DESPITE his impressive display of explosive punches and dynamic movements, Manny Pacquiao still bowed down before a formidable opponent during the “Battle of Brisbane” on Sunday, July 2. In his latest conquest, Pacquiao surrendered his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title to Jeff Horn in front of more than 51,052 people at the Suncorp Stadium…
“MY advice to President Trump about his incessant ‘Tweeting’ that undermines his ability to govern: knock it off,” was the message of Fil-Am Republican leader Rudy Asercion in the Facebook forum “Fil-Am Voter.” This could not be more relevant than ever. Trump said he would not give up tweeting because it is his direct line…
IT’S DÉJÁ VU all over again as the much-anticipated vote for another version of the health care bill—which President Donald Trump and the Republicans wish to pass to repeal and replace Obamacare —has been delayed once again because of lack of support even among GOPs in the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been…
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has maintained excellent trust and approval ratings among top government officials in his first year in office. This is a feat considering how negatively he was portrayed by media around the world for his unrelenting initiatives to rid the country of illegal drugs, crime and corruption. Despite his critics, 80 percent of…
IF PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP truly wants to win the trust and support of most Americans, and not just his most loyal fan base, then he should listen to the voice of most Americans who do not approve of the way he has been responding to the probe that investigates the alleged collusion between the Trump…
MILITARY operations against the Maute terror group in Marawi City continues to rage on. After four weeks of clashes, the conflict has claimed the lives of 59 soldiers, three policemen, 26 civilians, 257 Islamic State (IS)-linked gunmen. More than 300,000 have fled the city while 200 were left behind, either trapped or captured as hostages…
Wants to fire special counsel, deputy attorney general PRESIDENT Donald Trump is now personally being investigated by the team of Special Counsel Robert Mueller for a possible criminal case of “obstruction of justice” after he fired FBI Director James Comey, according to reports by the Washington Post. This is a significant development in the year-long…
IT looks like we will not yet see the end of the speculation and argument over whether the Resorts World incident was a terrorist attack or one perpetrated by a despondent gambler. While forensic amateurs, Facebook detectives and the sensationalist media are fanning the embers of intrigue and conspiracy, Resorts World lawyers and the government…
WHAT IS President Donald Trump so afraid of when it comes to the ongoing Russia probe? First, he fired former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey because the president had the Russia investigation in mind. And now, this: Trump is reportedly considering firing Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who was appointed by the deputy…
AS FILIPINOS celebrated their nation’s 119th Independence Day on Monday, June 12, the U.S. congratulated the Philippines and emphasized the enduring U.S.-PH alliance built on “shared democratic values, growing commerce, and strong people-to-people ties.” “The United States proudly stands with the Philippines as a longstanding ally, especially as the country confronts challenges associated with terrorism…
FIRED FBI Director James Comey finally testified under oath before the Senate Intelligence Committee, armed with his contemporaneous memoranda he wrote immediately after each communication with President Donald Trump that made him feel uncomfortable, with the integrity of his bureau and the Department of Justice in mind. Comey, a veteran career official at the FBI…
WHAT was President Donald Trump really thinking when he withdrew the United States’ commitment to the Paris agreement on climate change? He said his reasons were economic — to bring jobs back to American workers, whom he said were affected by the regulations that killed the jobs of coal miners in favor clean and renewable…
“THE Philippines is a beautiful country, and we intend to leverage on this strength to boost economic growth,” the Duterte administration stressed when it said that it intends to develop the tourism sector by drawing more than 12 million tourist arrivals by 2022, which is more than double the number recorded in 2015. Based on…
IN my midweek article, I wrote about Fil-Ams who support President Rodrigo Duterte’s declaration of martial law in Mindanao. I shared with you the letter of support written by US Pinoys for Real Change in the Philippines, penned by its Chair, Atty. Arnedo Valera a— Fil-Am community leader from Washington DC who is also a…
TAGALOGS have a term for approaching or solving a problem:santong dasalan or the soft, diplomatic way (dasal meaning prayer) and santong paspasan or the direct, tough way. We now know what approach President Rodrigo Duterte prefers. But wasn’t that why he was voted into office by a citizenry that had gotten exasperated with the way the administration of President…
