By Reyshimar Arguelles In the midst of this pandemic, we have come to realize that the institutions we rely on for protection and guidance are themselves putting all of us at risk. At this point, it is not easy to give the Department of Health led by embattled Secretary Francsico Duque a “Get Out
August 18, 2020
By Reyshimar Arguelles As I am writing this, the nation is waiting for the President to take the podium and lay out the accomplishments and future plans of his administration. For all the fanfare that surrounds it, the State of the Nation Address is an attempt to show credibility and trustworthiness. And considering that
July 28, 2020
By Reyshimar Arguelles In an interview with the BBC’s Andrew Marr, the Chinese ambassador to the United Kingdom, Liu Xiaoming, was shown disturbing footage of Uighur Muslims wearing blindfolds and being rounded up by Chinese state authorities in Xinjiang province. The footage was verified by Western intelligence agencies and was circulated across social media.
July 21, 2020
By Reyshimar Arguelles The image of Nero playing the lyre as Rome burns in the background may not at all be historically accurate or real, but it does describe how people with questionable political preferences feel towards complex issues. This shouldn’t shock us since we are living in a bizarre epoch where people are
July 14, 2020
By Reyshimar Arguelles To put it simply, a nationalist is anyone who professes a love of community. You know you are a nationalist when certain symbols evoke a sense of pride and belongingness. You shed a tear every time you see the national flag being flown across a war-torn city. You celebrate national strength
July 9, 2020
By Reyshimar Arguelles The State reserves the right to protect its citizens at all costs. But at what cost exactly? And for what cause? We are all bound by laws that limit our animalistic urges, keep us from gnashing our teeth at each other, and punish the corrupt. Even a ten-year-old or a former
July 7, 2020
By Reyshimar Arguelles Historical films are a product of the times in which they were made. For instance, Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven was created at the height of the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Spike Jones’s BlacKkKlansman, on the other hand, was a response to the Trump administration’s latent racism. And of course, there
July 2, 2020
By Reyshimar Arguelles As we descend further into this health crisis, people need to look towards their leaders for clarity in the face of chaos. But one couldn’t help but wonder if the pandemic could have picked a better time than now when countries are being run by personalities who shouldn’t even be allowed
June 25, 2020
By Reyshimar Arguelles The fight against the CoViD-19 pandemic is far from over. Even as clinical trials for a drug or vaccine have seen considerable progress, it will still be long until we can find a viable solution to this health crisis. A second wave of the pandemic looms and experts have warned about its
June 23, 2020
By Reyshimar Arguelles The Fourth Estate is an essential part of modern society. We cannot simply expect those in power to hold themselves accountable for whatever unjust action or dumb decision they make, so it makes sense to have an outside force that functions only to scrutinize existing structures, encourage the public to think independently
June 18, 2020
By Reyshimar Arguelles What is the function of morality in a modern democracy such as ours? For some, it includes general expectations for how citizens should behave in relation to others. Some would maintain the idea of an established set of values that champion “how things should be”. But in light of recent assertions blaming
June 16, 2020
By Reyshimar Arguelles It’s clear as a glass of soju that ABS-CBN’s franchise issue isn’t going anywhere but down the drain pipe and into Nietzsche’s abyss. It’s as if the drama grows even more absurd as time passes, all thanks to our politicians who are hard at work making fools of themselves. People deserved to
June 11, 2020