In their recent book, “How Democracies Die,” Harvard University professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt write about how democracies deteriorate into authoritarianism. Although their concern in the book is how US democracy is now imploding, the authors share decades of research on democracies worldwide. Ziblatt is an expert in European…
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Some political and legal pundits have credited President Rodrigo Duterte for triggering serious discussion on federalism as a form of government which, it is argued, suits the situation and demands of the Philippines’ diverse society. For the PDP-Laban Federalism Institute, “The unprecedented assumption to power of Duterte and his political…
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In one of the lectures featured in the Talakayang Alay sa Bayan (TALAB), a one-day event featuring lectures, workshops, and guided tours for the students and alumni of the Ateneo de Manila University held last October 14, Atty Christian S. Monsod spoke about the threats posed by charter change to…
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“Duck, cover, and hold.” We are now familiar with this stratagem, thanks to the regular drills of the Metro Manila Development Authority. This concrete and practical tip may spell the difference when our lives are on the line. But what do we do when tyranny threatens to snuff out the…
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Anna Marie A. Karaos, Associate Director and Head of the Urban Poverty and Governance Program of the John J. Carroll Institute on Church and Social Issues, gave this presentation at the 115th Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Plenary Assembly held on July 9, 2017 at the Pope Pius…
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JJCICSI joined the annual “Kalbaryo ng Maralita (Calvary of the Poor)” staged on Holy Tuesday, April 11, by various urban poor groups with their partner NGOs, the Urban Poor Associates (UPA) and Community Organizers Multiversity (COM). Led by urban poor community members carrying crosses representing the issue adversely affecting the sector, thousands of participants marched from Plaza Miranda to the…
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Is the Church calling for people to march on the 25th?” a friend asked last week. By “Church” she meant not the community of the faithful but the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, a lapse into which even progressive Catholics can fall. Her hopes, and those of other Catholic…
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Social solidarity for real change
In Myanmar a fragile decade of democracy has suddenly been snuffed out by a military coup. The country’s elected leaders were taken away in military vans in the dead of night, and slapped with flimsy charges that do not even begin to obscure the blatant power struggle at play. Water…