On Monday, May 13, the election season will come full circle. As expected, it has become a proverbial non-stop fiesta, an ostentatious display of abundant motorcades, with flurries of campaign colors. But what is a Philippine election without a bit of drama? From disputes over the liquor and money bans, to memes of preferred (and…
ON MAY 4, what was supposed to be an evening of celebration for newly-wed Filipina nurse, Neriza Fojas and her eight best friends (who were also mostly nurses) turned into a horrific tragedy. Enroute to Crowne Plaza Hotel in Foster City for her bridal party, the stretch limousine they were riding suddenly burst into flames…
BY this time, Filipino voters are completing their would-be ballots come election day on May 13. Up for grabs in the mid-term elections are the country’s next set of senators, and local leaders including congressmen, governors, mayors, and councilors among others. With a few days remaining in their campaign, candidates are exhausting all tricks up…
THE Boston Marathon bombings have somehow revealed a dichotomy in most Americans’ (including Fil-Ams) state of mind: What do we really value more? Our full enjoyment of our freedom and liberties or our national security? As the Associated Press reported, Republican lawmakers question whether the Obama administration’s law enforcement and intelligence agencies failed to share…
SOMEONE in the administration of Ferdinand Marcos was rumored to have declared that the Philippine is a rich country pretending to be poor. It certainly sounds like something Imelda Marcos would have said, but my memory fails me. At any rate, now comes the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) reporting that 27.9 percent of Filipinos…
AFTER Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s dramatic and controversial escape from the rule of law (only to resurface as if nothing happened), another high profile personality is now on the loose. This time, it’s Cezar Mancao — another important character in the unsolved mysterious double murder case of media consultant and publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his…
ON MAY 6, 15 Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women will be honored as “Champions of Change” by the White House, in observance of AAPI Heritage Month. “The Champions of Change program was created as an opportunity for the White house to feature groups of Americans – individuals, businesses and organizations – who are…
THE first day of May commemorates International Workers’ or Labor Day around the world. Contrary to popular belief, May 1 is not entirely dedicated to today’s workers and their demands. This day is meant to remember those heroes who struggled, fought and even died, for the rights of workers that we enjoy today. As the…
THE other night, a retrospective on the Watergate scandal that resulted in the resignation of President Richard Nixon was aired on US television. Among the interesting commentaries was the role that social media could have played in exposing Nixon and his White House cohorts much sooner, had the Internet phenomenon been available at the time….
THE United Nations (UN) estimates that more than 70,000 people have died since the Syrian government started battling a rebellion two years ago. The international community has condemned the Assad regime for the violence it has perpetrated against its own people. Pleas for greater international assistance have been mounting, especially from the United States —…
DID the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) miss out on an opportunity to prevent the Boston Marathon terror attack from happening? This was the question raised by CBS, when it broke the news that the FBI was able to interview Tamerlan Tsarnaev (one of the two bombing suspects, the other is his brother, Dzhokhar A….
