All it took was one TikTok video to bring back the debate over what women are worth. When men make demands of women, it has long been seen as normal. But when the same demands came from women, love suddenly became “too conditional.” As if expecting security in this unstable economy is something women should apologize for.
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In the halls of power, words matter. Yet recently, Filipino male lawmakers have made their disregard for women impossible to ignore; not in private whispers, but aloud over microphones in the very halls meant for governance. From Bong Untay’s jabs at Anne Curtis to incidents like Christian Sia’s remark about single mothers and Robin Padilla’s disturbing comments about women’s supposed roles in the bedroom, the real story isn’t just what was said, but also the ease with which it was delivered.
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There is a particular violence in the way we speak about wombs when money is involved. The language grows sterile, managerial. The body becomes “gestational capacity,” the mother reduced to a service provider, and the child to an outcome. We call it empowerment and progress, but in the long shadow of capitalism, I find it difficult not to call it what it is: a market transaction carved into living flesh.
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When professional healthcare becomes a luxury, alternatives become our only option—whether reliable or not. In a world where a doctor’s visit can cost a week’s pay, asking for health advice from a chatbot becomes a practical choice.
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Open TikTok and you will likely run into the ‘factory reset’ trend within minutes. Every video follows the same arc: queerness cast as a phase, a chance meeting with the ‘right’ partner, and a punchline declaring a return to being straight, often set to Moira Dela Torre’s ‘Titibo-tibo.’ To some, the joke lands because it leans on an old assumption, one that treats sexual orientation as a temporary detour rather than an identity, erasing queer experiences and reinforcing a regressive, harmful logic.
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Bilang lamang ang ligtas na espasyo para sa mga aktibista at mamamahayag, lalo na sa mga kabataan at estudyante. Kahit sa loob ng paaralan, lugar na dapat nagpoprotekta sa kanila, wala rin silang tunay na seguridad. Hind nila binibigyang-halaga ang malayang pagpapahayag, bagkus sila pa ang nagbibigay-tuldok sa kalayaan nito. Sa impluwensiya ng administrasyon, patuloy na nagkakaroon ng banta sa kaligtasan ng bawat kabataang lumalaban para sa bayan.
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Following the online harassment and tragic passing of Emman Atienza, the Anti-Online Hate and Harassment Bill, also known as the Emman Atienza Bill, was filed to protect people from malicious and defamatory comments on social media. While this is a crucial step in addressing online abuse, it exposes deeper issues, not with mental health alone, but with how laws are enforced and whose interests they truly defend.
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In Far Eastern University, Medical Technology (MedTech) students share the same dream: to wear that white clinical uniform and blue scrub suit. And as someone who was fated to wear one, I sometimes wish I were not. Because no reference book nor one-and-a-half-hour lecture would have told me that chasing the dream meant crashing down and losing myself.
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Two seasons ago, we saw progress. Two seasons later, the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) women’s basketball division is back to square one with a lower pay rate for its officiating heads and only a second-rate division after the men’s. As if striving for an equal recognition is not hard enough, the league further makes this goal impossible to attain.
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It is a very fortunate situation when a big event at Far Eastern University (FEU), like ‘Tatak Tamaraw,’ coincides with the release of a new issue by the official student publication. With more students on campus, the newspaper’s stories have a wider reach and greater chance of being amplified. However, rather than being flipped through by hands and read by eyes, it was feet stomping on it that caught my attention.
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