Trespassing
BILATERAL ties between the Philippines and China have begun to warm up as soon as President Rodrigo Duterte stepped into office. Following his early anti-American outbursts, Duterte vowed to carry…
Category: Features
Covering the week’s most noteworthy feature stories impacting the Filipino-American and Global Filipino community.
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On celebrating Fil-Am representation in the Trump administration
I have been elated about the recent appointments of Filipino Americans — Ninio Joseph Fetalvo as assistant press secretary, Kelly Ilagan as deputy associate director for presidential personnel, and Joyce…
Filipino Americans: Please do not be fooled. Visibility does not equate representation
So, it appears that Donald J. Trump has selected Noel Francisco as the new solicitor general, and apparently, Mr. Francisco is Filipino American. If he is confirmed, he would become…
WARNING: Beware of fake ICE/immigration agents and officers
To Kababayans who are undocumented immigrants or those who have been overstaying and working illegally in the United States, please beware. I know many of you have been experiencing sleepless…
Unsolicited advice to the Duterte trolls
IN January 2017, The New Republic, a liberal US magazine, ran an article by journalist Sean Williams entitled, “Rodrigo Duterte’s Army of Online Trolls”: “Since Rodrigo Duterte was elected president of the…
Trump accuses Obama of wiretapping him during the election without any evidence: Another conspiracy theory to deflect issues?
AMID the growing support for a bipartisan and independent investigation to find out if there was/is collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign before, during and after the 2016 presidential…
Exonerated
DESPITE her predicament, a defiant Senator Leila De Lima denounced the recent move by government prosecutors to prohibit all parties from discussing the senator’s cases in public. “I refuse to…
Is Duterte’s war on drugs a ‘crime against humanity’? Fil-Ams weigh in
THE latest Human Rights Watch (HRW) report says Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte may be held responsible for the extrajudicial killings in his war on drugs, which has claimed the lives…
Tightening the screws
THE screws are tightening on both sides of the Pacific, pretty much like the garote that snuffed the lives of the Tres Martires, Padres Burgos, Gomez and Zamora. Sooner or…
Trump gives himself an ‘A’ for achievement in his first month as president: How do you rate him?
DONALD TRUMP has been the president of the United States for a little more than a month now, and when asked in a TV interview how he would rate himself,…
Legislative jungle
SOME say that a governance needs a good opposition to bring out the best in itself. Will this hold true for a government that is marred by a political rumble…
Trump administration bans some critical news media: A move toward dictatorship?
As if the war that President Donald Trump has been waging against the news media is not enough — calling those news organizations critical of him and his policies “fake…
Tilting the scales of justice
THE classic symbol of justice is a lady with a blindfold holding weighing scale that are perfectly balanced. The blindfold and the balanced scales denote impartiality. One would expect that…
Trump’s new guidelines and executive orders: Nail-biter week for the undocumented
THIS may be one of the most unsettling weeks for kababayans who are living and working in the United States without legal status as the Trump administration unveiled new guidelines…
Trump raids the undocumented: What to do to protect yourself and your family
PRESIDENT Donald Trump has intensified his crackdown on undocumented immigrants and many raids have already been conducted to apprehend those who have been living in the United States without legal…
The campaign for Medicare portability
In the autumn of our lives, my wife and I would love to retire in the Philippines, no matter what the naysayers, the pessimists and the sensation-prone media say about…
FVR’s truth-telling
FIDEL V. Ramos’ recent interview with Rappler’s Maria Ressa was a study in sophisticated elder statesmanship. He was cordial and engaging, of course, and kept the talk good-humored and paternal….
FLYNNGATE: What the Trump administration needs to explain to the American people
DONALD TRUMP has bigger problems to worry about than his historic 40 percent approval/55 percent disapproval ratings in the most recent Gallup Poll. His less than a month-old presidency has…
The Americana at Brand ushers in Year of the Fire Rooster
The Year of the Fire Rooster began on January 28, but the celebrations across Southern California haven’t waned down. Last weekend on Saturday, February 4, The Americana at Brand in…
The epiphany of Duterte
“EPIPHANY — A moment when you suddenly feel that you understand, or suddenly become conscious of, something that is very important to you.” In other words, an awakening. This definition…
No one’s above the law, not even the president
TWO defeats out of two court battles, and Donald Trump is learning the hard way that in the United States, no one is above the law. No one is above…
Legal showdown: Is Trump's travel ban constitutional?
Whether or not you agree with President Donald Trump and his executive order, which bars citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries (Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen) from entering…
Oil and water
THE relationship between government and religion has always been a complicated matter in the Philippines, one that is both a desensitized and hardly discussed issue. As a predominantly Catholic nation,…
A majority of Americans disapprove of Trump’s ‘travel ban’
DONALD TRUMP claims he wanted to make America safe and so last week, he hastily issued an executive order banning the Syrian refugees into the United States, and revoked the…
Beware of the Trump card
The US will be undergoing some interesting times with the assumption of the presidency by Donald J. Trump. A legend in his own mind, Trump could well have written the…
Gallup Poll: Trump plummets to historic low eight days into his presidency
SUPPORTERS of President Donald Trump chastise his critics and non-supporters for not being on board the “Trump train” even after he won the majority vote of the Electoral College, which…
Bluster, truthful hyperbole and alternative facts
IF you’re looking for a similarity between new U.S. President Donald Trump and President Rodrigo Duterte, it is the fact that when they say something, it’s difficult to tell what…