TURNING POINT: Funny and Panicky
NAAWAN, Misamis Oriental (MindaNews / 16 July) – In a vote 18 in favour, 14 against, and 15 abstention, the UN Human Rights Council...
SOMEONE ELSE’S WINDOWS: Patrimony and sovereignty as collateral
MindaNews / 11 July 2019 – Upon his assumption of the presidency Rodrigo Duterte did what none of his predecessors had dared to do:...
A SOJOURNER’S VIEW: Mindanao Cartographies of History, Identity and Representation
LONDON, England (MindaNews/09 July) – The 2-day conference sponsored by the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of the University of London recently...
TURNING POINT: Exclusively Yours
NAAWAN, Misamis Oriental (MindaNews/08 July) – Now, we understand why Chinese vessels crowd and are aggressively fishing in the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ):...
ALPSIDE DOWNED: Hot
BERN, Switzerland (MindaNews / 06 July) -- What to do when my adopted place Bern is as hot in summer as my hometown Surigao?
That...
TRIBUTE: For Tatay Rene
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 06 July) -- I have ministered lots of people in my life. I can do it because it is the...
TRIBUTE: Always in our hearts
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 06 July) – Tatay Rene Lumawag must have taken thousands of photos of us through the years. He has chronicled...
A SOJOURNER’S VIEW: A day in my life while in London
LONDON, England (MindaNews/04 July) – I woke up to a sunny morning at almost 6:00 a.m. in a lovely house along Old Lodge Lane...
A SOJOURNER’S VIEW: Mindanao Studies in London
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/03 July) – For a few years now, there has been a growing interest in dealing with Mindanao Studies in the academic...
HABAGATNONG HINAGAWHAW: Lamugdong
Taudtaod na nga walâ ka nagpatim-aw,
walay bisan lang untà timbayang hilaw
iyawat maibanan diyotay ang sa buntag nga katugnaw
ug mahatagan gamayng kahupayan king akong kamingaw.
Ngano,...
KISSA AND DAWAT: Is Sustainable Peace Possible for Sulu?
ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews / 2 July 2019) – Four days ago we were awakened to yet another bad news from beloved Sulu. On Friday,...
KISSA AND DAWAT: Back to Bongao, the boom town
BONGAO, Tawi-Tawi (MindaNews/01 July) – After a few months lull, I was finally back in Bongao, the boom town, in Tawi-Tawi province, proverbially referred...
ANGAY-ANGAY LANG: Pamalandong tungkol sa Krisis sa Marawi
8 Agosto 2017 (dagdag 26 Hunyo 2019)
(Historian and peacebuilder Rudy Buhay Rodil presented this piece at the “Recognizing the Role of History in the...
LATE BLOOMS: Nightmare
Nightmares are better:
wake up, they’re no longer there.
But this, we can’t tell
when it will come to an end.
My heart hurts with so much pain!
Eric...
GOVERNANCE: Welcoming Differences in Working for Democracy
(Speech of the new governor of Dinagat Islands, Arlene “Kaka” Bag-ao at the turnover rites held at the Provincial Capitol in San Jose, Dinagat...
HABAGATNONG HINAGAWHAW: Daman
Maypa ang daman,
pagmata walâ na man.
Kini, ambot lang
kanus-a pa mahuman.
Sakít na akong dughan!
Eric S.B. Libre
29 Hunyo 2019
PAGPUPUGAY: Huling Paalam (Para kay Bapa Sam)
It’s late in the evening… Narinig ko itong paborito mong kanta kagabi mula sa Kanto habang nagpapatila ng ulan. Alam kong hindi mo boses...
TURNING POINT: Securing Safe and Clean Air
NAAWAN, Misamis Oriental (MindaNews/28 June) – A clean and balanced environment is a sine qua non in development.
Securing the people from the hazards and...
KISSA AND DAWAT: Marawi in my mind
ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews/28 June) – A good friend and a sister in Islam, Atty Maisara Dandamun-Latip reminded me today on something I wrote a...
A SOJOURNER’S VIEW: Discovering and Re-discovering the Delights of Davao’s East Coast
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 23 June) -- In my younger years, I worked with the Maryknoll Missionaries when they constituted a big number of...
A MORO IN EXILE: Smiling Back at Kuya Sammy
As heartbreaking as news of his demise was, I still couldn't help but smile while reminiscing about this fellow who recently left us.
I can...
Goodbye, Bapa Sam (A tribute to Sammy P. Maulana)
By Nash B. Maulana
Innalillahi Wa Inna Ilayhi Rajion (To God we belong and to God we shall return).
You were fresh from a long detention...
TURNING POINT: Fraud, the Land of Promise
NAAWAN, Misamis Oriental (MindaNews / 20 June) – “If it’s too good to be true, it’s fraud.”
So said President Rodrigo Duterte on the KAPA...
PEACETALK: Start together, dream together, create a vision together, and work together
(Welcome remarks and direction-setting for Local Government Units in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, by lawyer Naguib Sinarimbo, Minister for Interior and...
PEACETALK: The mountains were calling me
(Inspirational Message delivered by Marites Gonzalo to the Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute’s Asia Opening Ceremony, on the theme “Positive Engagement in Peacebuilding” at the Mergrande...
HABAGATNONG HINAGAWHAW: Tula ng Tulala
Nasaan si Matapang?
Nasaan ang mga salitang
nagngangalit at maaanghang?
Ngayon ko nais marinig
ang talim ng kanyang tinig,
ngunit bakit di ko maulinig?
