With the 2012 national budget set to be filed on December of 2011, the economic managers of the current administration recently expressed confidence that poverty incidence in the Philippines can be lessened to 16.6 percent by 2015. The positive outlook on the decrease of poverty cases in the country was based on recent reports by…

“Some people just don’t understand what we are doing here. I think we can all work together to uphold artistic freedom and appreciation of art’s place in a democratic society.” – Emily Abrera, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Cultural Center of the Philippines Art is a human inclination that has been around since the…

NOT everyone understands the implications of fiscal developments in an economy. What a simple citizen realizes (and cares more about) is when there’s not enough money to spend, and not enough food to eat. This is the kind of scenario when the country and its constituents are in danger. In the wake of the US’…

2010 posted a good year for the Philippines as its economy grew by 7.3 percent (the highest in 34 years) during the last quarter. Aside from the renewed investor confidence over a new government, the surge of remittances coming from the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) was also largely credited in contributing to the overall economic…

IN his 53-minute speech last July 25, President Benigno Aquino III gathered a collection of both criticisms and praises on his second State of the Nation Address (SONA), before the joint session of Congress at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City. Former President Joseph Estrada, Vice President Jejomar Binay, and most members of the Senate…

As another proposed strategy to tourism, the national tourism development plan (NTDP) is expected to double tourist arrivals in the country to 6.5million and generate 2.9million new jobs before President Benigno Aquino III’s term ends in 2016. Albeit the NTDP may seem “ambitious,” Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Alberto Lim said in an interview that…

ONE by one, they’re coming out of the woodwork. On July 12, former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor Zaldy Ampatuan claimed that former Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) and her husband, former first gentleman Mike Arroyo “ordered the rigging of the 2007 senatorial election.” The former ARMM governor, through a two-page declaration, said…

EVER since former President Ferdinand Marcos’ reign as leader, politics in the Philippines is being felt to be dismal and troubling that the fate of the country hangs on such a precarious balance. With many of its key players having questionable reputations, the government is a place where corruption is rife and controversy is at…

Last July 1, national news sources reported that Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte was caught on video camera punching a court sheriff of the Davao Regional Trial Court Branch 15 who was serving a demolition order in Barangay Kapitan Tomas Monteverde Sr. Suliman in Agdao. The demolition order was issued to eradicate the shanties of…

ALONG with the celebration of the United States of America’s 235th Independence Day, last July 4 was also the Filipino-American Friendship Day, the commemoration of the enduring alliance between the two countries. During the joint celebration of the American Independence Day and the Filipino-American Friendship Day at the US Embassy in Manila on July 1,…

AS the ongoing dispute between China and the Philippines on the Spratly row heats up, Filipino-Americans, spearheaded by the US Pinoys for Good Governance (USP4GG) will hold demonstrations at China’s consular offices on July 8 (12nn) in 5 US cities: Washington D.C., New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. This is to protest the…

ACCLAIMED Pinoy journalist, Jose Antonio Vargas’ revelation last week (about being an undocumented immigrant) has stirred up a hornet’s nest on the issue of immigration in the United States. After all, Vargas’ curriculum vitae as a journalist is nothing short of exemplary. He has worked for The San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Post, New Yorker and…

It was in December 14 last year when the Supreme Court acquitted Hubert Webb and six others who were accused in the murders of Estrellita Vizconde and her daughters Carmela and Jennifer at their home in BF Homes, Parañaque in June 30, 1991. The decision reversed the Court of Appeals’ December 2005 decision and January…

Despite the rising issue of sovereignty claims over Spratly Islands, the Department of Tourism (DoT) chief, Alberto Lim, remained focused on the goal of drawing in more Chinese nationals to visit the country. Citing the closer ties and proximity of the Philippines to China more than any country in Asia, Lim, said in a report…

THE issue of former Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos’ burial continues to be a fiery topic of discussion – even for Pinoys abroad. On Sunday, Vice-President Jejomar C. Binay flew back to the Philippines from an official trip to the United States, carrying an excess baggage – a message from Filipino-Americans who want the Aquino administration…

“He who does not know how to look back at where he came from will never get to his destination.” – Dr. Jose P. Rizal While Father’s Day and our own fathers will be the focal point of this special celebration, Filipinos will hold especially dear the father of Philippine nationalism — Dr. Jose P….

