By F Sionil Jose

In the past 100 years, three important events have tested us as a people — the revolution of 1896 and the Philippine-American War; the Japanese Occupation in 1942; and the declaration of martial law in 1972 by Ferdinand Marcos. We failed all three; in the process, after each climactic event, our moral fiber was frayed. READ FULL STORY

How do we move our government leaders and other public servants so they may give their best and work very hard every day until they find the solution to our nation’s ills? READ FULL STORY

For Manuel V. Pangilinan, one of the top business executives in the country, eradicating poverty should be Job No. 1 for every Filipino. But to be successful, more people should help not just in civic projects but also in government programs that invite partnerships with private businesses. READ FULL STORY

By Juan T. Gatbonton

Our elite of power and wealth are extremely diverse. Their members range from the genteel remnants of the colonial hacendero families to the grossest political-warlord clans such as the Ampatuans of Maguindanao, who are accused of slaughtering 57 people in just one morning. READ FULL STORY.

IN PHOTO: Former ARMM chair Zaldy Ampatuan (left) and younger brother ex-Maguindanao Gov. Sajid Ampatuan with President Arroyo.

BERN, Switzerland – Thomas Oliver Kellenberger was an ordinary policeman here. But not to children working in the garbage dumps in Cagayan de Oro. Kellenberger, 27, quit his job to relocate to the Philippines this month, where he will work full-time in the love of his life — a foundation helping scavenger children. READ FULL STORY.

By Carmela Fonbuena    

Foreigners trawl the World Wide Web for one of the country’s hottest exports, the Filipino mail-order-bride, a convenient way to traffic Filipino women. “Mail-order bride” was a term coined  in the 19th century to refer to the way American soldiers literally ordered brides to join them in areas they were assigned. Today, it has acquired a different connotation as technological leaps and bounds have become easier for men to “order” their wives from the net in much the same way they do their shopping online. READ FULL STORY.

By Juan T. Gatbonton

The Jesuit educator, Fr. Bienvenido Nebres, describes government’s neglect of elementary education as “our immense and largely invisible failure.” The fact is that education is not the only basic chore we’ve forgotten to look after. We are a country of immense and largely invisible failures: Our nation is like the proverbial frog inside the kettle on the stove—swimming blithely in water that is coming to a boil. READ FULL STORY.