UT IN OMNIBUS GLORIFICETUR DEUS.

Thursday, January 31, 2019

TBT: Remembering Jolo's slain Bishop de Jesus

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo   Let me indulge in a TBT (Throwback Thursday) piece: On Feb. 4, 1997, almost 22 years to the day of last Sunday’s bomb explosion in the Jolo cathedral while Mass was going on, the bishop of the Apostolic Vicariate of Jolo, Benjamin de Jesus, was shot and killed right in front of the same cathedral named after Our Lady of Mount Carmel. His murderers gave him several bullets that killed him instantly.   Last Sunday’s murder in the cathedral — to borrow the title of T.S. Eliot’s...

Thursday, January 24, 2019

Junior, 10, convict?

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo   I was shocked, even horrified, when I read again, during the weekend, the two-part series I wrote in this paper 19 years ago on the debate on lowering the age of criminal liability, a debate that is raging again now, or almost two decades later, because some lawmakers think there should be a further lowering.   What do you know, three days ago, while I was starting this column piece, the House of Representatives’ justice panel approved a bill further lowering the age of criminal...

Thursday, January 17, 2019

'Battle for Manila Bay' began 20 years ago

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo   Yes, the battle in court began 20 years ago. The legal battle was, in fact, won 10 years later. It was a lonely battle, from the trial court to the Court of Appeals and finally with the Supreme Court no less ordering about 13 defendant government agencies to do a cleanup of Manila Bay.   The high court even gave its order a threatening ring to it — continuing mandamus, which means that the sued government agencies should report to the Supreme Court every three months until...

Thursday, January 10, 2019

Foil to evil brothers Abinicio and Quoranto

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo   They are a foil to “Evil Stepbrothers Abinicio and Quoranto” (ab initio and quo warranto), if I may use a Grimmesque allusion to dark folklore or, why not, an allusion to Dostoyevsky’s characters.   In story plots, a foil is a character that is in contrast to another character, someone whose particular qualities contrasts those of another, especially the “kontrabida.” The foil are the four brave judges who are the Inquirer’s 2018 Filipinos of the Year. The Sunday Inquirer...

Thursday, January 3, 2019

Flashing his manhood, so to speak

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo   The EveryWoman page on Facebook is described as “a safe and open channel of expression for empowered women and youth. It also serves as a platform to inform and educate. It seeks to empower like-minded women and youth to defend democratic political space and uphold women’s rights.” It has 108,570 followers.   Several hours ago before I sat down to write this column piece, EveryWoman issued a statement on President Duterte’s confessing publicly about what he did to his family’s...