BEFORE YOU DRIVE, take the time to know these new laws in California or you may end up paying hefty fines and have a record of violating laws. The State of California has already been implementing a law that says a person driving a motor vehicle is prohibited from using an electronic wireless communications device…
In the wake of the devastation wreaked by super typhoon Nina in the Bicol Region, Vice-President Leni Robredo has been pilloried in social and mainstream media for being “missing in action.” Camarines Sur has been among the most severely damaged, as well as Albay and neighboring provinces. The fact that CamSur is Robredo’s home province…
CRYSTAL BALL — what do you reveal? After a divisive, toxic and confusing election season in 2016, will it be an enlightening, hopeful and promising year for U.S. politics in 2017? On Tuesday, January 3, Re-elected Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and the newly-elected members of Congress were sworn into…
In response to my previous article, one reader asked me about how one can possibly let go of worries, anger and pain brought about by the past when these are real emotions and real concerns that we just cannot kiss goodbye just because we are about to start a new year. It’s a very valid…
ASIDE from the Christmas feast, Christmas carols, and gift giving, one of the highly anticipated parts of our family Christmas celebration are the games — particularly the Christmas trivia. Those who answer correctly win a prize while those who do not will have to do something crazy as ordered by the game master (my husband),…
I HAVE read a lot of posts on social media bidding 2016 goodbye in the context of “good riddance” to all the challenges, losses, disappointments the year that is about to end has brought on both the personal and collective levels Indeed, it is hard to fathom how our loving God would subject us to…
DESPITE efforts by President Rodrigo Duterte to vociferously fight the drug crisis in the country, many still refuse to see its success. Whether they are guilty or not, the staggering numbers of people who have been killed cannot hide the growing level of violence and impunity in the country. The gruesome photographs of blood-soaked corpses…
CHRISTMAS is my favorite season of the year because it just makes us look at what matters most in our life, be thankful for them, and yearn to spread the joy and love with others. A fitting prelude to New Year, Christmas also serves as a good time to look back to the year that…
FOLLOWING the postings and counter-postings on Facebook of folks whom I regard as righteous and intelligent, I have frankly begun to sense that there is a new standard of right and wrong that has emerged in the Philippines with Rodrigo Duterte’s assumption of the presidency. Duterte has been widely criticized, not only by the local…
SIMBANG GABI, or dawn mass, heralds the official start of Christmas among Filipinos, kicking off in the wee hours of the morning of December 16, for nine consecutive days. This dawn mass is also a novena, and completing all nine days has been a “panata” or offering/ sacrifice as a way of preparing one’s heart…
These are Filipinos who are living and working in the United States without the required immigration papers, while some have benefitted from President Barack Obama’s DREAM Act — deportation relief measures that protect these young people brought to the United States as kids and have considered America their home. However, President-elect Trump has vowed to…
“I WILL continue to fight against things I do not believe in. If being an opposition leader entails that, then I will be an opposition leader,” Vice Pres. Leni Robredo told the media after she resigned from Pres. Rodrigo Duterte’s Cabinet last week. Robredo quit being the chairperson of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating…
MY father-in-law, Jose Nobleza, Sr., and my eldest brother, Wilfredo, did not live long enough to see this happen, but 99-year old Celestino Almeda of Gaithersburg, Maryland still walks the corridors of power in Washington DC, eagerly waiting for President Barack Obama to sign into law, S. 1555, The Filipino Veterans of World War II…
THE Philippines has been a victim of drug abuse. This is why Pres. Rodrigo Duterte personally waged war on illegal drugs during his campaign. He promised to rid the country of drugs and crime not only at the streets but also at the higher echelons of society. In doing so, he warned that 100,000 people…
AT my favorite watering hole in Daly City, California, the hottest topic has been the series of Senate and House committee hearings, particularly those on the extrajudicial killings under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte and the alleged involvement of Senator and former Justice Secretary Leila de Lima with drug lords, as well as with…
