Mabini Hall

Some days before the mid-term elections, my friend Harvey Keh wrote a personal email about the seven conditions the fulfilment of which will make him consider leaving thePhilippines. To a few, it sounded like a threat or even a boast. To most, it was a reflection of a deepening frustration over our state of affairs. […]

The electoral dust is settling in the hot summer sun. The midterm election was generally more peaceful than 2004 gauging from the number of incidents. On Tuesday we reported back to work with a sense of a new beginning—our lives were suspended on posters in the recent past.Changes are happening. For one, this year, we […]

Two summits ended recently. The executive department had the “Peace and Security: Legacy to the Filipino People” in Mindanao and the judiciary lead the other on “Extrajudicial killings: Searching for solutions” in Manila. It seems that national leaders are finally coming together to make sense of what is happening. But first, let us unconfuse ourselves.“Extrajudicial […]

Since last week’s call for a national slogan, many people have responded in many ways. The entries came in jest, attempts at being funny and the most were sensible and patriotic. Due to space constraints, I shall present a sampling across the spectrum in three categories and in no particular order. The first group is […]

The United States has “In God we trust.”  The French, “equality, liberty and fraternity.” Slogans reflect the common vision for the nation, the goals to be reached, the challenges to be hurdled and the set of values shared by its people.I do not know of any direct correlation between a national slogan and a country’s […]