A framework for a model Islamic Ummah (community)
In a larger sense, the 2017 Marawi siege served as a wake-up call. A focus group discussion among Maranao women after the siege revealed these sentiments: “We call Marawi an Islamic City, but there are...
View Article‘Light at the end of the tunnel’
The country passed a major hurdle on Monday, with the plebiscite to ratify a law that gives the country’s Muslim minority greater control over parts of Mindanao coming to pass without a major hitch....
View ArticleDuterte, Moro terrorists have blood on their hands
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is most likely the only leader in Southeast Asia who has proudly called himself a murderer and his bloody track record reportedly played a major role in winning the...
View ArticleRevisiting Mindanao 2020
Mindanao accounts for about a third of the country’s land area and a quarter of the country’s population The post Revisiting Mindanao 2020 appeared first on Inquirer Opinion.
View ArticleFederalism and imperial Manila
If they think shifting to a federal form of government will diminish ‘imperial Manila,’ they’ll be in for a surprise The post Federalism and imperial Manila appeared first on Inquirer Opinion.
View ArticleLoca local elections
The local elections interest me more than the lopsided race for the Senate. The post Loca local elections appeared first on Inquirer Opinion.
View ArticleIPs in crossfire
Out of sight, out of mind – a natural conclusion that is really a general rule. There are exceptions, of course, but time itself is a kind of ripening agent The post IPs in crossfire appeared first on...
View ArticlePeace zones: Let them be, leave them be
National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. was reported to have said that peace zones like those in Sagada, Mountain Province and in Mindanao would be reviewed, basically insofar as these have...
View ArticleThe SWS history of hunger
It was in July 1998, after seeing successive media reports of serious hunger in the country, particularly in Mindanao, that SWS first put the topic of hunger in one of its quarterly Social Weather...
View ArticleCulture of impunity as state policy
From being envied, we became a pitied people. This was the result of the Maguindanao massacre, the 10th anniversary of which arrived two days ago on Nov. 23. Out of the 58 victims of that gruesome...
View ArticleMartial law and institutional accountability
Last Dec. 10, presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo announced that martial law in Mindanao will not be extended. “The Palace is confident on the capability of our security forces in maintaining the...
View ArticleChallenging Mindanao people’s resistance
The Duterte administration’s coercive extension of martial law in Mindanao is a dangerous machination. President Duterte is inexcusably accountable for its atrocious and treacherous imposition. He has...
View ArticleML gives gov’t ‘wider latitude’ for action
We need martial law extension in Mindanao simply because of the fact that previous measures, unaided with all-out military force, have been proven insufficient. The post ML gives gov’t ‘wider latitude’...
View ArticleRuling before reasoning
The Supreme Court’s decision dismissing all petitions questioning the joint congressional resolution extending martial law in Mindanao for one year was not unexpected; as the threshold cases since 2016...
View Article‘Balai’
Whenever I attend the inaugurations of our new social housing projects in Mindanao, I always find groups of children milling around as if wanting to join the celebration but wary of the adults. The...
View Article‘Community activists are not terrorists’
We are teachers, students, concerned New Zealanders and Filipinos in New Zealand. We admire the courage and dedication of teachers, volunteers, church and community workers who are working together to...
View ArticleFalling short in Marawi
Last Wednesday marked the first anniversary of the start of the siege of Marawi City — and the imposition of martial law in all of Mindanao. The post Falling short in Marawi appeared first on Inquirer...
View ArticleMindanao’s murky future
It appears a foregone conclusion that the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), once enacted, will be a step backward from the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, leading to an “ARMM-minus” outcome,...
View ArticleBBL and liberal peace-building in Mindanao
The imminent signing of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) by President Duterte is an important step in rectifying the historical injustices suffered by the people in Muslim Mindanao. The post BBL and...
View ArticleMindanao’s Stockholm syndrome
Signs seem to point to a looming nationwide martial law. Mayors are being shot in broad daylight; the inflation rate is at 5.2 percent; the Consultative Committee has turned in a draft charter that...
