Duterte Politics

How to play world politics? Let’s analyze. Learn from Duterte. Duterte is clever. If not for what he has done for the city of Davao, he knew his foul language and unorthodox style of diplomacy would bring him world popularity. So he strategically positioned himself well, influencing public perception to put him in the same…

What do the Filipino youth want from their leaders?

(Blog contribution to the World Bank. Click to access original site: World Bank EAP Blogs) Scroll through social media in the Philippines, and you’ll get the feel of how young people have transformed digital spaces into a microcosm of what the Philippines should or should not be. If only their ideas and fervor in cyberspace could…

To Trust or Not to Trust?

(Column in Times Focus published 19 November 2015.) Before imaginations go wandering off, I am not writing about procreation or contraceptives. This is about the value of that essential component of a relationship: trust. But let me narrow it down to the context of taxis. Whenever we ride a taxi, the ideal is we comfortably take the back…