DESPITE her predicament, a defiant Senator Leila De Lima denounced the recent move by government prosecutors to prohibit all parties from discussing the senator’s cases in public. “I refuse to be gagged. Gagging me would be a violation of my rights. They cannot continue violating my rights. I shall continue to speak up on issues…
THE latest Human Rights Watch (HRW) report says Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte may be held responsible for the extrajudicial killings in his war on drugs, which has claimed the lives of about 7,000 people involved in the drug trade since he took office last July. HRW says these sanctions may be considered “crimes against humanity.”…
THE screws are tightening on both sides of the Pacific, pretty much like the garote that snuffed the lives of the Tres Martires, Padres Burgos, Gomez and Zamora. Sooner or later, some necks are going to snap. In America, the screws are being tightened around the neck of President Donald Trump, with calls for his…
DONALD TRUMP has been the president of the United States for a little more than a month now, and when asked in a TV interview how he would rate himself, he said he would give himself the grade of “A” for achievement. However, he acknowledged how bumpy the first month had been and said because…
SOME say that a governance needs a good opposition to bring out the best in itself. Will this hold true for a government that is marred by a political rumble where supremacy is tested and egos are displayed? The three great departments of the Philippine government—the Executive (President), Legislative (Senate and House of Representatives) and…
As if the war that President Donald Trump has been waging against the news media is not enough — calling those news organizations critical of him and his policies “fake news” — now the administration through the Office of Press Secretary Sean Spicer has “fired ballistic missiles”, so to speak, against the Fourth Estate, by…
THE classic symbol of justice is a lady with a blindfold holding weighing scale that are perfectly balanced. The blindfold and the balanced scales denote impartiality. One would expect that the Secretary of Justice and our country’s lawmakers, the members of the legislature, fully understand and appreciate the symbolism. However, current developments and the actuations…
THIS may be one of the most unsettling weeks for kababayans who are living and working in the United States without legal status as the Trump administration unveiled new guidelines to be implemented by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). These provisions make good on Pres. Donald Trump’s campaign promise to deport the almost 11…
AS Filipinos commemorate the 31st anniversary of the EDSA (People Power) revolution this year, they are not called to dramatize the wrongdoings of the past. Instead, they should do so with a critical understanding of the aspirations and the historical realities that made this movement the catalyst for a democracy that most Filipinos enjoy today….
PRESIDENT Donald Trump has intensified his crackdown on undocumented immigrants and many raids have already been conducted to apprehend those who have been living in the United States without legal status. While Trump said he will prioritize deporting undocumented immigrants with criminal records as President Barack Obama did during his term, Trump’s executive order has…
In the autumn of our lives, my wife and I would love to retire in the Philippines, no matter what the naysayers, the pessimists and the sensation-prone media say about the traffic, the anti-drug war, and other so-called Third World problems. But we are stymied by one obstacle. Adequate health care. For sure, there are…
FIDEL V. Ramos’ recent interview with Rappler’s Maria Ressa was a study in sophisticated elder statesmanship. He was cordial and engaging, of course, and kept the talk good-humored and paternal. He didn’t sound the least bit patronizing towards his interlocutor, who seems incapable of giving anyone a hard time and tends to err, rather too…
POLITICAL reform in the Philippines is hounded by high public expectation because of untold amounts of corruption and law-breaking by public officials for years. It is like a mirage that never truly materializes; it recedes the closer we try to get to it. There are those who maintain a level of cynicism toward the political…
DONALD TRUMP has bigger problems to worry about than his historic 40 percent approval/55 percent disapproval ratings in the most recent Gallup Poll. His less than a month-old presidency has already been saddled with lawsuits one after another, and then this: the issue about the “resignation” of his senior National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. NO,…
“EPIPHANY — A moment when you suddenly feel that you understand, or suddenly become conscious of, something that is very important to you.” In other words, an awakening. This definition of “epiphany” certainly applies to President Rodrigo Duterte’s change of attitude towards his certain promises and policies, including those concerning the Philippine National Police and…
