By Ignacio R. Bunye The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) hearings on the Duterte administration’s war on drugs have once again thrust the Philippines into the global spotlight. At the heart of the proceedings lies a fundamental question: Can a leader’s words be divorced from the actions they inspire? Defense lawyers argue that President Duterte’s fiery …
OPINION
Reduplicatives in real life
By Herman M. Lagon They slip into our speech like old jokes or fresh tsismis. You hear them everywhere — kids on swings, sari-sari store chika, even in a politician’s punchline. These word pairs like wishy-washy, flip-flop or hocus-pocus turn stiff talk into everyday kwentuhan. For Pinoys, they are more than playful sounds — they …
Why Americans seek dental care here
By Dr. Joseph D. Lim Dental care in the United States is expensive. Period. This is the main reason why Americans seek oral health care in Southeast Asia, in places like Bangkok and Manila. Overseas dental care is big business, a part of the $4 billion annual expenses that Americans spend on health care abroad. …
Self-emptying to be properly filled up
By Fr. Roy Cimagala This is what Christ is proposing to us. It is quite intriguing, but to be sure it is what truly is proper to us. We need to somehow lose ourselves to win what is truly necessary for us. We cannot deny that we are notorious for sticking to our own will …
Who might succeed in Iran’s theocratic system of power?
The killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the US and Israeli strikes throws the survival of the country’s theocratic system into jeopardy, and it is hard to predict who might succeed him or what will happen next. Strikes are still targeting the ayatollahs, Revolutionary Guardsmen and veteran advisers to Khamenei who have …
Chinese massacres in Philippine history
By Dennis Gorecho Chinese New Year usually falls in mid-February, when enthusiasts in red shirts flock to the streets of Binondo to witness dragon and lion dances, enjoy traditional cuisine, buy lucky charms and prosperity fruits, and exchange boxes of “tikoy.” Binondo is considered the world’s first and oldest Chinatown, established in 1594 as a …
The audit of learning
By Herman M. Lagon The first time you hear “P1.015 trillion,” your brain does what brains do when numbers get too big: it turns the figure into a mood. It sounds like rescue. It sounds like a national apology with commas. It sounds like a future finally being taken seriously. Yet my most honest “budget …
‘Time bomb?’ Race to identify health effects of microplastics
Tiny pieces of plastic have been found littered throughout human bodies, trapped in our lungs and laced through our blood, but the long-term health effects of this exposure remain unclear. Every day, humans ingest, inhale or otherwise come in contact with microplastics, plastic pollution less than five millimeters (0.2 inches) in diameter that is mostly …
S&T innovation for growth
By Sonny Angara There are probably no other topics more crucial to our long-term growth that do not get enough mainstream attention than S&T innovation and R&D. Almost everything in 21st century life — from the food we eat to the smartphones in our pockets to the type of jobs our people will have in …
We need a big and compassionate heart
By Fr. Roy Cimagala When Christ summoned his 12 apostles, sending them out two by two and giving them authority over unclean spirits, he clearly told them also to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick — no food, no sack, no money in their belts, etc. (cfr. Mark 6:7-13) The instruction may …