Doomsday scenario at Ateneo While terrorist attacks in Brussels and Lahore occupied the world headlines, and suspected ISIS-trained jihadists were reported to have set up camp in Muslim Mindanao, a doomsday scenario momentarily descended upon Ateneo University in Quezon City on Monday after it got a text message at 8:30 a.m. saying a “large explosion”…
RUDY Rosal lived in the squatters’ area across the creek from our house in Paranaque when I hired him as a driver. But he had lofty dreams for himself and his family that he felt he couldn’t achieve by ferrying me and my family in our jalopy. Thus, at the first opportunity, he and his…
Roxas second, Poe third AFTER the March 20 Philippine presidential debate in Cebu, The Filipino Channel’s daily newscast “Balitang America” asked its viewers in an online poll: “If the Philippine Presidential Election was held today, who would you vote for?”. The results of the poll aired on March 23 was quite a surprise. The “Dirty…
HAPPY EASTER! Where ever you may be in your journey of life — mourning in your Good Friday or rejoicing in anticipation of the fulfillment of God’s promise in resurrection — know in your heart that Easter morning comes after the darkest night. This is the gift of rebirth, of new beginnings, no matter how…
AMLC COUNCIL, EXECUTIVES SHOULD RESIGN Set up in 2001 during President Gloria Arroyo’s term, it is only under President Benigno Aquino that the Anti Money Laundering Council (AMLC) along with its secretariat has been debased into a political weapon. The council has also failed to justify its raison d’être as proven by the fact that…
President Obama, as is his right, has nominated to the US Supreme Court another white man from Harvard, Merrick Garland. Yet Mr. Garland is highly unlikely to ever be confirmed given the Republican leadership’s unanimous position that no Presidential nominee will be confirmed while President Obama remains in office. The question raised by California’s more…
LAST DECEMBER 8, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of Mercy of the St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, inaugurating the Jubilee Year of Mercy. Mercy is defined as getting the grace that we do not even deserve, including God’s compassionate forgiveness of our sins, liberating us from condemnation so that we could start life all…
“THE world today no longer counts on God. We count on money, arms, private armies, intimidation and connection, and if we continue to do these, it is very easy to lose mercy [for] our neighbors,” said Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle as he celebrated a Mass at the Manila Cathedral on Sunday, March 20….
IT helps to visit my favorite watering hole in Daly City. I pick up insights from folks who can still see the forest from the trees, with respect to the passing political scene in the Philippines. “Have you read the latest about Grace Poe in the Manila papers?” asks Pete from behind the bar and,…
DONALD Trump is winning more and more states in the primary contests across America and has knocked out all of his opponents in the previously crowded field, making it now a three-man race. The Grand Old Party (GOP) leaders are scrambling to stop the surge and possibly the inevitable nomination of Trump, contending that he…
THE recent $81-million money laundering scandal in the Philippines is a testimony to the dirty, hideous work that is hounding the banking community. It brought a darker shade of reality: that money makes the world go round. Last February 4, hackers broke into Bangladesh Bank’s account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and…
Not all are privileged to work with a former Philippine president. But for over 15 years now, I’ve had the blessing of serving alongside former President Fidel V. Ramos, who turns 88 today (March 18), whose love for our country and heart for good governance still ring a bell. FVR, as fondly called by his…
Carpio’s revelation Contrary to what the public has been led to believe, there is no 9 – 6 majority vote in favor of declaring Mrs. Grace Poe Llamanzares a natural-born citizen, and qualified to run for President. This is what we learn from the dissenting opinion of Senior Associate Justice Carpio, who revealed the real…
WHY all the hassle over the two social security numbers (SSN) allegedly used by Sen. Grace Poe when she was living in the US? In the Philippines, there must be a lot of people who are paying monthly social security premiums but can’t remember their SS numbers. This, aside from the fact that millions in…
A WEEK before Super Tuesday 3 — when five states were slated to vote for the candidate whom they believe should be their party’s nominee for the next president of the United States — Donald Trump has been criticized from the left, the right, and everyone else in between. The latest round of criticism comes…
THE world today is characterized by intense global competition and rapid technological change. According to a human capital theory, economic development is a function of the quality of a nation’s education system. In other words: the more and better educated the people, the better the chances of reaching economic development. The key to success is…
TWO months before the May 2016 Philippine presidential elections, the Supreme Court of the Philippines has ruled that Sen. Grace Poe is eligible to run for the highest post of the nation. This throws out the disqualification cases filed by different parties that question whether Poe is a natural-born Filipino and meets the residency requirement….