TWO defeats out of two court battles, and Donald Trump is learning the hard way that in the United States, no one is above the law. No one is above the law and the Constitution — even if you were a celebrity who could grope a woman’s genitals and do anything because of your celebrity…
Whether or not you agree with President Donald Trump and his executive order, which bars citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries (Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen) from entering the U.S. for 90 days, all refugees for 120 days and indefinitely bans refugees from Syria, it is fair to say that what we are…
THE relationship between government and religion has always been a complicated matter in the Philippines, one that is both a desensitized and hardly discussed issue. As a predominantly Catholic nation, where 86 percent of its population is Roman Catholic, it has become a Filipino’s moral obligation to live by the Church’s teachings—or at least respect…
DONALD TRUMP claims he wanted to make America safe and so last week, he hastily issued an executive order banning the Syrian refugees into the United States, and revoked the visas of at least 60,000 nationals from seven Muslim-dominated countries. The countries in question are Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen. This move…
The US will be undergoing some interesting times with the assumption of the presidency by Donald J. Trump. A legend in his own mind, Trump could well have written the dictionary definition of his surname: “Trump – To outrank or defeat someone or something, often in a highly public way… In the card game bridge, the…
SUPPORTERS of President Donald Trump chastise his critics and non-supporters for not being on board the “Trump train” even after he won the majority vote of the Electoral College, which catapulted him to the United States’ highest office. Even as they hail him for churning executive orders one after another to build the border wall,…
IN recent months, when the Philippine government ushered in a new leadership under President Rodrigo Duterte, members of the police seemed to be invincible. Because they’re the government’s first line of defense—and offense—against the war it waged on illegal drugs and criminality, the police managed to remain unscathed, despite mounting poor public perception and criticisms…
IF you’re looking for a similarity between new U.S. President Donald Trump and President Rodrigo Duterte, it is the fact that when they say something, it’s difficult to tell what they really mean. Communications Secretary Martin Andanar is at his wit’s end trying to explain to a sensation-prone Philippine media that the blustery things that…
DONALD J. Trump won the presidency because more Americans voted for him is an “alternative fact”. A lie. A misrepresentation of the will of the citizens of America who casted their sacred vote in the November 8 presidential election. The truth as substantiated by election results data verified and confirmed by both Republicans and Democrats…
A NEW dawn awaits as the United States is perceived to undergo dramatic changes in its political, economic and social arenas under Donald Trump’s presidency. The coming change is also expected to impact not just its people, but America’s relationship with other nations, including with the Philippines. Under the rapprochement between the U.S. and the…
ONE THING that we the people in the news industry will surely miss about Former President Barack Obama is his acknowledgement of the important role the PRESS (news media) plays in a healthy and vibrant democracy. The press is referred to as the fourth estate — in relation to the other three traditional estates of…
THE Miss Universe pageant that reels off in the Philippines this January and will culminate in the final selection of winners in Metro Manila on January 30 is much more than just a contest among the world’s most beautiful women. It is a tug-of-war between two starkly contrasting images of our beloved country. On one…
IT was President Barack Obama who welcomed me and my family when we took our oaths as new citizens of the United States of America in 2012. It was during his presidency when I first exercised my sacred right and duty as an adopted daughter of America. I have followed President Obama’s rise to the…
THE Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is turning 50 years old this year. The 10-member organization will celebrate a milestone, from starting as a loosely constructed regional association at the height of the Cold War to becoming a stable organization that has overcome a myriad of challenges that have come its way. Perhaps the…
Many kababayans in the Philippines and here in the United States have been asking me about the truth behind #LeniLeaks — a trending topic on social media that talks about the alleged plot by supporters of Vice President Leni Robredo to oust President Rodrigo Duterte by discrediting both the Philippine president, as well as former…