THE scheduled week-long investment roadshow by a topnotch business delegation from the Philippines has officially begun. The 2nd Investment Roadshow was organized by the Philippine Embassy with the Philippine Consulates General in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York (sponsored by the Phil. Trade and Investment Center, in cooperation with the Council on Trade and Investment…
The head of the SBA, Karen Mills, has announced her resignation. During her four years in office, the 98% of Asian American-owned businesses that are small received very few loans and close to zero technical assistance. President Obama, however, has a unique opportunity to ensure that the SBA is truly a small business agency that…
THE princes of the CBCP should be happy with the results of the SWS survey on whether Catholics have thought about leaving the Church. In fact, I’m surprised that only 9.2 percent of respondents “agreed” that the notion has occurred to them. You see, whether on purpose or through plain incompetence, SWS framed the premise…
ON April 15, three people were killed and more than 200 were wounded, when two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, allegedly perpetrated by two young immigrant brothers from Russia. The older brother, 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev, died after a shootout with police early Friday. The younger brother, 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was…
THE Philippines is enjoying a steady economic momentum and has been branded as the next Asian tiger economy. Last week, the United Nations Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) said in its latest survey that the local economy is expected to grow by 6.2 percent this year. The currency has been…
POLL after poll following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting (where 20 innocent first graders and six adults were massacred by a deranged young man) showed that 90 percent of Americans agree that Congress should pass stricter gun control laws, like a universal background check, to help prevent tragedies like this from happening again. President…
WITH all the negative issues and events currently ongoing, both in the Philippines and around the globe, this comes as a refreshing bit of good news. Recently, President Benigno Aquino III (PNoy) emerged as one of TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world for 2013. PNoy ranks second among the world’s 23 most…
APRIL 15 started out as a day of celebration of Patriots Day in Boston — commemorating the first battles of the American Revolution in 1775. Some 23,000 participants from around the world joined the annual Boston Marathon, while more than 500,000 spectators came to cheer them on. Just two hours after the winners crossed the…
AS USUAL, my buddies at my favorite watering hole in Adobo City (AKA Daly City) turn to me to explain some of the happenings in the Philippines. Of course, I probably know just a bit more than they do and not much more, but I oblige. This time, they want me to explain the SWS survey on…
WE could only pray that what happened to 15-year-old Audrie Pott would never happen to our own children. She was sexually assaulted by three fellow students at Saratoga High School — boys she had been friends with since middle school. Worse, she found out that graphic pictures of her naked and being attacked were taken…
“IF WE want respect, we must demonstrate that we have political power!” This was the consensus at a recent meeting of members of US Pinoys for Good Governance, the group that grew out of US Pinoys for Noynoy-Mar, which raised money and actively campaigned and voted in the last presidential elections. The group agreed to…
MANY optimists believe this could be the week when Congress would finally be able to present a comprehensive immigration reform bill. Talks of a bipartisan support on creating a pathway to citizenship in this plan have made many undocumentedkababayans exhaust all possible means to benefit from the new immigration laws. While to be proactive is a…
EITHER laws are not properly implemented and followed, or someone’s pursuing a vendetta against the Tubbattaha Reefs Natural Park (TRNP) — a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the Philippines’ most prized possessions. It took three strenuous months for the Philippine and US governments to complete the salvaging operations on the USS Guardian, which…
IT WAS an epic battle that was bound to happen at some point. Both of Filipino descent, Conservative blogger and political pundit, Michelle Malkin and Pulitzer prize-winning journalist and undocumented immigrant, Jose Antonio Vargas locked horns in a battle of wits over immigration issues on Twitter. Coming from extremely opposing ends of the political spectrum,…
(Part 2) IN MY last article, I discussed some of the socio-economic implications of marriage (starting off with Social Security and Taxes) and why gay couples insist that the federal government should also accord to them the same rights and privileges that heterosexual couples now enjoy. Gay couples contend that the Constitution of America guarantees…
IT IS identified in every contingency plan that disasters, terrorism and war, civil disturbances can all precipitate evacuation. Ironically, the imminent danger looming in the Korean peninsula has not yet prompted the Philippine government to evacuate at least 40,000 Filipinos embroiled in the tension. The situation remains at Alert Level 1 or “heightened alertness,” following…
(Part 1) MANY of our kababayans who are guided by their conservative views ask: Why do gay couples insist on their “right” to marry, when the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) defines “marriage” as legal a union between one man and one woman? They add that even the Bible defines marriage as such. Right now, there are…
Of late, the national dailies and broadcast networks have been reporting news that they apparently believe are of more importance to the Filipino masses than poverty, unemployment, criminality, and the RH Law I’m referring to the love affair of a senator and his movie star girlfriend and the marital spat of a presidential sister-cum-TV star…
AFTER going through the dead of winter, one can’t wait to bathe in the warmth and joy that the promise of spring brings to our life. This is also the message of Easter for us Christians: a rebirth…a new life…in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. In reality, though, we experience so many winters…