View ArticleA positive perspective on Mindanao
I recently wrote about Mindanao’s uncertain future given the way the Bangsamoro Basic Law is shaping up. The post A positive perspective on Mindanao appeared first on Inquirer Opinion.
View Article‘Good to start’
That overused term preferred by diplomats is appropriate here: The congressional bicameral conference committee version of the Bangsamoro Basic Law, hammered into shape at the end of six contentious...
View ArticleWhat Duterte got right
Much has been said about President Duterte’s shortcomings. Despite his promise to behave more “statesmanlike,” the President has defied every single convention in favor of an all-consuming cult of...
View ArticlePilandok falls into the river
We met Pilandok, Mindanao’s trickster deer, in these pages two years ago (“President Pilandok,” 6/7/16). The post Pilandok falls into the river appeared first on Inquirer Opinion.
View ArticleWhere’s mention of Mindanao martial law?
For something as consequential as martial law, there was not a single mention of it in President Duterte’s State of the Nation Address (Sona). And for a vast island group, home to six unique...
View ArticleHistoric moment
It is perhaps the most important legislation passed under President Duterte’s leadership. But where was the sense of occasion, the honoring of the historic moment, when the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL)...
View ArticleA welcome breakthrough in Mindanao
The government of the Philippines took a bold step late last week towards permanent peace and stability in the restive region of Mindanao when President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Bangsamoro Organic...
View ArticleOur biggest block
Politics is like cholesterol. It can be good or bad, but it’s the latter that gets all the attention because its effects are far more conspicuous and damaging. The post Our biggest block appeared first...
View ArticleA taste of CDO
Cagayan de Oro—On our second day of the “Yes for Peace” workshop, meant to help selected members of civil society organizations in Mindanao to develop a media plan for the coming referendum on the...
View ArticleDuterte’s Ark
There used to be 18 endemic fish species in Lake Lanao. Slowly, over decades, they became extinct, and there is perhaps only one remaining. The lake is now populated with alien invasive species. There...
View ArticleIs martial law truth commission possible?
Davao City — Amid COVID-19 restrictions and apprehensions, a volunteer group of advocates, the Independent Working Group on Transitional Justice–Dealing with the Past (IWG TJDwP) successfully conducted...
View ArticleTwo tracks of the Bangsamoro peace process
Much of the discourse on the proposed extension of the transition period covering the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has focused on its justification. While some groups in...
View ArticleTarhata’s grit
She breathed her last in the town of her birth, her beloved Marawi that remains in ruins, where she played as a young girl, where she found love, and where she led as the first female governor. The...
View ArticleStop state-sanctioned violence: Justice for Lianga massacre victims
We, an association of consecrated women in Mindanao, express both lamentation and rage over yet another spilling of innocent “lumad” blood on ancestral lands. The blood of Angel and Lenie Rivas, and...
View Article‘The past is always present…’
Can we ever revise the past? “History cannot be restored and re-enacted. However, past injustices can be brought to light and be corrected.” This is the gist of a paper that Dr. Astrid Tuminez, former...
View ArticleTradition vs girls’ human rights (2)
In 2013, I led a team of researchers from Mindanao State University–General Santos City to conduct a study on early marriage practices among two indigenous peoples (IPs) in the South Cotabato-Sultan...
View ArticleMaking R&D a priority (3)
As noted in my previous columns on this topic, both government and academic institutions have not allocated sufficient funds for this type of work, justifying this to be among these institutions’ least...
View ArticleTaking Marcos at his word
Filipinos understandably associate martial law with Ferdinand Marcos Sr. because they have short memories. Rodrigo Duterte placed Mindanao under martial law in 2017. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo placed...
View ArticleProlonged hunger in NCR
What strikes me most about the new Social Weather Stations hunger survey is that the richest area of the country, the National Capital Region (NCR), is again the one with the highest proportion of...
View ArticleSupport domestic tourism: It’s more fun in Dipolog City
A recent quick weekend escapade with six of my friends, from Quezon City to Dipolog City, Zamboanga del Norte, was an exhilarating experience that I would like to highly recommend in support of...
View Article
More Pages to Explore .....