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COMMENTARY

AT GROUND LEVEL

SATUR OCAMPO

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BALIK-TANAW

PROMOTION OF CHURCH PEOPLE’S RESPONSE

Balik-Tanaw | Impostor Syndrome

As we delve into these texts, we’re reminded of the universal nature of God’s call. The invitation is open for all- elite or the powerful are invited, likewise God welcomes the marginalized, and ordinary people. Amos, a shepherd and dresser of sycamores, embodies this truth. His story challenges the established power structures and affirms that prophecy and justice can emerge from the margins.

Balik-Tanaw | The bastard from Nazareth

But Sunday’s lection on Jesus’s homecoming paints a different picture. His townmates ask, “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” Mark’s ‘The carpenter from Nazareth, the son of Mary’ (read, bastard) was a hard sell. It was certainly a hard sell for the other Nazarenes; in the Lukan version of this story, they tried to throw Jesus off a cliff.

Balik-Tanaw | Making society whole again – justice and peace work is healing work

I love quiet times. Perhaps it is the best sign of my “coming of ageing”, or perhaps it is just the way I am loving that moment when I transitioned into 60 years. No fanfare, no special 60th party. I was alone. But it was not a lonely moment. If I am affected by comparisons to other people who have celebrated their 60th with fireworks and expensive staycations, I would have been the loneliest. One of my friends even told me, seriously, “You are like an outcast!” But sure enough it was the most intimate of my celebrations ever. In the quiet and stillness of that day, God’s love became real. It was a miracle. It was a healing moment.

BALIKSAYSAY

FRANCIS GEALOGO

Dengue at ang politika ng mga epidemya sa kasaysayan

Nang isakatuparan ng mga Amerikano ang rekonsentrasyon ng mga populasyon sa mga bayang itinuturing na pugad ng mga ‘irreconcilables’ o mga tumututol sa pananakop ng mga Amerikano, nilayon nila na pigilan ang pagdaloy ng mga rekurso at suplay ng mga armas, pagkain at gamot sa mga rebolusyonaryo at nakikipaglabang Pilipino mula sa mga barrio. Dahil dito, pinagsama-sama ng mga Amerikano sa maliit na lugar lamang ang mga sibilyang Pilipino at nilimitahan ang kanilang pag-alis sa mga rekonsentradong lugar. Nagkataon namang ito ang panahon na lumalawak ang kolera sa kanayunan!

francis gealogo icon

Ang tindig ni Mabini sa pamumuno ng Republika

Ang kapakanan ng sambayanan ang lohika ng pagpapatuloy ng paghihimagsik.  Kung mawawala ang kapakanan ng bayan sa isinasakatuparan ng pamumuno at pamahalaan, mawawala na rin ang batayan at lohika ng pamumuno at paghihimagsik.  Sinabi ni Mabini ang aral na ito mahigit isandaang taon na ang nakaraan.  

BLOODRUSH

SARAH RAYMUNDO

An appeal for sobriety and prudence

he defense for Lisandro Claudio, PhD is an opportunistic reaction to a petition signed by 467 academics, artists and activists. The petition rightly argues that an academic who is engaged in tagging activist organizations as communist fronts is doing something unbecoming. It correctly articulates the global and local contexts in which such disposition is lamentable at the very least.

Persistent disasters

It is not by accident or a matter of racial superiority that rich countries have the technologies for disaster preparedness and management such as early warning signs, sturdy infrastructures. The resources at their disposal are proof of unequal development of nations as a direct result of imperialist plunder of resources and exploitation of cheap labor in the Global South by the Global North’s oligarchy. Imperialist plunder accounts for the stark differences in welfare, well-being and chances of survival people in this political-economic and spatial divide under global capitalism.

FIRST PERSON

BULATLAT CONTRIBUTORS

First Person | Baby blues

Will the courts show compassion and grant Ina provisional liberty so she could care for and nurse her baby girl somewhere safe? Will they recognize Ina's right to breastfeed her child who equally has the right to her breastmilk? Ina's breastmilk is her baby girl's natural immunization and best source of nourishment, especially at this time when her organs have not fully matured and there is a raging pandemic.

FIRST PERSON | Bike commuting on the 1st day of GCQ

I realized it is easier to see yourself, at least in my case, bike commuting when you are working in an air-conditioned office mostly doing mental labor. Riding a bike for maybe 5-10 kilometers then becomes a welcome form of exercise to make up for the lack of physical activity during those long hours seated at your desk. That you are not stuck in traffic and you lessen your carbon footprint are also encouraging. But this is a position of privilege many bike commuters do not have. Many of them are forced to take on this burden of additional labor before and after a day of performing backbreaking work in factories and other such places where you actually sweat it out to earn a living.

First Person | Si Karletz, ang bundok na di mapapatag

“Basta aksyon, Bad yon” tawa naming lahat. Siguro nga, kung si Ka Bea, bilang chairperson ang ‘nanay’ ng organisasyon, si Ka Inday iyung tita mong makulit, si Karlets naman ang inabutan kong tito na ‘bad boy’ ng kilusan ng maralitang lungsod. Hindi dahil pasaway siya o mahirap pakisamahan, pero dahil may taglay lang siyang swabeng angas na maganda kasama mapakwentuhan, sa init ng pagtuligsa sa bulok na gobyerno, at syempre sa pagharap sa masa.

KALIBUTAN

KALIKASAN-PEOPLE’S NETWORK FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

CPP-NPA

Green guerrillas

Even international experts recognize the conservation of biodiversity in the NPA-controlled areas.

KONTEKSTO

DANILO ARAO

Konteksto | 2009

Ang inakala kong election-related violence na away ng dalawang politikal na angkan, may nadamay palang mga peryodista’t manggagawa sa midya. Ang inakala kong posibleng mabilang sa daliri ang mga pinatay na kasama sa trabaho, napakarami pala.

Konteksto | Bagyo

Sa ngalan ng bilyon-bilyong kita, nagiging manhid na ang mga mayaman at makapangyarihan sa hinaing ng mga nasalanta.

Botante

Kasama ka ba sa halos 70 milyong Pilipinong boboto sa Mayo 12, 2025? Sinubaybayan mo ba ang pagsusumite ng mga nagnanais kumandidato sa mahigit 18,000 posisyon sa pambansa’t lokal na antas? At sa iyong pagbabasa, pakikinig o panonood mula Oktubre 1 hanggang 8, ilang beses ka bang nahulog sa upuan? Hanggang ngayon, nakataas pa rin ba ang kilay mo?

LAB NOTES

Advocates of Science and Technology for the People

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OPINION

BULATLAT EDITORS

End the Nakba now

Since 1948, the people of Palestine have lost more than 85% of their land to Israel. The militarisation of the Israeli state has now confined them to a series of open-air prisons, in which the Israeli state routinely rehearses its cruel technologies of war — poisoning the soil, contaminating the water, and terrorising the people.

QUESTION EVERYTHING

MONG PALATINO

Who is Dennise Velasco?

Prior to his arrest, Dennise was coordinating relief efforts in Marikina. He planned to use proceeds from his small coffee business to procure relief goods and offer livelihood opportunities in the neighborhood.

Activism as cure to information disorder

Activism is our fact-checking initiative against so-called "fake news." We cannot engage in politics without a proper social investigation. Mao Zedong has a succinct quote for it: “No investigation, no right to speak”. Our statements must be grounded on the reality that affects the masses. We articulate the social condition based on verifiable facts.

ROOT ACCESS

COMPUTER PROFESSIONALS UNION

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