Monthly Archives: June 2010
A Seesaw Perspective
May 27, 2010 By Nelia Dingcong Bernabe
Remember those times when see ing a seesaw in the park brings out the child in us? Or the times when as children, the sight of one sends us into a euphoric state of mind; all we wanted to do was hop on it, forcibly swing our legs up and down to gain optimum speed and off the ground we went. With guiltless pleasure, we screamed our happiness in total abandon. Continue reading
Economic Development: An Answer to a Comprehensive Immigration Reform?
June 18, 2010 According to an undocumented historical statement, the first Filipinos who ever landed in American soil were compulsory sailors during the Manila-Acapulco Galleon trade from 1565 through 1815. They landed on the shores of California to claim the land for the Spanish king as agents of Spain’s economic expansion, technically tagged as colonization (the system of forcefully usurping the resources of other lands without due process). USA was not yet a sovereign state at that time. Continue reading
The Judas Syndrome
May 27, 2010 By Arnold De Villa
For those acquainted with Biblical literature, Judas was that guy who sold Christ for silver while pretending to care for the poor. When Mary Magdalene wiped Christ’s foot with an expensive and perfumed ointment, he was the only apostle who whined that the money spent to buy that ointment could have been used to help the poor instead. John the Evangelist referred to him as Judas, the son of “Simon Iscariot”. His first name has been the origin of names like Jude or Judy, a Hebrew word meaning “God is praised”. His last name, “Iscariot”, does not necessarily imply a last name. Rather, it could have been a reference to a place of origin, a small Judean town called Kerioth. There are theories suggesting that his last name was neither of the two; that it was actually the name of a group of assassins whose obsession was to drive the Roman colonizers away from Judea. Continue reading
Instrument of Change
June 18, 2010
Elected on a promise of “change,” Presidentelect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III is now faced with the gargantuan task of fulfilling his promise. The magnitude of the work ahead of him is so overwhelming that he’s probably wondering where to start.
Indeed, he can pick any of the, perhaps, hundreds of agencies in the government where corruption was seeded and had blossomed into a monstrous plutocracy during Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s inglorious presidency. Noynoy can then attack them with laserlike precision and surgically incise the cancerous cells of corrupt officials that have institutionalized their nefarious modus operandi in the way the government conducts business. Today, corruption is deeply-rooted that it would take a Herculean effort to uproot it. Continue reading
Corona’s Thorny Crown
May 27, 2010
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ignited a firestorm right after the presidential elec tions when she appointed Justice Renato Corona to replace Chief Justice Reynato Puno who retired last May 17. On the day Puno retired, Corona took his oath of office before Arroyo. With that, the High Court is now composed of all justices appointed by Arroyo. The “Arroyo Court” is now fait accompli. Or should I say, “Coronarroyo Court”? Continue reading
Ipuipo sa Piging – Pangwelkam ng mga Makata sa Magiging Bagong Dispensasyon
June 18, 2010
Matapos ang pamamayagpag ng mga ‘instant’ na lapiang pulitikal sa nakalipas na mahigit tatlong dekada matapos ideklara ni Pangulong Marcos ang batas-militar ay isang ganap na partido, LP, ang uugit sa gobyerno. Bago nagdiktadura, dalawa ang lapiang tradisyunal na naglalaban tuwing halalan. Isa rito ang Nacionalista na pinakamatandang lapian sa kasaysayan at ang isa pa ay ang Liberal na pangalawa sa pinakamatanda. Nilikha ni Marcos ang Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) bilang ‘front’ ng kanyang diktadura na, matapos ang EDSA Uno, sinundan ng mga pasadyang partidong pulitikal na may mga pangalan/ akronim na LDP, Lakas-CMD, PMP, Kampi, at kung anu-ano pa. Continue reading
Maayong Mayo
May 27, 2010
Isang pagbati ng ‘maayong’ Mayo sa lahat. Sa mga pamilyar sa wikang Cebuano, ang salitang “maayo” ay ginagamit bilang pagbati. “Maayong adlaw!” = “Magandang araw!”. Hindi po ako Cebuano subalit nanirahan ako ng ilang panahon sa Kabisayaan at Kamindanawan na sa maraming lalawigan ay Cebuano din ang wikang ginagamit. Continue reading
A NATION HOOKED: America’s Tobacco Legacy
June 18, 2010 By Fred C. Wilson III.
THE PUFF THAT KILLS
Last week we covered birth control, abor tion, and the Philippine’s need for so cial change. This week we’ll do the evils of smoking; brace yourself, get comfortable, turn the TV down, and PUT OUT THAT DAMN CIGARETTE! WARNING! Smoking KILLS! Taking those toxic tokes (puffs) will kill you. Reader, whenever you take that first hard draw (puff) of the morning here’s what you’re risking: Continue reading
THE FINAL FRONTIER! Why America needs the Philippines
May 27, 2010 By Fred C. Wilson III.
“I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light.” -John Keith Falconer-
SHARED VALUES
The Philippine Archipelago occupies a special place In our planet. The only Christian country in Asia (though South Korea is running a close second and gaining) the Gospel has been preached in the Republic for hundreds of years. Like Ireland before her, Filipinos routinely send out hundreds of missionaries to other nations to preach the Good News.
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Father’s Day Reminiscences
June 18, 2010
It’s not that I have not sung enough public praises for this man, the father of my three children, but that I don’t think he has really seen or truly understood what is etched deep down in my heart. For occasionally, in our rare moments of disagreements, he would tell me how insensitive I was to his feelings. How I had hurt him with my jokes. And just how much he resented me for my ‘cruel’ words.
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