Suicide and the 'feeding frenzy'

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo In suicide cases, experts say, guilt should never be owned and blame should never be assigned. I find myself repeating myself—like today—whenever there is a high-profile case of suicide and a blame game ensues. And then it is followed by a “feeding frenzy,” which was how someone in the health sector described the finger-pointing and the media overload in the case of University of the Philippines student Kristel Tejada, who killed herself. The reason that most everyone—her schoolmates,...

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'Pope Kiko' and the grace of office

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo “Pope Kiko.” The common Filipino nickname and endearment for those named Francisco and its other versions was in my thoughts the moment the Vatican’s cardinal deacon intoned, “Habemus Papam Franciscum.” The new Pope from Argentina we call Francis in English will be signing his papal name in Latin as Franciscus PP—that is, unless he wants to break with tradition. (The um in Franciscum as used...

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Women's conclave and other thoughts

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo I am privileged to have been invited to a regular gathering of Catholic Filipino women theologians—or women doing theology—and participate in a discussion of issues that concern the Catholic Church, especially those affecting women who work in spreading God’s message of love, peace, justice and equality, as well as those that these women serve. I call our gathering a “women’s conclave.” The...

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'Defining moment' in Philippine-Swiss ties

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo At a forum two days ago on the newly signed Human Rights (Violations) Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013, I shared a table with some rights abuse victims of the martial law years. They were not the nationally known biggies. The gathering was held at the Bantayog ng Mga Bayani grounds in Quezon City, where the names of martyrs and heroes of the dark days are etched on black granite. A...

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