Tag Archives: activism

Beyond Internet Activism

By admin | August 17, 2013

My first column for Bulatlat The opposite of internet activism is not street activism but no-activism. Online petitions and political hashtags are indispensable in the campaign for change while non-action is a convenient option that only serves the interest of status quo. Internet activism is sometimes equated with impotence but at least it exists. There […]

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Youth Empowerment

By admin | July 27, 2013

Talumpating binigkas sa regional student leaders assembly ng University of Assumption, San Fernando, Pampanga World Youth Day. Nagtitipon ang maraming kabataan ngayon sa Brazil para sa World Youth Day (Bahagi ako ng WYD 1995). Isa itong selebrasyon na pinangungunahan ng simbahang Katoliko subalit ang kabuluhan nito ay hindi lamang para sa mga Romano Katoliko tulad […]

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There and Back Again

By admin | June 9, 2013

The House of Representatives honored its own members last June 5 by distributing medals, plaques, and other mementos to first, second, and third termers of the 15th Congress. It was the most disgusting selfie moment of the year. What could be a more ghastly way of wasting taxpayers’ money than staging a superfluous pomp for […]

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Leftists and Politicians

By admin | May 18, 2013

Viewed from the outside, the reactionary state apparatus appears to be a brutal and beastly machine. Viewed from the inside, this juggernaut looks enigmatic. Seductively enigmatic. Nevertheless, it remains a ferocious stinking monster. Its hypnotic stink, however, is camouflaged by trappings, rituals, symbols, and other elegant deodorizers which distort the gaze of everybody, including the […]

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Politics as Sound Bite

By admin | January 7, 2013

One liners, sound bites, SMS and twitter reactions are inferior substitutes to a well-written political manifesto. The essence of a political standpoint can’t be adequately represented by 140 characters or even by hysteric rhetoric. Yes, a charming slogan or a witty phrase, and a fiery quote can agitate a crowd, inspire the electorate, and trigger […]

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Radicalism. Reformism

By admin | October 16, 2012

Eschew reformism. Embrace radicalism. Reformism is what we remembered in kindergarten; radicalism is what the school of life teaches us. Reformism is when you expose a school bully to your teacher. Radicalism is when you question the schooling system that breeds bullies; then you move to replace it with a new one. Reformism is the […]

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Rallies and Marathons

By admin | June 22, 2012

Rallies and most marathons for a cause have many things in common. They both require a massive gathering of warm bodies in order to succeed. After converging at a certain point, the participants will soon march to reach the finish line, the target destination. The sheer number of the crowd is eclipsed only by the […]

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The Left as Alternative

By admin | February 17, 2012

First part: Philippine Politics 1969-2009 If power grab is the yardstick of political victory, then it must be concluded that the Philippine Left had failed in the past century. But it wasn’t a complete failure since it was able to achieve varying degrees of hegemony in the country especially in the peripheries of the archipelago. […]

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Youth, Good Governance, Human Development

By admin | January 15, 2012

Speech during the National Congress on Good Governance, UP NCPAG, January 15, 2012. The keywords of my presentation are youth, good governance, and sustainable human development. The thesis is easy to formulate: The youth have a significant role to perform in promoting good governance in the country to achieve sustainable human development. But how do […]

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Political Morality

By admin | January 12, 2012

What’s the proper reaction if confronted with the odious task of manipulating public resources for personal gain? The honorable thing is to immediately reject it and bravely face the consequences. But others condone corruption while some even try to justify it. Then there are bureaucrats like Romulo Neri who simply prefer to ‘moderate the greed’ […]

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