlers, the Ati. But that is a well-kept secret. If resort developers have their way, the once dutiful stewards of the island’s forests will be…
Leave a CommentHas Cardinal Luis Tagle been reading Inquirer columnist Randy David? Seems so, from an interview with Juan Pablo Salud published in Philippine Graphic (Jan. 27). In the interview, the cardinal speaks of President Aquino as possibly the first “modern president” of the Philippines. He goes on to describe “modernity” in…
Leave a CommentWill the Prince of Peace come to the Philippines this Christmas? My fear is that He may pass by, but only for a moment, as the nasty fighting over the reproductive health bill—or the aftermath of a divisive vote in the House—embitters the nation. The debate has deteriorated into a…
Leave a CommentYes, I am still an American citizen, waiting these many years for permanent-resident status as a step toward Philippine citizenship. I follow American political developments, although not as closely as those of my adopted country. Yes, I have a ballot for the upcoming US presidential election, and I shall send…
Leave a CommentSeptember 23, 1972, was a Saturday. But at St. Theresa’s College Quezon City (STCQC), we were at school to make up for unplanned holidays owed to typhoons and mass protests. The lesson we got was unplanned, too. Scrawled on the blackboards were the words “Martial law has been declared.” Proclamation…
Leave a CommentNew York City, Sept. 11, 2001, 8:51 a.m. The usually urbane voice of WNYC’s news anchor rang with rare urgency. A plane had flown into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The roof of our Brooklyn apartment building looked out at Lower Manhattan, just across the East River.…
Leave a CommentPresident Aquino may be chuckling behind his hand at the way in which his remark about “responsible parenthood” put a cat in the chicken coop. Amid the excited cackling that followed the President’s remark, it took Prof. Bernardo Villegas of Opus Dei to remind listeners on Radio Veritas that responsible…
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Bongbong Marcos blew it
The rainy season has begun, certain to be followed by typhoons and floods. Two episodes of heavy rains and resultant floods in fact occurred in Metro Manila last month. Horrendous traffic followed, commuters were stranded, those who could not wait to reach home waded through the waters, oblivious to the…