Filep Karma, prisoner of conscience

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo Again, to explain: The columnists’ mug shots show closed eyes this entire week, our way of proclaiming solidarity with victims of crimes and their families who have doubly suffered because of the culture of impunity which has allowed those guilty to remain unpunished or to be above the law. This week also marks the second anniversary of the massacre of 58 innocents, 32 of them media practitioners,...

Read More

Smokey Mountain's rainwater eco-laundromat

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo Smokey Mountain, the internationally known garbage dump that the media, social scientists, activists, environmental advocates, politicians and religious groups had so often visited, is no more, but the name, the symbol, the actual spot remains. For a long time, many visitors who experienced the shocking poverty and amazing endurance of those who earned their living through scavenging there had hoped that Smokey Mountain, this shameful symbol of Philippine misery, would vanish, if not transmogrify...

Read More

Crime, showbiz, politics and 'other families'

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo Also guns, money, power and treachery. They make for a long-running telenovela. The only telenovela I ever followed closely was “Falcon Crest,” which ended in the 1990s. The plot got so corny and convoluted toward the end that I lost my interest in the final episodes. That’s why I don’t remember how it ended. I only remember the earthquake that rocked the wine valley. That was before Mexican telenovelas became so popular and addictive here. After the success of “Mari Mar,” Philippine TV networks...

Read More

He sees dead people & they confess to him

Sunday Inquirer Magazine/FEATURES/by Ma. Ceres P. DoyoAt three o’clock in the morning, while the world sleeps, troubled souls rouse this priest to relay important messages or confess their sins so they can move on gently and finally to eternity. The otherworldly messengers include Navy officer Phillip Pestaño who came back to tell the world that his death was not a suicide as some officials would have us believe. Another group of souls gathered...

Read More

7 billion stories

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo After the official announcement by international population experts that the number of human beings living on Planet Earth reached the seven billion mark on Oct. 31, 2011, after events have been staged and symbolic 7 billionth babies have been presented, photographed and assured of a good future, after the number crunching has been done and pop population puzzles have been created and solved...

Read More