BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL READS

In the aftermath of the alarming franchise disrenewal of television network ABS-CBN, Maria found herself rereading history, reminded of a nation’s haunting history which saw the deaths of many. “I realized that, again, it's back to the future, and it's not even been 35 years. And I guess one of the things I don't want to happen is, that let's not roll over and give up everything,” she says. Here are some of the titles she read and other books she mentioned in the course of the interview:

ON TYRANNY: TWENTY LESSONS FROM THE TWENTIETH CENTURY TIMOTHY D. SNYDER

Authored by a prominent Yale historian, the book focuses on the concept of tyranny in the context of the modern US politics. The #1 New York Times bestseller is riveting, offering interesting comparisons between past and present and citing important political figures and their “best practices” in overturning democracy.

IMELDA: STEEL BUTTERFLY OF THE PHILIPPINES KATHERINE ELLISON

Pulitzer Prize winner Ellison penned this biography of the woman who found her name etched in the pages of dictionaries for her overbearing extravagance. Whether one finds this cautionary tale fascinating or infuriating, one leaves the last page with unforgettable lessons on wielding power.

IN OUR IMAGE: AMERICA'S EMPIRE IN THE PHILIPPINES STANLEY KARNOW

The American occupation of Philippine soil is America’s only major colonial experience, as Karnow says it. From the US’ noble intentions to develop an island country to the eventual protection of its own global interests, it documents the Philippine-American war and its effects thereafter.

THE LUCIFER EFFECT: HOW GOOD PEOPLE TURN EVIL PHILIP ZIMBARDO

Zimbardo’s written account of the 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment details the events which resulted to the cancelation of the aforementioned experiment 6 days after it began. Supported by three decades of subsequent research, it inform readers of the psychological factors involved in the downward shift of morality.