We beg to differ.
Is killing per se evil? As people of a predominantly Catholic country, Filipinos would instinctively answer this question based on the Old Testament’s checklist item No. 6 “Thou shalt not kill” – one of the very few verses they can actually quote accurately from their scripture yet be totally oblivious of its real intended essence/meaning….
Read More “The Logic of Killing: God vs Thanos vs Duterte” »
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it…
Human rights are universal, applying to all human beings, right? Poor, rich, criminals, police, politicians, businessmen, shop owners, workers, students: everyone is entitled to the recognition and respect of his/her human rights. Human rights law, and law enforcement, exist to protect all. In the Philippines, the call to respect human rights is being used to…
My wife and I are now in the final stretch of our scouting activity for the best college for our son. I recently realized that best way to really get to know the culture of a school is to go past their official websites and instead check out Twitter. By simply going through the motion…
No less than the venerable Inquirer.net is now in the spotlight now that one of its own — the late Melinda ‘Mei’ Magsino — lies dead, a victim of the Philippines’ banal tradition of murdering journalists. It is, indeed, quite ironic that an industry supposedly feared and pandered to by the country’s most powerful oligarchs…
The killing of former Inquirer corespondent Melinda ‘Mei’ Magsino brings to 26 the number of media personnel killed under the watch of Philippine President Benigno Simeon ‘BS’ Aquino III. Suffice to say, even the mightiest newspaper in the Philippines will likely helplessly watch as justice, yet again, proves elusive; this time to one of their…
Read More “Will Mei Magsino be put on trial for her own murder?” »
Nobody will disagree that there are a lot of heinous crimes being perpetrated today, and a lot of it is going unpunished. Recently I saw a photo of the latest murder-rape victim making the rounds on Facebook. The photo depicted what the poster claimed to be “Sarah”, a 14-15 year old girl who was allegedly…
Read More “Why do we like circulating photos of dead victims of violent crime?” »
So is the average Filipino life just worth 10,000 pesos (USD200)? I heard that is the average going rate for a “hit” to be delivered by a pair of assassins riding in tandem on a motorcycle in the Philippines. That’s less than a month’s work for the average Filipino city slicker and about a day’s…
Read More “Filipino motorcycle tandem assassins: a rapidly-growing national cancer” »