Impulses

By Herman M. Lagon “Decriminalize libel” sounds, at first hearing, like the sort of phrase that makes careful people clutch their pearls and careless people clutch their phones. Some imagine a lawless internet where anyone can malign anyone, then walk away laughing. Others imagine a healthier democracy where public criticism stops being treated like a …

By Herman M. Lagon Childhood teaches an early lesson about responsibility: When you break something, you fix it; you do not ask to be thanked for the attempt. You just fix it, say sorry, and do better next time. So when a celebrity spouse recently suggested — on record — that the public “does not …

By Herman M. Lagon Somewhere between the wet market and the comment section, the word “Makapili” crawls back into Philippine conversation like an old fever. People use it too easily sometimes, the way we toss “traydor” in a barkada argument. Still, the return of the label signals something real: The quiet dread that betrayal is …

By Herman M. Lagon Some policies do not collapse because the goal was wrong. They collapse because the execution went sideways and everyone quietly learned to live with it. “No Child Left Behind” is starting to feel that way. It sounds gentle, almost untouchable, until you look at the classroom reality: teens who can quote …

By Herman M. Lagon There is a reason the word diskarte feels familiar even before it is explained. Most Pinoys meet it early, long before it appears in essays or debates. It shows up in kitchens where budgets are stretched, at jeepney stops when the last ride leaves too soon, and in classrooms where teachers …

By Herman M. Lagon Some issues only feel “national” when they reach the dinner table. The West Philippine Sea (WPS) is one of them. You can ignore it until galunggong or tuna gets pricier, a fisherman comes home early because the sea feels “crowded,” or students repeat a viral clip claiming we are “just visitors” …

By Herman M. Lagon Some mornings, the weight starts even before the first “Good morning, class.” It begins in a jeep that barely moves, in shoes that never quite dry during habagat, in a late-night message from a parent that opens with a gentle but loaded, “Quick question lang.” By the time the flag ceremony …

By Herman M. Lagon Some mornings at the ISUFST Main Campus – Tiwi Site arrive already heavy. The sun is sharp by mid-morning, deadlines hover like unspoken reminders, and faces move quickly, eyes fixed on somewhere else. Then, just before lunch, a familiar shape appears near the Guidance and Testing Office. Wolfy pads in quietly, …

By Herman Lagon A child struggling with reading is often met with pointed fingers at the school, the teacher or the system. But maybe we need to take a closer look at what happens before that child even gets to school — at home, around the dinner table, beside a parent tuning in to latest …

By Herman M. Lagon We have a way of laughing even when the news feels like a slap. My prediction since 2022 is captured in two words: “Popcorn, please.” It is the kind of line you throw when the plot becomes predictable yet too juicy to miss. Only this time, the screen is not in …