Palakasan: Getting Philippine Sports’ Gameplan Together
Paolo Monteiro talks about how palakasan is not only about athletes besting each other in sport but also an issue of power struggle at the highest levels of sports authorities By Rieb Schlager...
View ArticleLeft Off The Dial: Radio Republic, Pinoytuner, Dig Radio — and Their OPM...
After NU 107 stopped airing, the advocates of Pinoy rock migrated to the internet. Alex Almario assesses the online OPM revolution By Thomas Hawk On November 7, 2010, FM radio station NU 107 made its...
View ArticleTitles and a Good Heart Ain’t Enough, Bapak
Hagiographies can be annoying. Disgraced MNLF leader Nur Misuari’s is no exception. Patricio Abinales examines the lengths a biographer will go to conjure tales of victory amidst a story of defeat Can...
View ArticleNoob Tube: A Newbie’s Journey through Local Television
Shinji Manlangit had abandoned local TV for the internet. And then he started writing for a local late night talk show By Miko Reverza In the aftermath of last year’s storm that almost flooded my room,...
View ArticleGlobalization and the New Slave Trade
Congressman and activist Walden Bello asks: Is labor export the new slave trade? By Zhou Jiajun Globalization is a process that “disintegrates” the national economy and “reintegrates” parts of it at...
View ArticleUnder My Invisible Umbrella
Laurel Fantauzzo tried to become a Manila local, and in this essay, she explains what it means to be charged “dayuhan tax.” Still Take You Home by Zean Cabangis I accepted the man’s service without...
View ArticleFever Dreams
True escapist films lie at the fringes of our film culture. Don Jaucian explains why these aren’t just barrages of boring images for cinema aesthetes Anak Araw, a flim directed by Gym Lumbera, 2012...
View ArticleMusica Moralia
The following essay is an excerpt from MR Senior Editor Resil B. Mojares’s new book Isabelo’s Archive published by Anvil Publishing Inc. By Gabrielle Lamontagne B. {1} Their name is synonymous with...
View ArticleThe Saddest Story
Teddy Locsin, Jr. discovers that while it’s too early to call Liz Jensen’s new novel perfect, it is definitely the saddest story he’s ever read FORD Madox Ford opens his novel, The Good Soldier,...
View ArticleThe Spatiality of Rosario Cruz Lucero
Negros is an island of injustice. It’s one place, but it tells the story of a nation. Nelson Turgo examines how a collection of short stories can make this narrative a physical reality. Among...
View ArticleAll in the Family: Maids, Migrants, and ‘Mango Brides’
Family, social class, migration—is it always greener on the other side? A breakdown of the novel The Mango Bride The Mango Bride By Marivi Soliven NAL Trade, 2013. The family is said to be the basic...
View ArticleSurface Tensions: Urban Graffiti and the Image of the Philippine City
What happens when the state tries to co-opt the radical potential of street art? The urban space of Metropolitan Manila is occupied by images that compete for our attention. As we travel through the...
View ArticleLoving the Beloved
The querida creates a conundrum for the feminist critic. Does she represent the liberation of women fromsexual norms, or does she merely affirm the power of philandering men? Querida: An Anthology...
View ArticleFighting Corruption through Patronage?
Ironically, President Aquino is fighting corruption through the tools that lead to corruption. A necessary concession to the evils of Philippine politics, or the betrayal of reformist principles?...
View ArticleLetting ‘Puso’ into My Heart
The public claims Smart Gilas won games through “puso.” Does reducing basketball to narratives of character shortchange our understanding the game? Last August, the undersized Gilas Pilipinas...
View ArticleWeak State, Strong Tulfo
“Sumbong programming” makes a courtroom out of a radio booth. How much closer can a DJ vigilante bring us to justice than the law? Wanted sa Radyo A radio show starring Raffy Tulfo and Niña Taduran...
View ArticleThe Brave Old World of New Music
Pop music has long been known to chase its own tail. As the internet shrinks this referential loop, what flecks of new music are spinning out of it? Out of The Floodways and Into Your Homes By...
View ArticleFortune 500 Feminism
Facebook’s COO wrote a feminist manifesto for the corporate world. But can the experiences of a rich woman shattering glass ceilings serve as lessons for the 99 percent? Lean In: Women, Work and the...
View ArticleSins of the Fathers: The Elite in Philippine Literature
Caroline Hau critically locates the place of class in Philippine literature Gun Dealers’ Daughter By Gina Apostol Mandaluyong: Anvil Publishing Inc., 2010 The Feet of Juan Bacnang By F. Sionil Jose...
View ArticleEditorial Note — Issue 4
We know we have a lot of work to do when our editor-in-chief suddenly invokes Hayek and begins talking about market forces in our editorial meeting. The creative process behind the publication of The...
View Article
More Pages to Explore .....