Putting a price tag on life: Musings on Episode 2 of ‘Beyond the Bar’
Imagine this: You were diagnosed with cancer, and the only treatment will result in your infertility. But you do it anyway, because having a child could be y...
Posts by Year
2025
Institutional meltdown
I cannot help but write this note in the middle of midterm exam week. But one cannot just pretend that everything that has been going on in the country is no...
Where do we draw the line: Defining and delineating outer space in Philippine law
A hamburger once went viral for reaching “space.”1 A group of students strapped a camera, a tracker, and a hamburger to a helium balloon. As the hamburger a...
The House leadership fumbled Duterte’s impeachment
Had Speaker Martin Romualdez allowed the first three impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte to work its way through the House Committee o...
A ‘day’ in Congress isn’t what it seems
For most folks, our day consists of waking up, grabbing breakfast, leaving the house for work or school, enduring the commute back home, having dinner, and, ...
The end of the beginning
I was seated on the center aisle seat of the B1 Auditorium that late Friday afternoon. Dean Sedfrey Candelaria was doing recitations on the concept of execut...
One year after graduation, what now?
I like to think that the stages—eras, if you will—in our lives are marked by certain events. These markers are akin to the layers of filth that accumulated o...
VLF20 HINOG reviews
I looked forward to this year’s iteration of the Virgin Labfest (VLF) as a reward for finishing my first year in law school. I deemed it would be nice to wat...
Gabi na sa Rockwell
Payapa na ang EDSA ngayong gabi. Kadalasan, kahit malapit nang mag-hatinggabi, hitik pa rin ito sa mga sasakyan. Siguro, silang mga pauwi pa lang galing opis...
After ‘fake news’ and briefing bans, the press may need an alternative
Seven years ago, Pia Rañada was on her way for just another day’s work. As Rappler’s Malacañang reporter, Rañada was about to attend then Presidential Spokes...
Cat-petting stories, or the life lessons they teach us
I would be lying to you if I denied missing you petting campus felines along the red bricks of the Academic Oval in the wee hours of the morning. I reckon it...
Hustisya para sa ating lahat ang hustisya para sa mga biktima ng Tokhang
Naging ganap na mamamahayag pangkampus ako sa kalagitnaan ng malagim at madugong rehimeng Duterte.
If you’re still wondering, this is what quiet feels like
I haven’t given it enough thought, but if our walking sprees continue, I should get myself a proper pair of shoes. After all, my pedometer tells me that I’ve...
How to think about the ‘income advantage’ in entering UP
The right to quality and accessible tertiary education–especially when mandated by law–cannot be abrogated once a showing of an imperfect policy execution is...
Some notes on Senate Minority Leader Pimentel’s legal challenge to the 2025 budget
Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel, in a media interview, raised three legal objections against the constitutionality of the 2025 budget.
UP got a P2-billion cut this year. The culprit? Infra projects.
The University of the Philippines (UP) experienced a P2-billion budget cut this year.
The president has lost control of the public coffers. Just look at the 2025 budget.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed the 2025 general appropriations act (GAA) last Monday. Much condemnation of the budget bill has been generated over the...
Could 2025 be a year of comeback for Makabayan Bloc?
If the elections were to be held last month, the Makabayan Bloc’s four party-lists would have all won at least one seat in the House of Representatives.
2024
2024, wrapped
I dissent with Spofify.
What happens when a physicist goes on AWOL
In the immediate preceding term, we had this discussion in our optics class about lenses. To illustrate the concept of magnification, scattering, and aberrat...
Review: ‘Mabuhay ang Bagong Kasal’
There is a high bar to clear for UP Repertory Company’s season-ender production, “Mabuhay ang Bagong Kasal” (MBK). After all, the recent years have not seen ...
Dodong, 89
I first met Francisco “Dodong” Nemenzo in late 2022, when his son, Fidel, was a nominee for the UP presidency. I knew that Fidel’s dad used to be a UP presid...
The letter I wish to never sign
Dear Dean,
The first
On the way to Rockwell, I was on the verge of mouthing codal provisions inside the train, because they seemed to be swirling, disorderly, inside my head. It’...
It gets better sometimes
When I was finally coming into terms that I will extend my undergraduate for at least another year, I came across a roundtable discussion that my research ad...
A pre-Sablay essay
Had I graduated last year, my Sablay essay would probably center on the theme of rain. It was Friday, August 2, my first day as a UP student, and Mayor Joy B...
Toward an ‘ethical’ organ market
Danilo knew that he had no other choice but to proceed with the lucrative yet illegal and dangerous operation. It was in 2002 and he was struggling to make e...
Transitions
The six-week campaign of the United Kingdom’s 2024 general election is over. After 14 years of Conservative rule, the Labour Party was swept into power with ...
VLF19 PINTOG reviews
Fifteen shows, over a span of four days. This year marked the 19th iteration of the Virgin Labfest (VLF), an annual festival that showcases untried, untested...
Thesis acknowledgements
Note: This acknowledgement appeared originally on my undergraduate thesis manuscript.
Hello!
Hello, there. I hope this works.