The Dirty Harry rationale
THE battle lines have been drawn. On one side, high caliber apologists have been harnessed to justify the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) of Noynoy Aquino and Butch Abad, in the…
Category: Features
Covering the week’s most noteworthy feature stories impacting the Filipino-American and Global Filipino community.
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Noli Me Tangere: A must see
WHEN I emceed the Peoples’ Ball, celebrating Philippine Independence with more than 1000 kababayans in Washington DC last June, I had the privilege of being serenaded by amazaing vocal talents…
Jarring reminder
THE Philippines joins the international community in extending its sympathies to the families of the passengers on board Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 that crashed in Ukraine on Thursday, July 17….
Tie a yellow ribbon?
THE song of Tony Orlando and the Dawns once again kept playing in my mind upon reading about President Benigno Aquino III’s call for Filipinos to wear yellow ribbon to…
Double-whammy
WITH an average of 20 typhoons every year, there is no reason why the Philippines should not always be prepared for calamities. On Wednesday, July 16, Typhoon Glenda (international name…
Should PNoy be impeached because of the DAP issue?
IT may be perhaps the biggest challenge of his presidency. Benigno “PNoy” Aquino III faces impeachment cases to oust him from office, following the decision of the Supreme Court (SC)…
Readers’ comments: Should kids of unmarried couples be baptized into the Catholic church?
AFTER kababayans found out via social media about how a Catholic priest from Cebu insulted and humiliated a 17-year old mother during the solemn sacrament of baptism of her baby,…
Brotherhood
THE Philippines will not be a free and independent country that it is today if it wasn’t for the groundwork laid out by a valiant organization formed more than a…
Cebu priest exemplifies how to drive away believers from the Catholic church
IF YOU are active in social media, you may have already seen the video or read about the shocking incident involving a Catholic priest from Cebu, who humiliated a 17-year…
Buying up ballots
IF YOU haven’t heard of BUB, you will be seeing a lot of its effects in the next several months leading up to the 2016 elections — P20.1 billion worth…
Reactions to PNoy’s decision not to give Nora Aunor the National Artist Award
RESPONDING to the clamor for Malacanang to explain why Nora Aunor was not given the honor of being recognized as Philippine national Artist, President Noynoy Aquino explained and let me…
Do you agree with Malacañang that Nora Aunor should not be honored as National Artist?
I am neither a Noranian nor a Vilmanian, but I have high respect and admiration for these two veteran Filipino actresses. As a growing kid in the 70s, I have…
Making the most of prison time
WHAT should a very important politician, who is serving a life sentence for plunder, do with his time throughout his incarceration? I threw this question at the folks at my…
Kababayans’ reaction on the alleged special treatment for Revilla, Estrada and Enrile
THE crusader for “Daang Matuwid” — President Benigno Aquino III — says he does not mind giving humanitarian considerations to one of the most high profile senators charged in connection…
Should Revilla, Estrada, Enrile et al. be given special treatment in their detention for the pork barrel scam?
SOCIAL media platforms have been burning with commentaries reflecting ordinary people’s sentiments from disbelief to disgust, about the stagecraft showcasing the surrender and detention of the most prominent public servants…
Drivers’ license for the Undocumented
WHILE the passing of the comprehensive immigration bill gets stalled in Congress, undocumented immigrants in California may soon be able to get drivers’ licenses. As Balitang America’s LA Correspondent Steve…
What’s happening to our country?
ON JULY 21, 1982, former senator and former Vice President Emmanuel Pelaez was ambushed in his car in Quezon City. He took six bullets but miraculously survived. His driver was…
Crime deterrence
THERE was never a better time to call this world a civilized society. Because of current laws existing, we are bound to live vicariously, based on respect for the sanctity…
Bakasyon sa Pilipinas 2014: NAIA Surprise!
MY family had the privilege of spending a two-week vacation in the Philippines this early June, a travel I am thinking many kababayans would want to take at least every…
PNoy’s Marcosian predicament
IRONY of ironies. Noynoy Aquino appears to be facing the same predicament in dealing with the pork barrel and Malampaya scandals as Marcos did in the wake of the assassination…
The separation of Showbiz and State
IN the Philippines, politics and show business are no strange bedfellows. Through the years, the country has been (and still is) under the influence of different officials – be it…
Cliffhanger
WILL justice be truly be served? Only the aggrieved party can tell. When news broke out of the P10-billion Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel scam in July…
Remembering “Tatak Pilipino”
“TATAK PILIPINO” was a 60-minute weekly television magazine program that showcased Philippine arts and culture, produced by ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation from 1990 to 1994. It was hosted by APO Hiking Society’s…
Letter from Cesar Virata
I RECEIVED a letter from former Marcos regime Prime Minister and Finance Minister Cesar E. A. Virata to correct what he thought was a mistake I had made in my…
Climate-proof
AT THE recent 3-day Asia-Europe Meeting(ASEM) conference on disaster risk and management, President Benigno S. Aquino III emphasized the need for countries to come together, to make the world climate-proof….
Remembering ‘Compañero y Compañera’
I HAD the privilege of writing about one of the programs I was very much a part of both behind the scenes and on camera (or in front of the…