COURAGE, HUMILITY AND COMPASSION. These, Bishop Broderick Pabillo prayed, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Lito Atienza would have so that he would correct his mistake.
Pabillo is chair of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ Commission on Social Action, Justice and Peace and auxiliary bishop of Manila. He was one of the [...]

I own a piece or pieces of the Berlin Wall. A friend who went to Berlin shortly after the fall of the wall in 1989 brought home a piece for me.
Two years later, in 1991, I and several journalists were in Germany for a two-week cross-country tour—courtesy of a German press association, Germany’s department of [...]

AS IRISH COLUMBAN missionary Fr. Michael Sinnott enters his 24th day of captivity, people from all walks of life continue to pray that his kidnappers would have compassion and free him soon. That is, without ransom being paid. His kidnappers have asked for a $2-million ransom.
Fr. Pat O’Donoghue, regional director of the Missionary Society of [...]

That’s Tama (right/correct) indeed, we didn’t miss out on the letter d. But before that d disappeared, there is Juan Tamad of Philippine fable, the stereotypical lazy, lethargic Filipino who just waits for the proverbial guava to fall from the tree and into his mouth.
Once again, Juan Tamad takes center stage on a circa 2010 [...]

Three weeks after Chinese expert dam watcher, activist and 2009 Ramon Magsaysay awardee Yu Xiaogang left the Philippines, the dam broke, so to speak.
I wish I had asked Yu all the dam questions that are plaguing us now. I wish he were here for the Senate hearings and the forum debates to witness the dam-damning, [...]

(This piece is the continuation of last week’s column, “Deep calls to deep.”)
In 2005, after killer landslides and flash floods brought the provinces of Quezon and Aurora to their knees, I wrote about the groundbreaking book, “Pakikipagkapwa Damdamin: Accompanying Survivors of Disasters,” (Bookmark) by psychologist Dr. Lourdes A. Carandang. The book was the result of [...]

“Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.” (Psalm 42:7)
These words were roaring in my head all throughout last week, rising and crashing like a thundering symphony. Like a movie sound track gone awry. Brutal, majestic, exploding like Mozart’s “Rex tremendae.”
Like the psalmist and [...]

So many pieces have been written about Odette Alcantara and her life and times since her sudden passing on Sept. 22. She was going to turn 69 on Friday.
I last saw Odette on Aug. 31 at the Ramon Magsaysay Awards at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Although I attend the awards every year and [...]

This week the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
How time flies. The past 20 years have indeed been colorful, dangerous years for this journalistic endeavor which is an Asian first and which continues to be not only investigative but innovative as well in its reporting and use of new forms [...]

Few people knew about what I went through from October 2007 to May 2008. During that time I was quietly battling a dreaded threat: cancer. I had lived a relatively happy, healthy lifestyle for many years. And then for some strange reason, I was going “lo-batt.” An enemy had struck. As I had disclosed earlier, [...]