Sidebar
by Jaileen F. Jimeno
In this issue: Gloria’s inglorious record: Biggest debtor, least popular The economy Misplaced government spending worsens woes ‘Dubious’ oil price hikes hurt the poorest most Romulo L. Neri: Can golf, realpolitik work at SSS? Perspectives That bumpy ride called democracy First person: August 21, 1983 A million came for Ninoy as reporters battled with censors […]
Public Eye
by Jaileen F. Jimeno
MAGUINDANAO — The sound of sirens precedes the passing of a long convoy of 4×4 sport utility vehicles. As if on cue, jeepneys and private vehicles begin moving to the right side of the street, where they all then ground to halt.
“Kailangan tumabi ka, kasi babanggain ka nila. Palalabasin nilang kaaway ka (You have to get out of their way, otherwise they’ll hit your car. And then they’ll make it appear you’re one of their enemies),” explains an old man watching the scene by the roadside.
Millennium Development Goals
by Jaileen F. Jimeno
A TOWN IN MAGUINDANAO — Ten-year-old Dino and two younger boys were harassing a hapless chicken under a neighbor’s nipa house. Covered with dust, the boys obviously hadn’t had a bath just yet that day, and had chosen to go after the chicken while other children in this village trooped to a nearby river to soak and to play.
It looked like a typical village scene — only that it was the middle of a school day and Dino (not his real name) and many of the children should have been in class. But the classrooms in Dino’s school were shuttered because its four teachers were attending a meeting in the capital.
Focus on the Filipino youth: The Lost Generation
by Samira Gutoc
BEFORE ME was an Islamic religion studies graduate, an aleema who divorced her aleem (Islamic learned man) husband (for beating her up. She was lecturing on significant Muslim women in Islamic history. So far she had taken up the Prophet Muhammad’s wife Khadija and daughter Aisha. Today’s topic: Madina’s Umu Sulaim Rumaisa. All were women of virtue whose lives could give us insights on what a Muslim woman should aspire to.
by Howie G. Severino
(photos taken from video footage shot by Severino and Egay Navarro) A Muslim woman supervisor at a banana-processing plant in MaguindanaoKABACAN, Cotabato — Last time I was here, in 1997, a body was dumped by the Army in front of the municipal hall, while nearly a dozen truckloads of troops rumbled by. A battle with […]