The movie Sisa is valuable for bringing to life a generally unknown period in Philippine history classes, the brutal American occupation of the Philippines. Sisa finally takes agency for her freedom in this film, before the unthinkable happens.

In the digital age, scarcity is no longer merely a condition of the world—it is increasingly designed. Platforms manufacture urgency through countdowns, disappearing content, viral trends, and algorithmic amplification. Scarcity becomes constant and ambient.

This does not mean that all scarcity is false. Time is finite. Opportunities pass. Limits are real. The question, however, is whether scarcity is revealing those limits—or exploiting them. Are we responding to reality, or to a carefully engineered sense of pressure?

In the digital age, authority takes newer forms: algorithms, ratings, verification badges, and systems that quietly decide what counts as relevant, reliable, or true.
If we trust these systems, do we also know when—and how—to question them?

K. Noda: “In the digital age, unity can be manufactured at speed. Platforms do not merely connect individuals; they can cultivate tribes. Symbols, slogans, rituals, inside jokes, shared enemies—these can form a sense of “family” without the slow work of living together. The reward is immediate: recognition, certainty, belonging. The cost can also be immediate: hostility toward outsiders, suspicion of nuance, and a pressure to perform identity rather than seek understanding.”

Dr. Keisuke Noda, Ph.D., produces a philosophy podcast called Encounters, a series of reflections based on philosophy and themed on how we live as human beings in the time of AI, temptation, power, and limitations.

Enjoy his essay on Milgram’s obedience experiments that revealed a disturbing possibility: ordinary people may inflict harm not because they are cruel, but because an authority defines the situation and assumes responsibility.

Amb. Mario de Leon Jr.: “If this joint format is replicated and institutionalized, it may help move the UN from merely a forum for grievances between North and South to a platform for designing the systems that development now requires.

The shift from aid to strategic finance, from access to agency, and from connectivity to AI-enabled innovation is more than a thematic adjustment. It is a recognition that, in the twenty-first century, development will be determined by who can create value from knowledge, data, technology, and human talent.”

Eighty-year-old United Nations organization has this reputation of being a lame giant for having failed to deliver on its own deliverables – the lofty goals of world peace and justice. In informal circles, it has this monicker NATO – no action, talk only. How have we walked the talk?

It is imperative to include the rich traditions and cultures of the First Nations back into our modern life and in school curriculums from elementary throughout graduate school because indigenous wisdom is key to heal society’s misery. We must institute the holistic values of self-respect, love for Mother Nature and community, and cooperation inherent in the culture of indigenous peoples.

During my grade school years, I was ostracized for being gay and a Noranian. I always found strength in Ate Guy’s characters in the movies. It made me feel positive. She was indeed a reflection of our lives! I had a classmate who I have ignored since 1980 because he told me Nora was ugly!

Amb. Mario de Leon Jr.: Diplomacy practiced at the human level can bridge divides, preserve dignity and respect, and ensure that peace and development reinforce each other in the lives of ordinary people.

My alma mater USC witnessed the rise of the student government, primarily through the STAND party in 1981. Two years later, the student publication was established in 1983 also upon the effort of the STAND party.

Known as Today’s Carolinian, after the defunct The Carolinian (shut down in 1971), the student paper formally came to life when Ninoy Aquino was assassinated and the Philippines was a smoldering volcano.

How do you stomach stolen wealth while your countrymen live in poverty? How can you swim in your fancy pools when your countrymen swim in floods along with all their belongings?

Following the journalists’ code of ethics is a must, but ultimately the decision to live such ethics is up to the journalist.

People, whether undocumented or not, are a vital labor force in agriculture, healthcare, infrastructure industries, and a vast consumer market that has made the US economy vigorous. The approach to solving this immigration issue is thus legislative. Without legislative reforms, USA will continue to grow undocumented population. 

As the CEO of Apicha Community Health Center, a Federally Qualified Community Health Center (FQHC) with a long tradition of providing high quality and culturally responsive care for Asian and Pacific Islanders (API) and other communities most deeply impacted by HIV, and as a board member of the nonprofit Medicaid health plan Amida Care, I’ve witnessed firsthand the critical importance of HIV/AIDS programs.

Reductions in HIV programs undermine our progress and threaten the health of the very people who need these services the most.

Rev. Fr. Ramon Echica, Dean of Studies of the San Carlos Major Seminary in Cebu City, Philippines endorses readers for a clearer understanding of the troubled humanity these days. Take a read.

In honor of the National Nurses Month this May 2025, we publish the acceptance speech of Ms. de Luna Sanchez as one of awardees of the Global Women Peace Ambassador - on Health and Women Empowerment - on March 1, 2025 accorded by the global women’s organization Women’s Federation for World Peace International at the Philippine Center, NYC. Ms. de Luna Sanchez received a Presidential Award from Pres. Barack Obama on Feb. 12, 2013 for her act of heroism.

Congress must thoroughly examine the immigration and labor policy and come up with thoughtful measures to stop the influx of cheap temporary labor immigrants.

It has to also come up with measures to optimize the people who are already working here and actively contributing to the economic and socio-cultural diversity of the US. Unless the immigration policy is investigated carefully and compassionately, social divide in the US will continue.

The book Invitation to a Journey: A Road Map for Spiritual Formation by M. Robert Mulholland Jr. offers a new twist, or the radical mind shift that our spirituality is not an add-on.  “It is the essence of our being. We are spiritual beings whose emotions, psychology, body, and mind are the incarnation of our spiritual life in the world,” as Ruth Haley Barton noted.

He emphasized that individual growth towards wholeness is an integral part of living for the sake of others.

Thank you, UPF and IMAP for the honor. Excerpts of my speech on women leaders as peacebuilders and chartering a bright future. “We will reach a bright future if we begin with the truth. Truth is our light. Correct information, based on research and digging of facts, is the first step to charter a bright future. We cannot do that with partial or complete lies.”

That is the challenge of journalists like me - to be courageous frontliners for truth.