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 closedTag: Extra Judicial Killings
The increasing divisiveness of our politics has been thrown into sharp relief this election season. Aside from the constant mudslinging of politicians, it seems so difficult now for people of different political stripes to have real, meaningful conversations with each other, whether in public or private. This is part of…
Comments closedAfter that terrible week in August in which the police killed 81 drug suspects, a Roman Catholic friend announced she was about to “excommunicate” herself from her parish. Bishop Honesto Ongtioco had told parishes in his diocese of Cubao to toll their bells each night in memory of those killed…
Comments closedLORD HEAL OUR LAND (cf. 2 Chronicles 7:14) Our brothers and sisters in Christ: Kian, Carl, Reynaldo…they were young boys, enjoying life, loving sons of parents who doted on them. Now an entire nation knows them by name because their lives have been snuffed out so cruelly, their dreams and…
Comments closed24 August 2017 TO THE WHOLE PROVINCE Coming Together in the Power of the Spirit Statement of the Philippine Province Jesuits on Fighting the Evil of Illegal Drugs It is with deep concern for the welfare of our nation that the Philippine Province of the Society of Jesus joins His…
Comments closedAbout a year ago, on May 9, 2016, the Filipino people–or at least, 16 million of them, about 39 percent of the electorate–entrusted our nation to a strange shepherd. President Rodrigo Roa Duterte came to power promising to protect the innocent by spilling the blood of the guilty: criminals, especially…
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Who we want to be
I was deeply shaken by the recent torture and death of Randall “Randy” Echanis, chair of Anakpawis and tireless advocate for the poor and landless. When the first reports emerged, I thought it was strange that his killing departed from the usual modus operandi of hired assassins, with which we…