The LaSallianWe see the battlefield for what it is only when the smoke clears. The past two weeks have seen the best of us drift into easy narratives of honour, national pride or blind patriotism. Thousands, mostly in Luzon, soon joined the chorus calling for “all out war” on the MILF. Many more have declared all…
How far is the gap between being a ‘kid’ and being an ‘adult’? And more importantly, when exactly do we make the jump? Of course, it’s easy to define the terms ‘child’ and ‘adult’ using numbers. It’s much simpler to say that someone’s a child if they’re below 18 years of age, and someone’s an…
As I was jogging near the Rizal Park the other day, I saw a large white banner with the words “Huwag kang magnakaw!” (Thou shall not steal), largely written on it. It was another of those socio-political outcries, I thought to myself, amidst yet another allegation of corruption currently being hurled against Vice President Jejomar…
By now, many of us would have heard about the massacre that had befallen 12 staffers and editors of a French weekly magazine called Charlie Hebdo at the hands of two Islamist gunmen last January 7. Within an hour after the attack, the words #JeSuisCharlie (#IamCharlie) made waves on social media to support freedom of…
Pope Francis bid the Philippines farewell last January 19 after a five-day apostolic visit to the Philippines. Over the duration of his stay, the pontiff visited several locations, including Malacañang Palace, Luneta Park, and Tacloban, Leyte – one of the locations most devastated by Typhoon Yolanda. In each of his appearances, huge crowds gathered to…
There was just something extraordinary about the visit of Pope Francis to the Philippines that you can’t quite explain. How could the presence of just one man unite tens of millions of Filipinos? During his visit, the people were on their best behavior, with crime rates substantially lower according to the Philippine National Police, while…
Do grades matter? It’s a question that has probably crossed all of our minds at least once (the actual number might be closer to a thousand) throughout our years in grade school, high school, and college. With another term in the books, we often find ourselves asking this question to console ourselves for our low…
At roughly three feet, 47 pounds, and four years of age, my little sister can ask an average of ten questions a minute. Her questions range from “Can I watch Frozen tonight, Ate?” (To which I’d usually answer yes) to “When will it snow?” (When Olaf comes), all asked in the impossibly high pitch of…
In one of my classes, a classmate of mine got into a debate with our professor. After a while, a few students started to join in, and it became a back and forth between us students and the professor. Eventually, we moved on from the debate without really deciding on who was right, but then…
I became an expert in women’s rights and sarcasm at the tender age of ten. It was quite easy to be one for both when growing up with an older sister. Whenever I was with her, I would see everything split right in the middle. One half for me, One half for her. When it…
