Decision Week

Tomorrow, on the first Monday in June, the Senate and Congress meet for their last session week.
They will not meet again until the last Monday in July, when they convene to hear the GMA’s State of the Nation Address or SONA.
The headlines of the SONA in July will depend on what both houses decide on [...]

The Baptism of Bishop Pabillo

Last Saturday and Sunday, I was asked to facilitate the 5th National Congress of UNORKA, the national federation of local farmers’ organizations that has been at the forefront of the struggle for agrarian reform.
I did not hesitate to accept the invitation, especially since it came from the chair of the steering committee, Ka Eking Tayo from Negros Occidental. Ka Eking [...]

Part 2: Learning about the New Left in Latin America

The Philippines is sometimes described as “a Latin American country located in Asia.” 
I caught glimpses of this during the conversation with Jose Natanson, the Argentinian-born editor of Nueva Sociedad, about the “new left” in Latin America.
I think majority of those in the room consider ourselves part of the left in the Philippines. Hence we were curious [...]

Learning about the New Left in Latin America

The text invitation from IPD, the Institute for Popular Democracy, was apologetic: “Sorry this comes late. But can you join us for a discussion with Jose Natanson? He is the editor of a Latin American journal on the democratic left.”
I went to the discussion with Girlie, just after coming home from the launch of the Education Nation, which [...]

Tender Moments

Some time back, the Nicaraguan Sandinistas spoke and wrote about a virtue not usually associated with activists – ternura, or tenderness. Of course, they added an obligatory adjective and called it revolutionary tenderness.
The first time I read about this, I was quite taken by it. The word/concept of tenderness captured the core that lies hidden beneath the public intensity and outrage associated [...]

Bridging Leadership

This afternoon at the Asian Institute of Management, I met with two fellows of the “Bridging Leadership Program” or BLP, for a mentoring session.
I first got to know the Bridging Leadership Program some years back when a good friend Ayi Hernandez was chosen as a fellow in the pilot course. Ayi is one of the [...]

Mother’s Day: Missing Inay

Sunday morning and the house feels empty. Girlie is in Lucena City to be with her mother, Nanay Flotie, on Mother’s day. Our daughter Ayen is in Pasig where she spent the night with her cousin Nadine. My sister Yen is probably on night duty in Puerto Rico, pitching in for her midwifery students.
Into this [...]

Manny Pacquiao and Lifelong Learning

Sunday morning, I watched Manny Pacquiao’s dramatic demolition of Ricky Hatton at the Vicariate Pastoral Center in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro.
I was invited there to facilitate a strategic planning workshop of the Save OMECO Movement, which campaigned for reforms in the local electric coop. The workshop was planned for the whole weekend until Monday noon. [...]

May Day 2009

May 1 is one of the most important days in the “liturgical calendar” of the progressive movement. In the Philippines, we usually celebrate it with protest rallies, preceded by political debates on what issue should be projected. Unfortunately, I can’t remember any May Day when all the various labor federations and political centers ever agreed [...]