After more than 30 years serving Nevada in Washington, my time in office is coming to an end. Representing the Silver State in the United States Congress has been the honor of a lifetime. I am forever humbled and full of gratitude for the chance I was given to serve Nevadans all these years. There…
AS soon as she took a stand against the rising cases of alleged extrajudicial killings in the Philippines, Sen. Leila De Lima put a target on her back. When she criticized the government’s bloody war on drugs, she was chastised. Some lawmakers are now hell-bent on linking the senator to the illegal drug trade at…
THE blitzkrieg burial in the Libingan ng mga Bayani of the remains of the late President Ferdinand Marcos has aroused fears of more surprises from the Supreme Court. Among those fears is a bona fide nightmare for those who experienced two decades of the Marcos dictatorship: the proclamation of Bongbong Marcos as vice-president in lieu…
THANKSGIVING DAY goes beyond turkey dinner and Black Friday shopping. It is that season when families get together not just to wine and dine and be merry. It is also that time when we remind ourselves of the blessings we have already received and the things that matter most to us. Let me share with…
THE remains of the deposed dictator Ferdinand Marcos was schemingly buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani (LNMB) last Friday, despite a motion for reconsideration pending in the Supreme Court. The highest court of the land decided in favor of President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to allow the burial of Marcos in the National Heroes’ Cemetery,…
WHEN news broke out on Friday, November 18 that former Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos has interred at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes’ Cemetery), it lit a fire. Public opposition is at high as more people mounting protests and unfurling banners saying that the former president “is no hero.” For some, the LNMB hold’s the…
THOSE who are outraged by the Supreme Court decision to allow the burial of the late President Ferdinand Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani may take heart in this old folk proverb: “Ang matsing kahit bihisan, matsing pa rin!” (A monkey, even if dressed up, is still a monkey). Internment in a cemetery for…
“HISTORY is written by the victors,” an old adage says. After decades of contentious debates spanning different presidencies, deposed dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos has schemingly been laid to rest at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, thanks to newly elected president Rodrigo Duterte. Like a thief in the night, Duterte was interestingly out of the country…
By Luisa Blue, BSN Many of our parents fled repressive regimes for America to be able to freely voice their opinions and pursue their dreams. At a time when authoritarian candidates are getting elected here and abroad, we must remember we came to this country because America allows the people a voice in how they…
What happens in Vegas, doesn’t always stay in Vegas. For Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Director General Ronal “Bato” Dela Rosa, his recent sojourn to Las Vegas, Nevada could have easily been a trip of a lifetime. He was there last November 5, to witness Sen. Manny Pacquiao slug it out with Mexican-American boxer Jessie…
BORROWING the term used by former US Vice-President Al Gore to sound the alarm about global warming, I believe there are certain inconvenient truths that need to be confronted concerning the war on drugs being waged by President Rodrigo Duterte. I think the first inconvenient truth is that, no matter what the anti-Duterte factions and…
AMERICA has spoken — business mogul and reality TV star Donald Trump will be the 45th President of the United States, defeating his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in a surprising turn of events on November 8, election day. I could not be more proud of President Barack Obama and Sec. Hillary Clinton for going past…
IT’S been three days (as of this writing) since more than 15 policemen of the Eastern Visayas Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) motored for several hours from their headquarters in Tacloban City, to arrive in Baybay City in the wee hours of the morning, occupied the sub-provincial jail, disarmed its warden and guards, and…
THE headline back home in the Philippines eclipsed the U.S. Presidential Election last November 8. The Supreme Court of the Philippines just ruled that the remains of the deposed dictator Ferdinand Marcos may be buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani. The highest court’s 9-5 decision ended a decade-long debate: did Marcos deserve to be…
THE burial of Former Pres. Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Heroes’ Cemetery) was given a go signal by the Supreme Court on Tuesday, Nov. 8. Voting 9-5, the high court has put an end to the highly contested and heavily debated issue, dismissing the petition filed by human rights groups, and victims…
