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In sin and error pining

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

It was at an early Christmas lunch when a friend asked if I thought that Vice President Sara Duterte would be impeached, with all the motions now on the table to that effect. I wasn’t expecting politics to...

A forgotten hero

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

A handsome book – as handsome as its subject – was launched last week by the Ateneo University Press, a biography of another unsung Filipino hero who would have faded into oblivion had it not been for...

On writing as a profession

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

Following through on last week’s piece about the challenges faced by creative writers trying to make a living in this country, let me share some further thoughts on that topic that I wove into my Rizal Lecture...

Fame, fortune and the Filipino writer

by Jose Dalisay - November 25, 2024 - 12:00am

Creative writers don’t earn much in this country, unless they lend their talents to someone else, for far less literary reasons than writing a novel or a collection of poems.

Greatness of spirit

by Jose Dalisay - November 18, 2024 - 12:00am

After a week marked by sordid political revelations, reversals and antics that make us despair over the future of democracy in this country and elsewhere in the world, it was refreshing and inspiring to be reminded...

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.

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