Author Archives: admin

Myanmar: New Flag, Same Country

By admin | November 8, 2010

The Union of Myanmar (Burma) is now officially known as the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, and its new flag was unveiled for the first time last week. Is the change part of the so-called democratic reforms that the ruling junta promised to deliver in time for the widely anticipated November 7 elections? As […]

Posted in east asia | Tagged , | Leave a comment

From belfry to cell phone tower

By admin | November 3, 2010

The cathedral of the Catholic Church in Spanish Philippines was the central symbol of power in the community. The rich and the powerful preferred to establish their residences near the church. The aspiring rich wanted to live in strategic locations where they could see the church tower. The law-abiding and God-fearing poor lived very far […]

Posted in places | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Abandoned Railways

By admin | October 23, 2010

Construction of the Manila-Dagupan railroad started in 1887. Five years later, the 195 kilometer railway link between Manila and Pangasinan began its operations. The 19th century colonial government was able to connect Imperial Spanish Manila and emerging trading post Dagupan in a span of only five years. It may be an unimpressive feat compared to […]

Posted in places | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Mahathir vs Lee

By admin | October 21, 2010

Written for The Diplomat When Singapore’s longest-serving prime minister and current Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew was interviewed by The New York Times last month, nobody expected anything controversial—or that he would upset neighbor Malaysia. And mostly there was nothing there that would have done, with the 87-year-old leader talking mainly about yoga and literature. […]

Posted in east asia | Tagged | 1 Comment

PNoy@100

By admin | October 8, 2010

Talumpating binigkas sa porum ng League of College Councils ng UP Diliman. Ang daang matuwid ni President Noynoy ay walang pinagkaiba sa dating daan ni President Gloria. Imbes na mag-u-turn slot, ayun nagroad widening lang. Wala ngang wangwang sa kalye, pero baluktot pa rin ang daan. Ano ang tinutukoy ko? Gawin nating halimbawa ang 2011 […]

Posted in speeches | Tagged | 3 Comments

Adopt A School

By admin | October 6, 2010

Through its Adopt-A-School program, the Department of Education hopes to improve the condition of public schools by raising funds from the private sector. Since its inception in 1998, it has already attracted 300 donors generating almost seven billion pesos in pledges, commitments, and actual contributions which benefited around 22,000 public schools nationwide. On the other […]

Posted in education | Tagged | Leave a comment

Kabataan at daang matuwid

By admin | September 24, 2010

Talumpating binigkas sa isang porum na inorganisa ng Social Sciences and Humanities Association ng San Beda College. Change? Tama. Sino ba ang may ayaw ng pagbabago. Pero hindi lahat ng change ay kaakit-akit, katanggap-tanggap o ninanais ng lahat. Paano kung charter change, climate change, sex change, change of citizenship? Mula sa baluktot na daan, ang […]

Posted in speeches | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

MDGs and health workers

By admin | September 17, 2010

Talumpating binigkas sa pambansang kumbensiyon ng Alliance of Young Nurse Leaders & Advocates International Inc. na ginanap sa Manila Pavilion. Binabati ko kayong lahat sa paglulunsad ng aktibidad na ito. Higit akong humanga sa inyong desisyon na gamitin ang okasyong ito upang pagtibayin ang ating panata na makamit ang tinatawag nating Millenium Development Goals. Taong […]

Posted in speeches | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Manila hostage blunder

By admin | September 15, 2010

written for The Diplomat… The announcement yesterday that some of the Hong Kong hostages killed in Manila last month may have been killed by ‘friendly fire’ is a painful reminder of the global embarrassment the incident caused. And the damage it could do to the Philippines’ international relations. Although the incident was initially a domestic […]

Posted in nation | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Politics of education reforms

By admin | September 9, 2010

Political solutions are needed to fix education problems because the organization and distribution of knowledge in a society has always been a political question. Those who want education reforms but reject politics are guilty of espousing an ignorant view of history and society. Schools are not autonomous sites that operate in an uncorrupted social universe. […]

Posted in education | Tagged , , | 3 Comments