POSTS FOR "Commentary"

Time has a way of teaching you the lessons you missed when they were first taught to you, right? I've found myself staring out of windows a few times, wondering what went wrong and what I could have done differently and how else I could communicate what I think people need to understand. In the few years since our democracy started to decline, I've been in a constant rage, wanting to both embrace and destroy this heathen generation that can't seem to recognize its own good.

Bulatlat Contributors | Mar 15, 2023

Balik-Tanaw | Jesus and the Samaritan Woman

A journey of the people of God. They thirst for water. “Why did you ever make us leave Egypt?” They quarrelled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord in our midst or not?” In the book of Exodus 17:3-7 Moses is being threatened. A prophet chosen by God to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt- i.e. from slavery to freedom. Moses is being questioned. In the desert there is no supply of water. Moses cried to the Lord. The Lord directed him to strike the rock in Horeb with the same staff with which he struck the river. And so he struck the rock and the water flowed from it for the people to drink. God heeded the question of His people. He heard their cry through Moses. God never abandoned his people Israel. God quenched their thirst for freedom and salvation.

Bulatlat Contributors | Mar 12, 2023

Vantage Point | Hazing and the culture of violence

The death of Adamson University student John Matthew Salilig at the hands of his presumptive fraternity “brothers” is a wake-up call to everyone, especially those with a relative in a college or university, that hazing is a continuing problem in many schools as well as in other Philippine institutions. Salilig’s case is in fact provoking other citizens who had so far been silent to reveal how their own kin were similarly victimized.

Bulatlat Contributors | Mar 12, 2023

At Ground Level | Ecumenical church leaders plead for lasting peace

Into the eighth month of the new administration, the government’s virulent red-tagging campaign is still being waged by the mouthpieces (official or otherwise) of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict – now nominally headed by Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as chairperson.

Bulatlat Contributors | Mar 12, 2023

First Person | Sleepless for weeks

Buying a P2.4-million minibus is definitely not an option for Papa; his jeeps' income are just enough to sustain the family's daily needs. "Saan ako kukuha ng pera? Uutang? Maintenance pa lang niyan, lugi na ako," he says. Even so, no bank would provide him such loan at his age.

Bulatlat Contributors | Mar 7, 2023

Balik-Tanaw | Do not be afraid

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Bulatlat Contributors | Mar 5, 2023

Vantage Point | PHL’s ‘improved’ human rights situation

As the visiting European Union (EU) parliamentarians were declaring that the human rights situation in the Philippines has “improved,” a 17-year-old male and two others had apparently been abducted in a Batangas town. Very few details were available as this column was being written, but it was only one of the many abductions that are still happening despite the change in administration last July, 2022.

Bulatlat Contributors | Mar 5, 2023

At Ground Level | Nine years later, still no clarity on ‘EDCA sites’

A news report on Thursday in Business Mirror that headlined “Senate grills defense brass on plans for EDCA expansion, sites” raised much curiosity for its sheer lack of detailed information. I found this unusual for a reportage by veteran newsman Butch Fernandez, whom I have known for decades.

Bulatlat Contributors | Mar 5, 2023

Vantage Point | The revolution that wasn’t

Throughout its six years in office, the Duterte administration paid scant attention, if at all, to the anniversaries of the 1986 “People Power” or EDSA I “Revolution.”

Bulatlat Contributors | Feb 25, 2023

At Ground level | US gained by saving the Marcoses in 1986

The irony cannot be ignored. Today’s 37th observance of the Filipino people’s historic peaceful uprising – which led to the ouster of the 14-year US-backed dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. – happens with his namesake-son sitting as president in Malacañang.

Bulatlat Contributors | Feb 25, 2023

Balik-Tanaw | Wisdom in the least

Time and time again, we are reminded of keeping our connections and relations with our kapwa. Just as the pandemic has taught us. Sadly though, it seems like the world is not learning and listening to the wisdom in the least. The world is still focused on producing more than what is needed, is fixated on owning and consuming more and more. Our modern lifestyle is contributing to the destruction of mother nature. We seem to be forgetting to see and hear our brothers and sisters that are hurting the most – the poor, the indigenous peoples, the farmers, the laborers, the women, the children. More and more women and children are still becoming victims of domestic abuse and sexual harassment. We, peoples of these islands seem to have forgotten the value of kapwa that is part of our spirituality.

Bulatlat Contributors | Feb 12, 2023

Vantage Point | Foreign policy predicament

The Marcos II administration has declared that part of its foreign policy is strengthening Philippine relations with other ASEAN countries and with China. But it is still the US on which the country has to depend for its external defense because, despite the billions spent on its supposed “modernization,” the Armed Forces of the Philippines cannot even protect Filipino fisherfolk from Chinese harassment and is most expert only at the suppression of dissent and social unrest. No government is to blame for this predicament except the Philippines’ own.

Bulatlat Contributors | Feb 12, 2023

At Ground Level | US touts its aid to boost AFP modernization plan

Last month, the Philippine Navy acquired its first ground-based air defense system (GBADS), consisting of Israeli-made SPYDER missile batteries. Objective: to “neutralize” any potential aerial threat or foreign aircraft intrusion in the country’s airspace. However, this system is categorized as a secondary air defense cover after the PAF’s FA-50PH light jet fighters, earlier acquired from South Korea. This acquisition – costing P6,846,750,000 – is not mentioned in the USSD report.

Bulatlat Contributors | Feb 12, 2023

Balik-Tanaw | Letting the Light Shine Through

Saints are persons whose “light shines through.” This understanding of who saints are reminded me of the symbolic lanterns we carried during the Martial Law @ 50 Day of Remembrance last year.

Bulatlat Contributors | Feb 4, 2023

Vantage Point | Corazon Aquino’s legacy

Should Congress decide to either convene itself into a constituent assembly or to call for elections for delegates to a constitutional convention, the citizenry must closely monitor the process — not because the 1987 Constitution is Corazon Aquino’s most outstanding legacy, but because, at this critical stage in the country’s history, it is among the people’s few remaining means of defense against the return of authoritarian rule and the further ruin of this country.

Bulatlat Contributors | Feb 4, 2023

Is the US preparing for war, or deterring it?

Considering all these revelations from the US and NATO, one may ask: What is the world’s lone superpower thinking? Is the US flexing its military muscles and consolidating its regional and global alliances to deter an impending war with China? Or are these actions meant to prepare for war?

Bulatlat Contributors | Feb 4, 2023

Creativity and the broad united front

...creativity is a response to the urgent question of “How do we get across our struggles despite material limitations thaw we face? What strategies of organizing, educational activities can be done overcome the same limitations?” As for building the broad coalitions with multi-class character, she stresses that "being honest and open about difference and not turning a blind eye to contradictions create a healthy space of cooperation and criticism; and where people will be encouraged to exercise political maturity to overcome a common enemy.”

Sarah Raymundo | Feb 1, 2023

Global Warming: Frontline Philippines

Mr. Marcos could use his new-found skills in international relations to convince the rest of the world of that need. But rather than just globe-trotting, he could also craft and implement the policies that can combat the ravages of global warming here, in frontline Philippines.

Bulatlat Contributors | Jan 28, 2023

US, Phl mull potential restoration of bases

Invoking the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty – acknowledging and repeatedly stressing its applicability in the West Philippine Sea (a Philippine proposition earlier rejected by the Obama administration) – the United States appears to be angling to use Subic Bay once more as its naval base in this part of the world.

Bulatlat Contributors | Jan 28, 2023