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…
Category: Features
Covering the week’s most noteworthy feature stories impacting the Filipino-American and Global Filipino community.
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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…
‘ALTERNATIVE FACT’: More Americans voted for Trump than Clinton to be the 45th President of the United States
DONALD J. Trump won the presidency because more Americans voted for him is an “alternative fact”. A lie. A misrepresentation of the will of the citizens of America who casted…
Fresh start
A NEW dawn awaits as the United States is perceived to undergo dramatic changes in its political, economic and social arenas under Donald Trump’s presidency. The coming change is also…
Obama honors journalists at last press con: Paging Presidents Trump and Duterte
ONE THING that we the people in the news industry will surely miss about Former President Barack Obama is his acknowledgement of the important role the PRESS (news media) plays…
Showing off the beauty of the Philippines
THE Miss Universe pageant that reels off in the Philippines this January and will culminate in the final selection of winners in Metro Manila on January 30 is much more…
Thank you for your service, President Barack Obama
IT was President Barack Obama who welcomed me and my family when we took our oaths as new citizens of the United States of America in 2012. It was during…
ASEAN at 50
THE Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is turning 50 years old this year. The 10-member organization will celebrate a milestone, from starting as a loosely constructed regional association at…
“#LeniLeaks” : Are criticisms of Duterte’s drug policy and the call for his resignation an act of sedition OR free speech?
Many kababayans in the Philippines and here in the United States have been asking me about the truth behind #LeniLeaks — a trending topic on social media that talks about…
Warning to all California drivers on new law re: cellphone use
BEFORE YOU DRIVE, take the time to know these new laws in California or you may end up paying hefty fines and have a record of violating laws. The State…
The instincts of a leader
In the wake of the devastation wreaked by super typhoon Nina in the Bicol Region, Vice-President Leni Robredo has been pilloried in social and mainstream media for being “missing in…
Do you feel optimistic and excited about US politics in 2017?
CRYSTAL BALL — what do you reveal? After a divisive, toxic and confusing election season in 2016, will it be an enlightening, hopeful and promising year for U.S. politics in…