Category: Crucible

QUEZON CITY (MindaNews/29 April) — Supplicants are those who humbly ask help from somebody or from some being or entity that has power over something. They ask  help because they are not capable of getting what they want on their own. They resort to supplication out of need or lack of will power to exercise their capability. In this regard, supplication can be positively interpreted as showing a person’s true self by revealing his helplessness that makes him void of any egoism or selfish claim. On the contrary, supplication can be negative when it is resorted to simply out of bad habit by not believing in oneself and by habitually asking others to solve one’s problem.

QUEZON CITY (MindaNews/07 March) — The panorama of the Sulu Sea looked enchanting, complemented by a placid view of well-trimmed, green field that made nearby areas riveting. These scenes became more soothing as gentle wind from the sea blew subtly in,  providing cooling effect in the veranda of  the Carmelite Hall. At the other side of the Hall were magnificent acacia trees serving as canopy for students and teachers passing underneath. At the back,  the Jolo Airport and the headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines known as the Tabak Division of Jolo. And a stone’s throw away from the Hall, the Notre Dame of Jolo College.

These places came to me with a sting of nostalgia. I used to pass by this area more than twenty years ago on my way to the Notre Dame of Jolo for Boys, a high school ran by the Marist Brothers, an affiliate of the Oblates Order, the major Catholic congregation along with the Dominicans and Carmelites in the Province of Sulu. This time though, I was at the Carmelite Hall waiting for Bishop Benjamin de Jesus for an interview in connection with the special project by the UP-Center for Integrative Development Studies (CIDS) about the proposed government offer to the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in 1996: the Southern Philippines Council for Peace Development (SPCPD).

DILIMAN, Quezon City (MindaNews/29 Jan) — The war in Gaza is, so far, the most disturbing scene the world ever witnessed, especially the way “Israel’s exceptionalism” has become too out of sync with the rules of civilized conduct these days. It is not disturbing because the Middle East conflict has resurfaced once more. Certainly, the list of similar atrocities, massacres, dispossession and the like punctuated the modern history of Palestine since Israel’s creation in 1948 and even before and the subsequent years after that. 

QUEZON CITY (MindaNews/24 January) — This is my first column at MindaNews. Allow me, at the outset, to be personal with my tone in expressing what I’d like to write. 

Beginning is the difficult part in writing a column. I felt it when I started to jot down my thought into my monitor screen after Carolyn Arguillas invited me to write a column last month. After Carol’s email, I immediately scribbled a piece; it was my way to capture my excitement having been offered to write by one of the leading journalists in Mindanao. However, despite my initial draft, I decided to shelve it for a while as I was not yet convinced of the message I wanted to bring across. I had to be sure; it would be my first salvo at MindaNews. Besides, I'd been glued closely these past weeks to the news about the Middle East particularly the war in Gaza where I was obliged, too, to write my thoughts about it.