Sixty-five years ago, from the deck of the freighter SS Willamette Victory, on the morning of July 30, 1946, I first set my eyes on the Philippines. The rigging of sunken ships protruding from the water of Manila Bay, and the fact that there was only one pier working attested…
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In a society where economic injustice has virtually become invisible because it assumes the form of massive and persistent poverty inflicted by faceless forces and institutions, the idea of justice for all rings hollow. When one listens to what poor people want for themselves and for their children, one rarely…
Leave a CommentOne of my 20 readers recently alerted me that Lisandro Claudio, a young advocate of the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill, had likened a Commentary of mine (“Those who can’t, can teach Natural Family Planning,” Inquirer 04/18/11) to sugary pork fat. This metaphor is found in a GMA News blog, “Church…
Leave a CommentNatural Family Planning (NFP) is offered by some as a “silver bullet,” an alternative to contraception, and scorned by others as an unreliable game of “Vatican roulette.” Claims on both sides are made easier by the scarcity of reliable data from the field on how acceptable it is to ordinary…
Leave a CommentIt is so easy to go into microfinance. With a small amount of capital, minimum policies set on the loanable amount that can be as low as P3,000 per client, interest rate, period of payment, mode of regular repayments, loan security which need not be hard collateral, savings or capital…
Leave a Comment“IF I were to call you a ‘cultured individual,’ would I be praising or insulting you?” This is one of the first questions I pose to college students in my Introduction to Sociology-Anthropology classes at the Ateneo de Manila University. Most students, of course, correctly identify this as a compliment…
Leave a CommentWhile in Jakarta for the ASEAN meeting, the President Aquino announced that the government plans to make available 1.5 million hectares of agricultural lands to be leased to 560,000 Metro Manila informal settlers. (Inquirer, 5/9/11) The news item drew reactions ranging from surprise to disbelief. Evidently it was a serious proposition.…
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The violent demolition inside the Laperal compound in Guadalupe, Makati was not a simple clash between informal settlers (often characterized as law breakers) and the local government, supposedly the implementers of law. Many sympathized with the residents left homeless–first by a fire, then by the local government’s demolition crew. On the…
Leave a CommentAs I watched Christ’s faithful gather symbolically in the Upper Room on Holy Thursday, around Calvary’s cross on Good Friday, and at the empty tomb on Easter Sunday, a wave of joy flowed over me. Swept up like a chip of wood on the surface of a boiling wave by…
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In pursuit of an inclusive city
The contrast between Naga City and Quezon City is staggering. In terms of land area, Naga City (8,448 hectares) is half the size of Quezon City (16,112 hectares). As of 2007, the population of Bicol’s industrial hub was only 12,300 persons fewer than Quezon City’s Barangay Commonwealth’s 172,834. Last year,…