So what if there are Reds in schools?
tonyo If you’re a Filipino and you believe in freedom and democracy, you should be troubled by what the military, police, and the regime are saying about the more than 10…
Commentary
The fictional ‘Red October’
LAST year, a whole slew of activists, academics, economists, political scientists and revolutionists marked the centennial of the Great October Socialist Revolution that gave birth to the world’s first socialist…
NutriAsia, PNP should apologize — and be held accountable
With the release of the 19 mostly-injured, detained and falsely-accused workers workers, advocates and journalists — NutriAsia and its cohorts in the Meycauayan PNP should be held accountable for the…
2016 elections: Searching for stars, saints and superheroes
Many people’s hearts are heavy as we approach the elections, and for good reasons. The choices are not at all good, and there are lots of misinformation, hate, and fear…
The circus comes to town
After more than hundreds of millions of pesos worth of total ad spending that swamped us with countless hours of perfectly-legal political advertising and months of horse-trading and backroom deals…
Vote on veto override: Too much to ask?
Speaker Feliciano Belmonte did not vote against the SSS pension increase bill. Actually, not a single congressman voted against it. It was approved unanimously without objections last year. And so…
EDSA Dos: 15 years later
This week, the state and our “national leaders” conveniently and cynically forgot. And so let’s remember and never forget EDSA Dos (Jan. 16-20, 2001). My elder sister and younger brother…
System fail: ‘Marcos pa rin’ in 2016
30 years have passed since the People Power uprising, but the post-Marcos regimes from Corazon Aquino up to BS Aquino III have all failed to prosecute and punish the Marcoses…
Best-possible 2016 outcome: Senator Colmenares, 17 Makabayan partylist reps
This could be the best outcome in the 2016 senatorial and congressional races: Neri Colmenares wins a Senate seat, and Makabayan Coalition’s eight partylists get a maximum 17 House seats.…
‘Matapobre syndrome’
The “matapobre syndrome” has afflicted politics for a long time, and many continue to spread it. According to them, the “masa” are indolent, incapable of doing great things, uneducated, ignorant,…
Mensahe sa mga Apo nina Heneral Luna at Mabini
Prepared remarks delivered at the Kabataan Partylist national convention, on 28 Sept. 2015 at the Amoranto Theater, Quezon City: Thank you, President Marjo Tucay, for inviting me to speak at…
INC rally aftermath: Back to normal?
Metro Manila is back to normal, according to Mar Roxas after the controversial Iglesia ni Cristo demonstrations of Aug. 27-30. Malacañang has congratulated itself over an “agreement” with the INC…
Dear Ka Eduardo: An open letter to INC’s executive minister
Aug. 29, 2015 Ka Eduardo V. Manalo Executive Minister Iglesia ni Cristo Dear Ka Eduardo: I am respectfully addressing this letter to you as a fellow Filipino citizen and because…
Zero Remittance Day: Tamang panahon, tamang paraan
Sa totoo lang, tuloy pa rin ang inspection, pagnanakaw at pambabastos ng Customs sa mga balikbayan box. Bakit? Dahil di naman inatras ni PNoy ang inutos nitong P600-milyong target para…
Balikbayan box as political casket
It was somewhat unexpected that this would ever happen under the watch of the son of a great man who, not unlike OFWs, spent years living abroad in exile before…
Uber, GrabTaxi: Disruption isn’t enough
For a metropolis with run-down trains, horrible traffic, and “choosy” taxi drivers, the app-based Uber and GrabTaxi services give Metro Manila folk a new choice. With a few taps, one…
Just another manic Monday
July 27, 2015, will just be another manic Monday. Workers, employees and students will be waking up very early to evade the rush-hour traffic. They will be praying that the…
Red scare, Reds care (o kung bakit takot/galit ka sa Pula)
No other political beliefs in the Philippines are as controversial – and misunderstood – as national democracy, socialism, and communism. And despite the repeal of the Anti-Subversion Law, serious problems…
Past, present and future
“The President should resign,” declared a manifesto signed by a growing number of citizens from across the country. Damage control is in overdrive: But even after addressing the nation on…
PH in grief, fury: President betrays, dishonors elite cops
Full credit goes to President BS Aquino for uniting the nation twice this week, but for the wrong reasons: First, in grief over the loss of 44 members of the…
REVOLUTIONARY & LEGENDARY: Kabataang Makabayan and the power of choice
Before 1964, young Filipinos were told and taught that there were no other choices except to study, graduate, get a job, work hard and hope for success. The young workers…
Stress in SHS
The promise of K-to-12 was supposedly too nice to reject, and so the Aquino and Duterte regimes continued with it: “Mastery of concepts and skills, develop lifelong learners, and prepare…