Foreword to this Special Edition
This volume celebrates the 39th year of the Social Research Training and Development Office (SRTDO), the research arm of the Division of Social Sciences and Education of the Ateneo de Davao University. Founded in 1972 to advance the development of a research culture in the University, the SRTDO has since then gone on to undertake important studies that dealt with issues of development, such as wages, quality of health care, reproductive health, family planning, street children, politics, and environment, among others.
Book Reviews
Grace Nono, with Mendung Sabal, Henio Estakio, Baryus Gawid, Salvador Placido, Sarah Mandegan, Gadu Ugal, Florencia Havana, Sindao Banisil and Elena-Rivera-Mirano. 2008. The shared voice: Chanted and spoken narratives from the Philippines. Ed. Carolina Malay. Pasig City: Anvil Publishing and Fundacion Santiago. 248 pages.
by Albert E. Alejo, SJ, PhD
“My name is Grace Nono. I am a singer and a creator of songs.” That is how the author of this magical book introduces herself. That is also how she immediately connects her identity with the rest of the million “singing Filipinos” whose voices she celebrates in print. By voice Grace Nono means much more than a physiological function. “It is the summation of spiritual and sociocultural experience, of vision, and of creative imagination.” In the first few chapters...
Senator Nene Pimentel. 2008. Federalizing the Philippines: A primer. Manila: Philippine Normal University Press. xviii. 494 pages.
by Albert E. Alejo, SJ, PhD
Like the proverbial cat that has nine lives, federalism is in the air again, perhaps stronger this time, because of the failure of the central government to dissociate itself from high level corruption, or perhaps weaker, and for the same reason that the settlers in Malacañang simply want to survive by whatever means, including adopting federalism as a reason for charter change. Senate Minority Leader Senator Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel, Jr. is aware of this argument for publishing just another book on federalism. He trusts that the people...
