‘Commentary’ Archives
“Tipping Points”
“Point of no return”. That’s how defense lawyers tag Chief Justice Renato Corona’s decision, on Day 36 of his impeachment trial, to appear before the court. Senator-judge Francis “Chiz” Escudero says it’s a ‘make or break move”. Others prefer the classic “tipping point.” Malcolm Gladwell titled his best selling book ( Little Brown / 2000 ) that way..Ideas to behavior “spread like viruses do” and shove institutions to the [...]
War and peace
IS peace elusive these days? I refer more to peace of mind more than anything else, though we can not discount the fact that we can get the sensation that peace is also slippery in the social, political, ideological and even religious spheres. We just have to look around to see that some trouble and disturbance are erupting in many parts of the world, and even in our own country, our own province, town or city, and even in our places of work and in our homes. Of course, we know that even [...]
Ordering back the tides
“Trees fail to flower,” Aetas huddled at the Bataan mountain top meeting. told Fr. Shay Cullen. “Bees are disappearing. Storms blow away our nipa huts as never before.” With Preda Foundation coworkers, the priest toiled up the two hour steep trail on horseback. PREDA buys Aeta wild mangoes at double what lowland hawkers offer and markets them abroad.” Half a world away, University of Bern experiments span two [...]
Go easy with opinions
I HAVE just finished reading a book about Pope Benedict XVI. I prefer not to mention the title nor the author. I just want to highlight the need to go easy with opinions, because while they will always have some grain of truth, they most likely don’t have it all. The book was written by a journalist covering the Vatican beat. There’s some understandable hype used in promoting the book which should be taken with a grain of salt. I understand that being a journalist, the author tends to [...]
“The Lady is not for turning”
“Never grow a wishbone where your backbone should be,” Columnist Dorothy Parker would rib friends in New York’s lower East Side.. And backbone is what Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales always had. Explain within 72 hours the $10 million stashed in two dollar accounts at Philippine Savings Bank, Morales asked impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona: Five Bank of the PI peso deposits appear “grossly disproportionate” to income. As Supreme Court [...]
Internet hit and run
Friction over Scarborough Shoals, between the Philippines and China , have erupted into hacking clashes on Internet. Chinese hackers of the “Silic Group” , bragged the Philippine Institute of Development Studies and Bulacan provincial government websites were in the cross-hairs of their next hacking foray. Bulacan has a has a time-lock security feature Malacañang on Monday said websites of the Official Gazette, the Presidential Museum and Library website were targets [...]
Bread of life
“I MYSELF am the bread of life. No one who comes to me shall ever be hungry, no one who believes in me shall thirst again.” (Jn 6,35) We need to enliven our belief that in Christ we have everything, we have what is truly and ultimately needed by us. Many of our needs are passing, are of a temporal nature. It is Christ who we truly and ultimately need. And he gives himself so completely to us as to make himself bread to be eaten by us. Although he is like air since we can not truly [...]
Reckless Spillover
Kalapati mababang lipad translates loosely into rooftop skimming pigeons. It is Pinoy shorthand for harlot. “The axiom resonated at the Philippine Press Institute’s conference Monday. “Attempts at self-regulation are failing”, Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility’s Luis Teodoro warned. Media's ethical lapses court heavy handed government interference. This threat emerges in spillover from August 2010 coverage of eight Hong Kong tourists and a hostage taker killed at Luneta [...]
Continuing conversion
WE have to understand that conversion is a continuing affair for all of us in this life. We can never say, if we have to follow by what our Christian faith tells us, that we are good enough as to need conversion no more. We are all sinners, St. John said. And even the just man, as the Bible said, falls seven times in a day. Besides, it is this sense of continuing conversion that would really ensure us that whatever we do, whatever would happen to us, including our failures and defeats, [...]
Unsettled “IOU”
“Media Accountability and Public Engagement” is the theme that 76 newspapers will discuss at Philippine Press Institute’s annual meeting starting Monday. Harsh facts underpin those glowing captions. President Benigno Aquino will key note this two day meeting. Earlier, he quit waflling and endorsed the Freedom of Information bill That should buff up his bona-fides.. Discussions will then hopscotch from an “Asian Media Barometer” [...]
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