Less Fanfare, More Substance: UMLAC Celebrates the International Women’s Day 2013

The nascent University of Mindanao Legal Aid Center (UMLAC) was at Barangay 40-D, Bolton Extension on March 9, 2013 to conduct a forum on women’s health and related laws on women’s welfare in line with the celebration of the International Women’s Day. Held literally under the Bolton Bridge where the noise of passing vehicles is … Continue reading →

Broken Promises: Can you sue your fiancé for breach of promise to marry?

Your boyfriend promises to marry you on different conditions: when he finds a stable job, when he saves enough money for the wedding, when he gets 28, or when he’s tired of being single. Whatever it is, you patiently wait for that day to come. Then one day he said he changes his mind. He’s … Continue reading →

Embittered over ‘tweets’ in Twitter, or How not to deal with controversial digital speech?

You updated your Twitter. You made a comment about your school. You are sure your school administrators wouldn’t like. But, you think, it’s a fair and valid comment. And to be scientific, it’s a comment that is based on empirical evidence. Then somebody print-screened your and your friends’ tweets. The print-screened tweets found their way … Continue reading →

Poll automation, no matter what

A new way of doing things will always give feelings of discomfort to those who are accustomed or programmed to doing things their way—which is the old way. Just imagine you grandparents, who have never seen, let alone touch a computer, signing up for Facebook. But if we know the old way is no longer … Continue reading →

Wala naminaw sa Paminaw Mindanao

Unlike some of my friends who went to HCDC Gym to attend Paminaw Mindanao, a presidential forum on Mindanao, I was able to secure a white ticket, that which allowed me sit in the chairs below, among the important and not-so important people, not in the bleachers above. Since I don’t have a laptop to … Continue reading →

Whom we should not vote for?

My friends and I made a pact: We will not vote for candidates who violate the law. Those who post their campaign ads on restricted areas we will not vote for. Those who campaigned during the Holy Week we will not vote for. Those who spend more than what is allowed we will not vote … Continue reading →

Human Rights Day

Today, December 10, is declared as the “Human Rights Day.” From the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights: “Human Rights Day 2009 on 10 December will focus on non-discrimination. “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”. These first few famous words of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights … Continue reading →

Dear Christmas Party Consultant…

Dear Christmas Party Consultant, This Christmas my friends from abroad will be coming home and will be spending the Christmas in my house. One will be coming from the U.S.A.; the other from Japan; the third from Italy. The last time we had a get-together, I prepared an all-Italian menu. My friends from Japan and … Continue reading →

A night with Cathy

“While nothing is easier than to denounce the evildoer, nothing is more difficult than to understand him.”— Fyodor Dostoevsky “Why not child prostitution?” my research professor asked me and my two group mates, Adam and Mark. There was a silence. I didn’t know what to say. Adam and Mark didn’t say a word either. They … Continue reading →

‘Bata sa garapon’ (Child in the canister)

A spark of insight can happen anywhere, anytime. It can happen while you’re in the comfort room. It can happen while you’re standing in the waiting shed. Heck, it can even happen in the middle of fornication. It happened to Paul while he was on his way to Damascus. It happened Archimedes while he’s in … Continue reading →