Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières
The title of this column is inspired by John Lennon’s 1974 No. 1 single “Whatever Gets You Thru the Night.” I have learned that he himself picked up this line from a black televangelist, Reverend Ike, who, one evening, was telling his late-night viewers: “Let me tell you guys, it doesn’t matter, (...)
MANILA, Philippines — Pro-Marcos books, heritage sites and online disinformation are linked with one another, researchers from the University of the Philippines found according to a report by VERA Files.
Researchers Miguel Paolo Reyes and Joel Ariate Jr. found that books written in favor of the (...)
The second week of November was met with a number of student movements in the Philippines. It began when a group of students from the Ateneo de Manila University threatened to hold an academic strike to protest the government’s inadequate preparation and response to the series of typhoons that (...)
Growing up in the small town of Betis in Pampanga, a village of proud artisans and carpenters, I came to know of the nation’s heroes early in my childhood. Dr. Jose Rizal’s name was not just the most important in the list. Indeed, he seemed, for a time, to be the only one deserving of the honor (...)
This coming week, we recall Marcos’ declaration of martial law 48 years ago, an event that significantly altered the course of Philippine politics. It may seem pointless to warn the younger generation of the virus of authoritarianism—since it is already upon us, albeit without a formal (...)
Reflecting on Fyodor Dostoevsky’s “The Possessed” (1871), the French writer Albert Camus argued that the biggest challenge of our times is increasingly the “inability to believe” in any grand Truth.
Set in mid-19th century Russia, the novel explores the dangers of mindless nihilism and blind (...)
This week marks the 34th year of the historic 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution. It is also the fourth time President Duterte is, according to his spokesperson, staying home — consciously ignoring whatever significance the event may still hold for some Filipinos.
Still, Edsa, by law, is a (...)
An odd, unpleasant photograph was taken forty-five years ago today. Imelda Marcos, the conjugal head of a two year old military dictatorship, intimately greeted the aged Chairman Mao who openly ogled the straightcut neckline of her terno. The martial law regime of the Marcoses, imposed on the (...)
By emotional disposition, Filipinos tend to harbor a deep suspicion of China. This is confirmed by a succession of public opinion surveys showing the Filipino public’s huge distrust for this Asian hegemon. It is an attitude that far exceeds any negative sentiment we may have against Spain, the (...)
In a previous column written after the 2016 presidential election, I interpreted the rise of Rodrigo Duterte to the presidency as the “revolt of the periphery.” The avalanche of Mindanao votes for the maverick former Davao City mayor, I thought, was emblematic of the strong reaction to an (...)
Editor’s note: Jose Maria Sison, founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New Peoples’ Army, asked for arms and monetary support from China’s communist Chairman Mao Tse-Tung. Famed geologist and left-wing revolutionary Rolando Peña navigated the MV Karagatan, a (...)
Rolando Peña, arguably the country’s most important geologist, passed away on November 30, 2018. His scholarly work on Philippine geology and stratigraphy show not just a vast intellectual sweep, but an enduring love for his country.
“He has a third eye for rocks,” said geologist and friend Noe (...)
The election of President Rodrigo Duterte as president of the Philippines in 2016 has drawn considerable international attention. The worldwide media has heavily featured his blunt public remarks and the widespread deaths associated with his “drug war”. Some have also drawn parallels between his (...)
Alex De Jong on the Philippines in the global ’68.
“1968” came to the Philippines two years late. When it did arrive, it exploded with fury. In 1970, the Philippines was a democratic republic but president Ferdinand Marcos’ authoritarian tendencies and desire to remain in office beyond his term (...)
Mike de Leon’s new film, “Citizen Jake,” is a psychosocial drama that focuses on the personal contradictions of a crusading upper middle class “citizen journalist” who appears to lack insight into his own privileges. His inquiry into a gruesome crime leads him to a profound realization of the (...)
Academics like myself who have studied revolutions in other countries initially approached the unfolding event at Edsa in February 1986 with great skepticism. Revolution was certainly on no one’s lips at that point. That this could be a turning point in any meaningful sense was farthest from (...)
Thousands have been killed in his domestic anti-drug campaign. Now, as he hosts Trump at a summit in Manila, new brutal revelations put him back in the headlines.
‘Am I the death squad? That is true’: Rodrigo Duterte at last week’s Apec summit in Da Nang
The litany of horrific comments that have (...)
In its first year in operation, Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte’s ‘war on drugs’ has cost more than 13,000 lives and left the country mired in a human rights crisis. One of the organisations at the forefront of opposing Duterte’s war is In Defence of Human Rights and Dignity Movement, iDefend, (...)
It was a humid night in July 1974 in Zamboanga City when I was arrested by agents of the National Intelligence Security Agency (Nisa). I was then in my hometown for the funeral of my grandmother, Isabel Cortez Climaco. The warrant for my arrest cited me for “subversion” and I was flown back to (...)
Syriza continues to oversee the implementation of austerity. But all is not hopeless in Greece.
In Greece, it’s not quite accurate to talk about the “rise and fall” of the left-wing party Syriza. “Rise and plateau” would be more fitting.
Syriza came to power in January 2015 promising to confront (...)
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