COMMENTARY: What lies ahead for the BTA?
The BOL is essentially an overhaul of the current regional autonomy framework and without a doubt the transition will be extremely challenging. Needless to say, the newly organized Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) faces a gruelling path ahead.
SOMEONE ELSE’S WINDOWS: Bad prescription
MindaNews / 20 Feb 2019 – Article 90 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended by RA 4661, provides that libel shall prescribe in...
SOMEONE ELSE’S WINDOWS: Cyber libel doesn’t exist
MindaNews/February 18, 2019 – The arrest of Rappler executive Maria Ressa for cyber libel charges has triggered a heated debate on whether the Philippine...
A SOJOURNER’S VIEW: Where art thou Mindanao concerned artists?
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 17 Feb) -- Since EDSA I, as a way to acknowledge the major contribution of concerned artists in dismantling the Marcos dictatorship, February - when the EDSA event is commemorated - is also the country’s Arts’ Month.
HABAGATNONG HINAGAWHAW: Puwerteng Kuana!
Ay, mao nang akò nang gikuan
ug akong giingon anà pagkuan
kay kanang kuan man god kuan man,
sa ako man god nga pagkuan-kuan
nakakuan ko nga mao gyod nay kuan.
TURNING POINT: Press Freedom in the Balance
NAAWAN, Misamis Oriental (MindaNews / 16 February) -- The press is a necessity in the working of a democracy. It is an institution external to the government that secures check and balance in governance to protect the interest and welfare of the people.
ALPSIDE DOWNED: Ni Hao in Nice
BERN, Switzerland (MindaNews / 12 February) -- While waiting for our host while newly arrived on a recent trip to Nice, we had an encounter in the street with a local Frenchman. A car screeched to a halt and reversed a bit, the driver rolled down his side window and shouted out, “Ni Hao!” Then he drove away with a grin and another screech.
MARGINALIA: Four enduring challenges to revolutionary-to-ruler transition
YANGON, Myanmar (MindaNews /11 February) – It’s exactly 20 years back. 1998. February 11. 3:12 am.
“In a few moments, we will land in Mehrabad International Airport,” an IranAir flight attendant in navy blue hijab assured with a smile the drowsy passengers to a seven-hour flight from Kuala Lumpur to Tehran. A score of fellow students from Mindanao and I were fetched by a minibus at the airport and transported to Qazvin, a city over 100 kilometers away. After taking a sumptuous breakfast in Karaj in the suburb of the capital, we arrived in Imam Khomeini International University where we had to learn within six months the language of Gulistan, Divan-e Hafiz, and Shahnameh.
BEYOND THE FOUR WALLS: Another look at ʾBumbleBeeʾ
MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews /10 February) -- ʺWow, it was fun. I can watch it again?ʺ said a male teenager to a companion after watching...
TURNING POINT: A Convoluted Plebiscite
NAAWAN, Misamis Oriental (MindaNews/6 February) – A barangay desirous and votes to become part of Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) does not...
PEACETALK: Can the MILF carry the momentum in North Cotabato?
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 05 February) -- Can the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) carry the momentum in North Cotabato after the overwhelming victory...
SOMEONE ELSE’S WINDOWS: A test for the Dimaporos
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/05 February) – In 2001, the towns of Balo-i, Munai, Nunungan, Pantar, Tagoloan and Tangkal in Lanao del Norte voted “yes” to...
PEACETALK: Clarion Call For Unity
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews /02 February) -- The recent bombing in Sulu is definitely perpetrated by a breed of people who are followers of the...
PEACETALK: In the conflictive pastoral situation of the Archdiocese of Cotabato, the Shepherd has...
(Homily of Cardinal Orlando B. Quevedo, OMI during the Installation of Abp. Angelito R. Lampon, O.M.I. as Archbishop of Cotabato, at the Immaculate Conception...
HABAGATNONG HINAGAWHAW: Kuwento-Kuwento
Ang pagkakaintindi ko
kaya nag-martial law
at kaya pinalawig pa ito
ay para safe and secure tayo.
Tama ba ako?
O guniguni ko lang ito?
Ano raw?
May sumabog na naman?
Ay,...
WAYWARD AND FANCIFUL: Randy on my mind
ILIGAN CITY (MindaNews/ 31 Jan) – Death came like a thief in the night up north.
And don’t we all wish that? – That, when...
TURNING POINT: Rethinking the War on Terror
NAAWAN, Misamis Oriental (MindaNews/ 30 January) – The state security forces ought to rethink its strategy in fighting terrorism to avoid the repeat of...
COMMENTARY: Why Filipinos resist Charter Change
The 1987 Constitution is considered one of the most enduring constitutions in the world because it has stood for almost 32 years without any...
Prayer for Peace in Jolo
Let there be PEACE in Jolo;
Let there be Peace
between Muslims and Christians;
Let there be Peace
between our two communities
God protects All beleivers from evildoers
God leads...
TURNING POINT: Criminally Responsible
NAAWAN, Misamis Oriental (MindaNews/ 25 January) – It is likely that a law will soon be passed by Congress lowering the age of criminal...
A SOJOURNER’S VIEW: Ordinary Lives, Lived Extraordinarily
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 20 January) -- No one takes a second look at a woman carrying an umbrella. But a man with an...
COMMENT: Cotabato City: YES or NO to BOL?
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 19 January) – A January 17, 2019 MinDaNews photo by Mamman Dejeto (No to BOL inclusion. No to Fake...
