We beg to differ.
The trouble with Filipinos is that they don’t see any meaning in their lives that is bigger than themselves. At best there is, like most warm-blooded mammals with bulges in their heads wider than their brainstems, that instinctive altruism for his own immediate family. But even that one is often brought to question on account…
So according the the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), 2015 will be “The Year of the Poor”, a declaration which coincides with the arrival of Poper Francis earlier that year… “We as the Church of the Poor are called to renew our commitment to Christ’s mission and to always take the side of…
Read More “It is not poor people but rich people who have a BIG problem with poverty” »
Dear Pope Francis, Information about your visit to the Philippines has been occupying the country’s local media for months. Members of the national and local government have been busy preparing for your arrival. The Manila City Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada recently declared a four-day holiday for Manila residence during your visit. The decision, he said…
Read More “An open letter to Pope Francis on his visit to the Philippines in 2015” »
Fascinating the way life’s common vicissitudes are somehow magnified and celebrated when celebrities experience them. Whether it be falling into and then rehabilitation from alcohol or substance abuse, getting sick then recovering, suffering a nervous breakdown, or experiencing the heady bliss of romance, showbiz folk make a big drama out of it. I guess that’s…
Read More “What I learned from Boy Abunda’s and Billy Crawford’s personal dramas” »
There is a world of difference between (1) making a quick visit to the Philippines, and beholding all the usual stock-standard confronting sights of impoverished Filipinos “bravely” scraping together a living and (2) growing up in the Philippines, and experiencing that poverty (either as a part of it or as an observer) everyday for many…
On July 14, 2014, the Church of England voted to allow women to become bishops. “Today is the completion of what was begun over 20 years ago with the ordination of women as priests. I am delighted with today’s result,” said Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, spiritual leader of the world’s 80 million Anglicans. (Reuters)…
Nobody who rests comfily within the bed of Establishment thinking seems to want to take a position on the debate around abortion. The highest profile players in this arena include New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights playing forward striker for the Forces of Ethical Thinking and on the other side is the 2,000-year-old bedrock of,…
Read More “Abortion is really a simple issue if you take the ‘soul’ out of the debate” »
Kris Aquino is not just another screeching Filipino showbiz personality. She is the sister of the President of the Philippines. Her marital woes with basketball player James Yap back in 2010 couldn’t have been good for the spin machinery of her brother President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III — a man who owes much of his…
Read More “Time to implement a decent Divorce Law and junk the moronism of ‘annulment’” »