Last May 29, it was reported that around 375 tons of dead milk fish (bangus) were seen floating on Taal Lake in Talisay, Batangas on Saturday, May 28. Talisay Mayor Zenaida Mendoza said that the floating dead milk fish appeared as early as May 26. The damage, which also affected the towns of San Nicolas,…

As Father’s Day draws near, Filipinos are also looking forward to pay tribute to the father of Philippine Nationalism—Dr. Jose Rizal—on his 150th birthday come June 19. Believing that Rizal Day should be honored on the country’s national hero’s birthday, instead of his death, Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos filed the Senate Bill 2743 that seeks…

ACCORDING to the results of the latest Citi Financial Quotient (Fin-Q) Survey which was released by Citibank Philippines, 6 out of 10 Filipinos with either a bank account or credit card consider themselves as “better off than their parents and are secure in their current jobs.” However, the results also revealed that Filipino consumers’ overall…

HE has been named as the Pacman, Pambansang Kamao and pound-for-pound king. He is an eight-division boxing world champion. He has added Congressman of Sarangani Province to his curriculum vitae. Yet, Manny Pacquiao, the man with multiple monikers, continues to rake in more titles — adding more to his already impressive list of accolades. Early…

According to the results released last May 23 of a recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, joblessness among adult Filipinos, rose to 27.2 percent, up from 23.5 percent in November 2010. This means that an estimated 11.3 million—composing of Filipinos who have resigned from their jobs or who have been retrenched from their jobs, as…

AS students prepare for their first day at school, Philippines’ Department of Education (DepEd) is also making the necessary steps to ensure an orderly first day for students. In accordance with the preparations for the opening of classes on June 6, the DepEd recently launched this year’s Brigada Eskwela, an annual project that invites volunteers…

ACCORDING to Undersecretary Demetrio Ignacio of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Philippines is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, but that its marine and wildlife riches are facing depletion due to intrusive man-made activities. Years and years of unmitigated and destructive human activities have taken its toll on the…

IT is a twisted irony that as the world celebrated Earth Day last April 22, a landslide set off by heavy rains occurred in a small-scale gold-mining community in Pantukan, Compostela Valley, destroying at least 20 houses at the foot of the mountain, burying at least 21 people alive, killing 8 miners, with 11 still…

PRESIDENT Aquino has come under fire as soon as reports were released of his intention to give defeated vice-presidential candidate Mar Roxas III a post in the Cabinet once the election ban expires by the end of June. At the time, PNoy hinted that the post will even be more “demanding” than the work of…

Despite the growing number of unfortunate events happening in different parts of the world, remittances made by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have soared higher by 5.9 percent or $4.6 billion this first quarter as compared to the same period last year according to Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco, reported in…

“We are proud to stand by your side.” These were some of the words uttered by Ambassador Harry Thomas during a reception on board the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, which docked in Manila Bay recently, saying that the US-PH relationship “is a commitment born of shared histories and close ties,” and that the United…

Sending a clear message to the state auditors of the Commission on Audit (COA), President Aquino delivered a speech at their 112th anniversary, emboldening them “to safeguard the public coffers without fear that they would be stopped.” “Being the eyes of the bureaucracy, you know that no one is blindfolding you in tracking down anomalies….

So much attention is being given to the pressing issues facing the country today such as poverty, the burgeoning population rate, educational inadequacies, and corruption and other irregularities in the government that the efforts to raise awareness on the importance of promoting and protecting our national heritage are often being overlooked. National heritage is described…

Hope sparked anew for the Philippine media that an absolute freedom of the press can still be attained with the recent release of the Freedom of the Press 2011: A Global Survey of Media Independence report stating that the liberty of press in the country had “improved marginally” in 2010 and have somewhat recovered by…