May aso akong nakita:
bahag ang buntot...
COMMENTARY: We are still a democracy, we are not a fascist state!
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 12 June) – Really? You forcibly take a senior citizen who was just going about her business and was on...
SOMEONE ELSE’S WINDOWS: Police as thugs
It’s unfortunate enough that Margarita “Gingging” Valle, a journalist from Davao City became a victim of what the police nonchalantly called a case of...
TURNING POINT: COA vs Duterte
NAAWAN, Misamis Oriental (MindaNews/10 June) – The Commission on Audit is an independent body mandated by the Constitution to safeguard the resources of the...
A SOJOURNER’S VIEW: Siargao
SIARGAO (MindaNews / 09 June) -- Through the years since Siargao became a popular haven for tourists this side of the Republic, I was...
MY, MY, MY MARAWI: So many memories, an amazing, grace-packed journey
MAKKAH (MindaNews /04 June) -- God Almighty gifted me with wonders.... family, friends, great campaign teams, mentors, volunteers, working hands near and far. Some...
MERANAO SPOKEN WORD: You Are Not Helping
YOU ARE NOT HELPING
Nor-anisha Schaharazhed C. Guro
You are not helping
When you say with a superior tone
That our homes were set ablaze because
God hates women
Yes,...
MORO IN EXILE: Generosity During Ramadan: A Palestinian Example
This was 2014. I was on a road trip somewhere between Petra and the Wadi Rum in Jordan. I wanted to explore the countryside,...
KISSA AND DAWAT: Last hurrah for heritage
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 02 June) – May is National Heritage Month. About two weeks ago, I wrote in this column about “Bangsamoro is...
MERANAO SPOKEN WORD: Bolawan Ko
BOLAWAN KO
Faishanie P. Macalantong
Miyokit sa lagid o taginepen
Ino so mga torogan piphandaraan?
Ba siran oto miyodas?
So gawi-gawii a di kalilanga
A pelawiin o maginged
A di phapakaradiyaan,...
PACQUIAO WATCH: Thurman is hittable, beatable
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 02 June) -- Watching few videos of Keith Thurman fights makes you agree he packs a wallop. His unbeaten record...
KISSA AND DAWAT: Pagpuasa (Fasting) and Self-Liberation
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 01 June) – In a few days the Ramadhan-long fasting will be over for this year. It will culminate in...
MERANAO SPOKEN WORD: Nowhere
NOWHERE
by Sorayyah M. Casanguan
I feel lost. Yes! Really lost.
All are gone. The streets I used to knew
Those alleys where old women vendors
With their blackened...
MERANAO SPOKEN WORD: Inged A Pisimalaw
INGED A PISIMALAW
by Soraya Panondi
Inako matag bantaan sa tig a kaphengano naken reka
A bolog ako mambo a kalumbayan
Mapagendaw ka miroy i kabantayi ko reka
Sekaman...
MERANAO SPOKEN WORD: The Promise
THE PROMISE
Sittie Saadia M. Muti
You were bequeathed with exquisite beauty beyond compare--
oh, that perfect weather all-year round
The forever spring with your ever verdant foliage
The...
MERANAO SPOKEN WORD: 23rd of May
23rd OF MAY
The whole city burnt into ashes
Right before my eyes,
My precious City! My beloved City!
Our playground when we were young
From Barrio Naga to...
OUR MARAWI: Crying with Marawi
"I was roused by the call from the minarets that broke the predawn silence. Not just one. Not just two. But a symphony from...
MERANAO SPOKEN WORD: Call Me Homeless
I used to say to my friends living in the big cities.
That I live in a small city. Away from the tall
buildings and wide...
ALPSIDE DOWNED: Civil courage
BERN, Switzerland (MindaNews / 23 May) – Civil courage. The phrase leaped at me while I was reading a light-hearted online article on “How...
KISSAH AND DAWAT: Bangsamoro is Integral to Filipino Heritage
ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews/22 May) – This month is etched in our minds because of the midterm national and local elections, with winners proclaimed by...
CALL TO ACTION: The Problem of the Island Commuters to Jolo, etc.
ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews / 21 May) -- The problem of commuters taking the boat to Jolo etc. has reached alarming proportion that ordinary commuters are finding it difficult to buy tickets to Jolo, Siasi, Bongao, Sitangkai and are forced to buy from scalpers who buy boat tickets to resell it at the wharf for a higher price.
TURNING POINT: Game Over
We have been under a democracy for over half a century. Our democracy, however, has been warped and punctured by a value system that glorifies and ennobles autocracy, plutocracy and indecency, thus the democratic system stalls and is getting us nowhere. It looks like the system fails us in choosing our leaders and in imposing social discipline. It seems democracy as a system of governance is not fit for us.
MINDAVIEWS: Can my vote make a difference?
Can my vote make a difference? This is the question that those who will be voting this coming elections often ask. The answer is: yes, of course. It may be one vote but when added together will either plunge this nation deeper into a crisis or shed light amidst the darkness.
RIVERMAN’S VISTA: The other elections on Monday
As it is, the national elections are a highly emotional affair. We are seeing that now with so much at stake. But while outside the gaze of national media, the heat is more palpable and intense in the local elections where political rivalries are more direct and personal.
TURNING POINT: Voting Wisely
In this mid-term election,
a wise voteIs one that
Puts a brake to excessive taxation that raises the prices of basic commodities, which has worsened the plight of the poor;