Category: Opinion & Editorial Columnists

“GEORGIA…Georgia on my mind”…must have been the soundtrack of Tuesday, January 6, 2021 as American voters in this state have once again cast their solemn vote through ballots — either through mail-in or in-person at polling stations throughout the state. WHY again, you’d ask, especially when President-elect Joe Biden is constitutionally bound to be sworn…

 “I…am…sor..ry…” With these words of contrition, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo hoped to cleanse her presidency of the grave sin of “influencing” the 2004 Philippine election, which she had just pulled from under the feet of Tagalog movie action king, Fernando Poe Jr. Arroyo had just emerged victorious in a bruising contest for her first full-fledged presidential…

2020 is about to end as the deadliest year in the history of the United States, and the coronavirus pandemic is the invisible enemy. Deaths due to COVID-19 are expected to top 3.2 million deaths by the end of the year, killing about 3,000 Americans per day. Those fighting on the frontlines are Filipino nurses,…

MY wife and I would have wanted to spend this Christmas in the Philippines, but unfortunate circumstances prevented a trip. First of all, there is COVID-19 and the quarantine protocol being strictly enforced by the government. Secondly, U.S. citizens now need a visa to enter the Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte’s tit-for-tat response to the…

THE WORST crisis that parents (and grandparents) perhaps have to face is to see our helpless babies and children fight for their lives. If only we can take their place so that they will not have to suffer, we will do it in a heartbeat. This Christmas, and during the coronavirus pandemic, the main focus…

CHRISTMAS is just a week from now. For many of us, the Christmas rush is decorating our homes for the holidays, shopping for presents and planning the  noche buena  spread to serve to our family while on lockdown because of the continued, yet escalated threat of COVID-19. However, there are many  kababayans  whose grave concerns…

The United States Supreme Court has twice denied the desperate efforts of Donald Trump to overturn the election of Joe Biden as president and Kamala Harris as vice president, respectively. Even before the elections, Trump had warned, without any basis, that the only way he could lose to Biden was if the Democrats cheated. Thus,…

FOLLOWING the rule of law as set forth by the Constitution, January 20, 2021 marks a new chapter in the history of the United States when President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be sworn in to lead the nation in building back better from the rubbles and ashes of the Trump presidency….

ADVENT is here. Can the New Year be far behind? There is something about the advent season that makes us look beyond the festivities and celebration of Christmas and the holiday season. It reminds us of the year that is about to end, inviting us to introspect about where we are now and to look…

JOE BIDEN has officially secured enough electors to become president. He accrued more than 270 electors when California certified its presidential election on Friday, December 4, and appointed 55 electors pledged to vote for Biden, officially handing him the Electoral College majority needed to win the White House. Biden now has 279 electors, which is…

PRESIDENT Donald Trump tweeted on June 8, 2018: “As has been stated by numerous legal scholars, I have the absolute right to PARDON myself, but why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong? In the meantime, the never ending Witch Hunt, led by 13 very Angry and Conflicted Democrats (& others) continues…

IF the four-year term of President Donald Trump was rocky, it looks like that of President-elect Joe Biden will be just as rocky. In fact, it could even be rockier. First of all, Biden will have to deal with a Trump out for vengeance and a Republican Party wanting to keep control of the Senate…

“My generation in Germany were always asking our parents and grandparents how Adolf Hitler could have happened in a democratic state—I think, now we all know it from firsthand [watching the United States]”  -Hartmut Mueller, Germany SHORTLY after major media organizations called the elections for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris folks came out in jubilation, complete…

ADVENT is very special to me because year after year, my birthday (December 1) is within the Advent season. This year, Advent lasts for four Sundays leading up to Christmas — from November 29 to December 24. The reflection of this year’s advent season has an even deeper meaning and significance to us as we…

A WORKSHOP that I enjoy leading, pre-COVID-19, is one I developed for our Filipino immigrant community. It is based on Stanford University’s Chronic Disease Self Management Program, a program that is now widely adopted by several organizations including AARP. The focus of this program is to assist those with chronic illnesses like diabetes, asthma and…

WHAT are we grateful for as a nation this Thanksgiving? While President Donald Trump has not yet conceded defeat in the election declared by his own election officials to be clean and secure,  despite Biden winning both the electoral vote and the popular vote using the same process that made Trump “President-Elect” in 2016, we…

THANKSGIVING Day is a very important day for us Americans as we come together with our families by sharing a special meal, and offering our prayers and gratitude for all the blessings bestowed upon us and our beloved nation. This national holiday dates back to 1621, the year after the Pilgrims from England arrived in…

Adolf Hitler and his propaganda chief, Joseph Goebbels, are said to have developed the axiom that a lie, repeated often enough, will be taken for the truth. In the recent U.S. presidential election, we have seen how effective this axiom has been, even among ostensibly intelligent people. The most vicious practitioner of this Nazi principle…

Donald Trump, outgoing president of the United States, has 65 days left in his term as president (as of this writing), but knowledgeable quarters believe that he may have already gone on “bereavement leave – the kind of leave people take when someone in the family dies. Trump probably feels that he has lost something more precious to…

JUST when we thought we experienced the worst, President Donald Trump has outdone himself again in attacking America’s democracy, democratic institutions and processes, and the American people. After losing his desperate bid to be re-elected to a second term, Trump has dug deeper in his bottomless pit of transgressions against America that can lead to…

THE Philippines once had two presidents but only for a few days. On Tuesday, February 25, 1986, Ferdinand Marcos and Corazon Aquino held dueling presidential inauguration ceremonies, each being sworn in as President of the Philippines. Each claiming to be duly elected by the people in “snap elections” held a few weeks before. With Trump’s…

Where are ‘We, the People’ heading, moving forward?  VOTING is perhaps the most sacred and consequential right and obligation “We, the People” have been accorded by the Constitution, giving each and every citizen regardless of race, age, gender, socio-economic status, the equal power to steer our beloved country to the direction we deem to be…

“Never before in the history of American elections has the Filipino American community mobilized, strategized and organized to the degree I’ve seen. For at least the Filipino Americans for Biden/Harris affinity group, there were pockets of staunch and stellar state leaders in some 20+ states working efficiently and effectively to GOTV (Get Out The Vote)…

ON NOVEMBER 7, 2020, Democratic nominee Joe Biden became President-elect after surpassing the 270-victory mark for electoral votes, and winning the greatest number of popular votes in the history of the United States. The historic turnout, among Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and even from those with no party affiliation, is a testament to the urgency of…