MANUEL L. QUEZON III

Manolo's View

Part 3

Manolo Quezon describes an ordinary day in his life. He also talks about his name and how, despite his background, he managed to shape his own identity.

“More and more – and I am very grateful for this – I am having the chance to make my own name and my own reputation, for better or worse," he says. "The name is never a hindrance. It is not as big a liability as I thought it was when I was a crazy teenager.”

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MANUEL L. QUEZON III

Manolo's View

Part 2

Congressman Manolo Quezon? Senator Manolo Quezon? Nah, says one of the country’s most popular bloggers. He may come from one of the best known political families in the Philippines and may write frequently about political developments in the Philippines and beyond, he adds, but he has no plan to plunge into that world.

“People are very skeptical when I say this,” he says. “You have to have a particular kind of personality and gift to become a politician. And my attitude has always been, if you can’t be a great politician, you have no business being a mediocre one.... I’m always in the periphery of politics and I comment on politics. That’s where, in a sense, I can be more useful potlically.”

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MANUEL L. QUEZON III

Manolo's View

Manuel L. Quezon III is a journalist, blogger and political analyst. He writes a column called The Long View for the Philippine Daily Inquirer and for the Arab News. He also happens to be the grandson of an important figure in Philippine history, the late former President Manuel L. Quezon. In a conversation shortly before the end of 2005, Manolo talks about his family, his writing career and his insights into the current political crisis.

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JADE PENA

The Activist Doctor

Part 3

Dr. Jade Pena talks about how her work with Doctors Without Borders has changed her political outlook. She also shares her concerns about her plan to return home.

“If you’ve been away too long from your country, you can never go back,” she says. “You go back, but it’s not the same country. You thought it would never change. But when you go back, things have changed… That’s the fear of many Filipinos.”

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JADE PENA

The Activist Doctor

Part 2

Dr. Jade Pena of Doctors Without Borders says that, despite the suffering she has encountered in her work, she has no plans of leaving the international relief organization.

But she adds: "The problem more is I'm feeling guilty. I know doctors are leaving the Philippines and I'm jumping from one country to the other helping other countries."

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JADE PENA

The Activist Doctor

Welcome to the 2006 season of Kuwento Kuwento!

Around this time last year, the world was reeling from news of the devastation caused by the tsunami in Southern Asia. The disaster killed more than 100,000 people in several countries and left more than half a million more homeless. Among the relief workers now helping the survivors rebuild their lives is a Filipino doctor, Jade Pena, a member of the Nobel Prize winning organization, Doctors Without Borders. A student activist during the Marcos years, Dr. Pena is currently in Acheh considered the worst hit area in the disaster. I caught up with Jade Pena shortly before Christmas last year.

In Part 1, she talks about the devastation and despair she found on the Indonesian island.

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