Philippines Archives - By This Verse

Dictator Marcos to be Illegally Buried at LNMB

February 15, 2020August 10, 2016 by Jun P. Espina

Dictator Marcos. His upcoming burial at the Libingan Ng Mga Bayani has divided our nation. It is lawful according to the Administration lawmakers. It should be without “state honors,” a few writers gave their opinion.

Black Nazarene Symbolizing the Common Filipinos’ Catholicism and Devotion

December 19, 2019May 5, 2013 by Jun P. Espina

How is one piece of wood, the so-called Black Narazene, making both news and history every January of each year in the Philippines since Catholic “devotees” worshiped it as a miraculous idol for hundreds of years? The Black Nazarene symbolizes the ordinary Filipinos’ Catholicism and devotion to a god made of wood. “Not at all,” protested the learned academicians and intellectuals who were into the Black Nazarene worship, too. It is how deep the Black Nazarene cult has permeated into the matrix of the Filipino faith system for over 200 years.

Crab Mentality, Or the Culture of Pulling Down

February 18, 2020January 23, 2013 by Jun P. Espina

By Jun P. Espina | Last updated on February 18th, 2020 at 11:08 am

Crab Mentality

One black American friend of mine told me that his problem is the crab mentality of his relatives. I think this problem is true in all cultures, for it stems from our envious and covetous nature—our nature to love what’s not ours! Like crabs, we pull down to our level anyone who will rise above us from among our clan members. As a family, we want our relative who’s richer than we are to help us and pull us out from where we are.

Pride Scrutinized and Viewed Positively

March 22, 2020November 25, 2012 by Jun P. Espina

There is a kind of pride that’s necessary to maintain one’s sanity and sense of self-respect. An unfortunate but very smart woman married a moneyed but wild man. Her in-laws were cold, always despising her poverty for long years until she lived independently, far away from the deck of her husband’s abundance.