If not for his ruling-class name, and if not for Mommy’s inherited wealth, which he used to win electoral posts and pay for his expensive PR imaging, Roxas really couldn’t have moved further than Capiz: his performance in government in the past two decades has been so utterly dismal, he’s a loser. What he had…
WHAT is going on in the Republican Party nomination contest has become more of a nail-biter than most reality shows, thanks to the unexpected sprint to the front by reality show star and business mogul Donald Trump. Perhaps the Republican Party establishment did not see this coming, thinking that the Grand Old Party (GOP) electorate’s…
ON MARCH 8, the world celebrated International Women’s Day. It has been designated to acknowledge and celebrate the many social, economic, cultural and political achievements and contributions of women around the world. According to the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW), the observance of International Women’s Day (IWD) was a result of the organizing activities of…
WHILE doing research at the Library of Congress in Washington DC on the presence of natives of Las Islas Filipinas in Louisiana in the 1700s, I chanced upon a compilation of “Manuscripts and materials relating to the Philippines,” prepared by Charles O. Houston of the library’s manuscript division. In the preface, Houston wrote: “The library’s…
AFTER the Pambansang Kamao Manny Pacquiao’s controversial statement comparing people in gay and lesbian relationship to animals, the big question during this political cycle looms: would such remarks that have been criticized worldwide affect the fighting congressman’s chances of winning a seat in the Senate in the May election? The results of the latest Pulse…
A statement issued by the Ateneo de Manila staff pontificated: “The Marcos regime’s economics of debt-driven growth was disastrous for the Philippines. The regime was not interested in inclusive development, long-term state-building, nor genuine social transformation of the country.” And they demanded that Ferdinand Marcos 2nd apologize for this. It is such a sad commentary…
Yes, “golden age” was the phrase used by a New York Times article on the EDSA I celebration, with the second paragraph reading, in the man-on-the street-quote style of American journalism: “I think Marcos was our best President,” said a Manila resident who was born two years after the dictator was overthrown. “That was when…
WHO won on “Super Tuesday”? As I write this on March 1, primaries and caucuses were held in a dozen states (and one US territory) to select a presidential candidate in both the Republican and Democratic Party nominating contests this year. In the most recent polls leading up to Super Tuesday, news organizations have projected…
FOR a country infamous for its “dirty politics,” conducting a peaceful and clean conduct of elections will be a challenge for the Philippine government. While the country’s polls have been automated since 2010, some Filipino voters still express concern over possible cheating in the general elections in May. About four in every 10 Filipinos believe…
Aquino’s afflictions Undying hatred of the “Marcos past,” unreasoning fear of a “Marcos-friendly future,” and total rejection of any suggestion from any source that Filipinos had begun to rethink the real value of Martial Law and Ferdinand Marcos’ real standing among Philippine Presidents are among the saddest afflictions of President B. S. Aquino 3rd. These…
WHAT was billed as a debate among the candidates in the May presidential elections turned out to be a race against the clock for each speaker and an occasional exchange of light jabs. It wasn’t really much of a “debate” as typified by the war of innuendos and insults in the US between the Republican…
I WONDER if Manny Pacquiao anticipated such strong backlash regarding his controversial interview, wherein he compared gays and lesbians to animals. If you have not heard or read what he actually said, here is the quote: “Kasi para sa akin ito lang, common sense lang. Makakita ka ba ng any animals na lalaki sa lalaki…
There have been 20 countries in the post-war era that had peaceful “revolutions” similar to our ESDA uprising in 1986 – more accurately, nonviolent, extra-constitutional regime changes, especially transitions from dictatorship to democracy. Thirteen of these were the so-called “color revolutions,” said to have been inspired in some way by the EDSA “Yellow Revolution.” But…