PEACETALK: YES kami sa Kapayapaan, at YES kami sa Bangsamoro Organic Law
(Speech of Hadja Bainon G. Karon, chair of the MNLF Bangsamoro women at the Peace Assembly for the ratification of Republic Act 11054 or...
PEACETALK: The BOL is not a perfect law but it is the best now...
(Speech delivered at the Peace Assembly for the ratification of Republic Act 11054 or the Bangsamoro Organic Law at the Shariff Kabunsuan Cultural Complex...
PEACETALK: Ang nakasalalay sa ating mga kamay sa January 21 ay .. ang kinabukasan...
(Speech of Datu Roonie Q. Sinsuat, Speaker of the Regional Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao at the BOL Grand Rally...
PEACETALK: Our united efforts and sacrifices to forge a long-lasting and just peace are...
(Message of Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana at the Bangsamoro Organic Law Grand Rally on 15 January 2019 at the municipal gymnasium in Buluan, Maguindanao...
MOORISH AND MOORING IN TAWI-TAWI REEFS: The Sea Owns Us, We Belong To Sulu...
Ampa in ini hi Bianting Lee
Umalup lelleng ha elbiti
Minsan pungluh lelleng pipti
Hinangun niya salih kindi.
(Listen, as with Bianting Lee/ He boldly meets the tanks...
PEACETALK: Of plebiscite, local politics, and democracy
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 18 January) -- Even as the plebiscite for the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) nears, we still can’t...
COMMENT: Burden of Two Cities
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/15 January) – The cities of Isabela and Cotabato are odd. They live in the House they were born in; have...
TURNING POINT: Changing Change
NAAWAN, Misamis Oriental (MindaNews/15 January) – If we want to achieve meaningful and lasting change, we must change the way we change.
If we want...
How to cook your mother (A family recipe)
A slice of life
Lots of breath
Splash with wonder
And rum
Mix in bowl of bone and flesh
Grind with chores
Til smooth
Don't forget vanilla
So men will wanna
Eat ya
With...
ALPSIDE DOWNED: Fantasyland
BERN (MindaNews /12 January) -- To someone just back from vacation in the Philippines, we use this queer remark: “Welcome back to reality!”.
We call...
A SOJOURNER’S VIEW: FILM REVIEWS: The Nanny/Yaya Story
Many Filipinos who enjoy watching films that do not insult their intelligence are sighing with relief now that the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF)...
COMMENT: At Stake in BOL Plebiscite
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/ 09 Jan) -- What is at stake at the Bangsamoro Organic Law plebiscite on January 21 and February 6?
Not the...
PEACETALK: I choose peace.
MIDSAYAP, North Cotabato (MindaNews /08 January) -- For those of us who have seen the many faces of war and its effects on the...
BATANG MINDANAW: Learning To Play Chess
When I was young, I would watch my grandfather play chess with his friend whenever I visited him. I had no idea how any...
PEACETALK: I know the Bangsamoro will be a reality
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 07 January) -- I am not a Moro but I am a Bangsamoro. I grew up from childhood and lived...
PEACETALK: Call for unity and respect
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 07 January) -- PEACE!
With fears, suspicion, polarization and threats seizing the citizens of Cotabato City, I reiterate the threefold call...
BATANG MINDANAW: The Tapestry of the Bangsamoro Youth
Like many young people before me and throughout history, I have been called slack, self-centered, and shallow by the generation who came before me....
BATANG MINDANAW: The shared memory of home will continuously bridge differences, politics and class
They were a group of Meranaos, temporarily taking chances at life in a foreign city, a little faraway from inged, from home. In one...
LATE BLOOMS: On A Loved One’s Loss
This time the words fail
and though I grieve, no tears fell.
Like an empty well.
Cold emptiness, that I feel.
Lay your head on my shoulder.
Eric S.B....
A SOJOURNER’S VIEW: A defiant hope for 2019
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/ 01 Jan) – Just for the fun of it, I googled Chinese astrology’s predictions for 2019. The posting I managed to...
PEACETALK: The Bangsamoro Organic Law and Social Justice
(Presentation of Cardinal Orlando B. Cardinal Quevedo, O.M.I.. Archbishop of Cotabato at the interfaith forum on the Bangsamoro organic law in Isabela City, Basilan...
TURNING POINT: The Filipino of the Year 2018
NAAWAN, Misamis Occidental (MindaNews / 29 Dec) -- If it goes to the votes, I would cast mine like last year, to His Excellency...
REFLECTION: An Old Man’s Musings `
(In free verse, in reflection of Christmas past, now and to come.)
Gone were the days decades and decades past:
Carolers, then, sang from early evening...
COMMENT: On Duterte’s Jokes
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 27 Dec) – Rodrigo R. Duterte is the most controversial Philippine president counting from President Emilio Aguinaldo. Let’s not...
ALPSIDE DOWNED: Busted
BERN (MindaNews / 22 December) -- To use a cliché in a contemporary setting – you will never realize the loss of your freedoms in the drugs war in a martial law setting, until you are busted for something.
SOJOURNER’S VIEW: Christmas Greetings
Dear Mindanews Readers,
For most of this year, this column was quite inactive. I found myself in a "mental block" and had difficulties putting words...
COMMENT: Constitution Trivialized, Mocked
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 18 Dec) – Under no Philippine president other than Rodrigo R. Duterte has the Constitution been so blatantly trivialized...
PASSION FOR MISSION: Seek Jesus at the fringes
Dear fellow religious and friends in the apostolic societies serving in the Diocese of Digos,
I would like to greet each and every one of...