In Beijing, we said we were honoured to be asked to speak before the great Beijing Forum, for we subscribe to the founding principle of President Xi Jin Ping’s historic revival and expansion of China’s legendary Silk Road—which links today’s Europe, the Middle East, and Asia much as its history and legend had linked them…
AFTER the escalating conflict and attack by the terror group Maute in Marawi City, President Rodrigo Duterte has declared the much dreaded martial law in the whole of Mindanao to stop the “contamination” of the ISIS-linked terror group in Mindanao, in the whole nation, and in the Southeast Asia region. Duterte said the terror group…
President Rodrigo Duterte’s recent “friendly exchange” with Chinese President Xi Jinping over rights to exploit the natural resources of certain areas of the South China Sea (AKA West Philippine Sea) has alarmed Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, former Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario, and several of our honorable senators, notably Senators Franklin Drilon, Richard Gordon,…
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte may have had the best intentions in declaring martial law in Mindanao following the escalating violence in Marawi City in Mindanao, but many Filipinos in America continue to be haunted by the ghost of Marcos-era martial law years. “Takot ako. In the horizon looms big and clear contamination ng ISIS,” Duterte explained…
I WAS out of the country for close to a month to join my husband as he fulfilled a promise: to take his parents to the faith-based Marian Pilgrimage Tour in Europe. This was my husband’s way of honoring his parents who are celebrating their birthdays this May as octogenarians. They have devoted their lives…
THE Philippines extends its condolences to the victims’ families and voiced solidarity with Britain in the fight against extremism following the deadly terror attack in Manchester, United Kingdom that left 22 people—including children—dead and 50 injured. “We are in solidarity with the United Kingdom in addressing and combating violent extremism,” Philippine Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella…
ON THE DAY President Donald Trump embarked on his first trip abroad, White House lawyers have reportedly been researching impeachment proceedings in preparation for what is now becoming more of a probability than just a possibility: removing Trump from office. This oversized baggage Trump took with him has been a consequence of his firing of…
“HE is a good guy. I hope you can let this go,” was what President Donald Trump told his sacked FBI Director James Comey. This was documented by Comey in a contemporaneous memo on he wrote on February 14, 2017, to document the details of their one-on-one meeting after Trump asked VP Mike Pence and…
“SUFFICIENT in form but insufficient in substance,” the House of Representatives’ justice committee declared on Monday, May 15, as it formally dismissed the impeachment complaint filed against Pres. Rodrigo Duterte. A Philippine president is immune from lawsuits while in office, but he can be removed from office through impeachment. According to the Supreme Court, “form”…
Social media have been abuzz over a tweet attributed to Dr. Agnes Callamard, Special Rapporteur from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, who was recently in Manila as a keynote speaker at a forum organized by the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG). The controversial tweet reads: “@AgnesCallamard – Prof Carl…
AFTER managing to stay under the radar while being incarcerated for one of the biggest scandals in Philippine politics, pork barrel or Philippine Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles is back under intense media scrutiny. Napoles, who is currently detained at the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City since 2015, was recently…
The Los Angeles riots of 1992 are among a few moments that are seared in my memory. It was mid afternoon on Wednesday April 29, when I got a call from my children’s after school program to come and pick them up, as they were closing early. As a parent, when your children’s day care…
President Rodrigo Duterte has been invited by President Donald Trump to the United States. I seem to have seen this scene before. A case of déjà vu. In September 1982, President Ferdinand Marcos made a state visit to the US, during the incumbency President Ronald Reagan, amid circumstances uncomfortably similar in many ways to that…
OVER the weekend, leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) convened in Manila for the 30th ASEAN Summit with the theme “Partnering for Change, Engaging the World.” The 10-member countries also marked the regional bloc’s 50th anniversary, from starting as a loosely constructed regional association at the height of the Cold War to…
The usual skeptics have dismissed as pie-in-the-sky the recent announcement concerning the “infrastructure boom” that the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte plans to undertake. According to them, it is wishful thinking to expect the “build, build, build” objective of “Dutertenomics” to get much farther than “plan, plan, plan” by the time Duterte’s term expires in…
