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The MAGA Universe

by Jose Dalisay - November 11, 2024 - 12:00am

It’s never good to write out of rage, no matter how righteous you think your rage might be; the anger clouds your reasoning and could reduce you to incoherence.

A flickering flame

by Jose Dalisay - November 4, 2024 - 12:00am

Tomorrow, Nov. 5 (or Wednesday, Nov. 6, our time), American voters will choose who between Republican Donald J. Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris will lead them from the White House over the next four years.

Our best books forward

by Jose Dalisay - October 28, 2024 - 12:00am

Now on its 76th year, the Frankfurter Buchmesse (FBM) – better known outside Germany as the Frankfurt Book Fair, the world’s oldest and largest such event – ended successfully last Oct. 20 with...

Dynasty

by Jose Dalisay - October 21, 2024 - 12:00am

‘Mama, papa, I wanna be a congressman!’

Why I teach

by Jose Dalisay - October 14, 2024 - 12:00am

Last Oct. 5, we marked World Teachers Day – not one of our most popular or noisiest holidays (it isn’t even an official one), but one that gives us pause to remember some of the most important people...

That viral picture

by Jose Dalisay - October 7, 2024 - 12:00am

It’s too bad that we don’t have space on this page for cartoons, because I would have asked for one to illustrate this piece for this week.

My lessons from martial law

by Jose Dalisay - September 30, 2024 - 12:00am

I was recently invited by a student organization at the University of the Philippines to speak to them about my martial-law experience, given that I had been a student activist in UP during what we called the First...

Reversals of fortune

by Jose Dalisay - September 23, 2024 - 12:00am

“Roque vs. Roque.” I wish I’d thought up that line, but it was Rappler – yes, that pesky news organization that’s caused many government officials past and present to choke on their...

Justice fever

by Jose Dalisay - September 16, 2024 - 12:00am

A dangerous outbreak of justice fever has hit the Philippines these past few weeks, threatening to make that country’s startled citizens believe that their government is intent on doing right by the people,...

The truth shall make you mad

by Jose Dalisay - September 9, 2024 - 12:00am

I’m writing this on a Friday morning with no particular topic in mind, threatening to be overwhelmed by a slurry of depressing and outrageous news flooding my inbox.

Digong’s conversion

by Jose Dalisay - September 2, 2024 - 12:00am

Rather than mock former president Rodrigo Duterte for his unflinching support for his bosom friend and spiritual adviser, the fugitive Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, I think we should praise and congratulate him for finally...

The owl and the parrot

by Jose Dalisay - August 26, 2024 - 12:00am

Who’s the English-educated Pinoy of my generation who doesn’t remember this verse by Edward Lear, a so-called “nonsense” poem which we happily recited even if, as expected, it made no sense?...

The Epalympics

by Jose Dalisay - August 19, 2024 - 12:00am

First of all, a definition of terms, particularly for the benefit of our foreign friends: “epal” is a Filipino word that has nothing to do with friendship over the internet, although it does presume on...

For our national peace of mind

by Jose Dalisay - August 12, 2024 - 12:00am

For a country starved for heroes, Carlos Yulo’s double-gold performance at the Olympics provided a sumptuous feast – a bacchanalian one, to use probably the newest and most notorious word in many people’s...

Pronouns and parodies

by Jose Dalisay - August 5, 2024 - 12:00am

Some days, I swear, when I open my Facebook feed, I’m tempted to immediately switch it off, drowning in a flood of vexatious opinion certain to trigger my worst reflexes.

The knowing is in the living

by Jose Dalisay - July 29, 2024 - 12:00am

Last Friday, I spoke at the commencement ceremony of the University of the Philippine Diliman Extension Program in Pampanga and Olongapo. Here’s a much shorter version of what I had to say:

Surviving the survivor

by Jose Dalisay - July 22, 2024 - 12:00am

When that rifle bullet grazed Donald Trump’s ear last week, I’m sure I wasn’t alone in having an equally nasty thought whiz through my brain – and I’ll put this as delicately as I can:...

Retaining the fools

by Jose Dalisay - July 15, 2024 - 12:00am

A recent Rappler report on “The Philippine Senate: From statesmen to showmen” by James Patrick Cruz told us much of what we already knew, but didn’t have the exact numbers for – that political...

The truth sometimes stutters

by Jose Dalisay - July 8, 2024 - 12:00am

Like many other global citizens with an interest in American politics, I watched the recent presidential debate between US President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump with alarm and dismay, emerging profoundly...

The political doghouse

by Jose Dalisay - July 1, 2024 - 12:00am

To no one’s great surprise, Vice President Sara Duterte resigned from her concurrent posts as secretary of Education and vice-chair of that long-named (short name: red-tagging) council. Maybe because I was...

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