Fight for survival
ACCORDING to the United Nations (UN), the rate of environmental damage on our planet is increasing at a faster pace than previously thought and seen in the last 10,000 years….
Category: Opinion & Editorial Columnists
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Legal terms we hear in the news defined: Obstruction of justice, perjury, treason, bribery
AS we follow the investigations being done by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and those of Congress in the alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to influence, meddle, interfere…
Narcissistic personality disorder: what we need to know
NARCISSISTIC. We hear this word in our everyday life lately. We hear this as an adjective describing today’s generation — the “I,” “me,” and “myself.” We also hear this in…
Martial law madness
FORTY-FIVE years and five presidents later, Filipinos are once again expected to appreciate the genuine meaning of democracy as they commemorate the day when former Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos declared…
Have the courts been displaced by the Senate and social media?
Whenever a major corruption scandal or a heinous crime exploded in the public sphere, oldtimers like myself followed the developments in the courts of law, as reported by the newspapers….
Did Trump reverse course? New hope for DREAMers
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP is predictably unpredictable, and his recent move may come as a pleasant surprise to his political detractors as much it has been a shock to his loyal…
Hurricanes Harvey and Irma send wake-up call to climate change deniers like Trump, EPA chief Scott Pruitt & Florida Gov. Rick Scott
Our hearts go out to people and communities in Texas, Florida, and other states in the southeast of the United States following the devastation left by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma….
Impeachment, again
WILL Philippine Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno share the same fate as her predecessor? Sereno succeeded the late Renato Corona, the first Filipino magistrate to be impeached and convicted. Beginning…
Defend DACA & support SB 54 – the California Values Act
By Alex De Ocampo, Candidate for Assembly District 51 For generations, immigrants have come here seeking a better life for themselves and their children. America has welcomed these newcomers and…
Citing Trump’s “racial animus,” multiple states sue to block the end of DACA
Fifteen states and the District of Columbia have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in the effort to stop it from implementing its decision to end the Obama-era program…
Are the ‘DREAMers’ now being held hostage for Congress to fund Trump’s wall and end family-based petitions?
THEY are more than just statistics — these 800,000 people brought into the United States as kids by their parents or grandparents grew up in this country not knowing that…
Political bickering
SOME say that in any political landscape, opposition is good. Opposition is more prevalent in a democracy as it keeps current leaders on their toes, and makes sure that no…
What is the real story behind the Philippine House’s move to impeach Chief Justice Sereno?
PHILIPPINE SUPREME COURT Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Aranal Sereno is now in the eye of the storm after an impeachment complaint have been filed against her, first by Volunteers Against…
This Labor Day, AAPI workers call for more unions to fix the rigged economy
Raising our voices in proud solidarity this Labor Day, Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) workers are joining with working people across the country to put the importance of unions front…
Drug war 2.0
“HOW will I succeed?” This was the question President Rodrigo Duterte emphasized when he humbly admitted to his constituents that he cannot fulfill his promise of eradicating the drug problem…
Trump’s pardoning of Sheriff Arpaio supports the unconstitutional tactic of racial profiling against people of color
AS the nation commiserate with Texas for the record rainfall and flooding brought about by hurricane Harvey, President Donald Trump announced that he was pardoning former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio,…
Fil-Am leader defends Duterte’s bloody war on drugs
FOLLOWING outrage from people coming from different parts of the world over the death of 17-year-old Kian De Los Santos and thousands more in the hands of the police, President…
Duterte finally admits possible police abuses in his war against illegal drugs
REST in peace, Kian delos Santos, who was 17 years young when he was killed by police during an anti-drug operation last Thursday, August 17. People all over the world,…
Reactions to Trump’s statement that appeared to defend hate groups during the fatal violence in Charlottesville
PRESIDENT Donald Trump has been in office for only 30 weeks but his self-inflicted wound coming from his statement that counter-protestors share the blame with the hate groups — the…
If Trump and Kim Jong-un unleash fire and fury
I was 5 years old when Gen. Douglas MacArthur made good on his promise to return to the Philippines. I was, therefore, old enough to remember how my family and…
Charlottesville tragedy reveals the truth in Donald Trump’s heart: Not a president for ALL AMERICANS
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP could have made this crisis an opportunity to seize a defining moment in his troubled presidency — to prove he is indeed the president of all Americans…
Worst-case scenario
NORTH Korea has been firing and testing missiles—18 test launches this year—at an unprecedented pace. Amid its rising tensions with the U.S., it recently announced a detailed plan to redirect…
Fil-Ams weigh in on sanctuary cities that provide a safe haven for undocumented immigrants
THE TRUMP administration has intensified its crackdown on sanctuary cities — jurisdictions that provide a safe haven for undocumented immigrants by limiting how local law enforcement can cooperate with federal…
Sanctuary cities that protect undocumented immigrants: Good or bad for Filipinos in America?
PRESIDENT Donald Trump ran on the campaign promise that he would intensify the crackdown on illegal immigrants — and he is doing just that. There are places in the country,…
General meeting
CONTRARY to popular opinion, none of the world’s top diplomats, who gathered in Manila on August 2-8 to attend the 50th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) and Related Meetings, brought…
Duterte and Fil-Ams can work on a common cause
DURING the Philippine revolution against Spain, the Katipunan had two mutually-hostile factions: the Magdiwang of Andres Bonifacio, and the Magdalo, which was identified with Emilio Aguinaldo. While they literally went…
Why Trump’s Filipino supporters continue to defend him
PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s job approval rating dips further south to a new historic low of 33 percent, with 61 percent disapproving of how he is doing his job as president,…
Could the new chief of staff General John Kelly reign in on Trump?
THE White House is in chaos, but let us look at the glimmer of hope in President Donald Trump’s appointment of General John Kelly as chief of staff, replacing Reince…
Law enforcement
During the early morning of Sunday, July 30, members of the Philippine National Police and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), armed with search warrants, raided homes of alleged illegal…
Defense officials, Fil-Am US military general respond to Trump’s transgender military ban
SURPRISE! President Donald Trump woke up on the morning of Wednesday, July 26, and announced via Twitter that transgenders (those born with a certain gender but identify self with another…