Destruction
THE magnitude-7.2 earthquake that struck central Philippines last Tuesday, October 15, has claimed 161 lives according to authorities. About 400 people were reported injured and some are still missing as…
Category: Features
Covering the week’s most noteworthy feature stories impacting the Filipino-American and Global Filipino community.
Read More
Never too old to rock: Queen Lola continues to inspire
WHEN is a woman too old to rock? When a Filipina becomes a lola, should she stop taking care of her self as she used to in her younger years…
Honorary Filipino
ASKED what he would miss most about his home for more than three years, outgoing US Ambassador to the Philippines Harry K. Thomas recently told Inquirer.net that it would be…
Is the PH ready to grant equal rights to heterosexual and same-sex couples?
BEGINNING October 21, same-sex couples in New Jersey will be able to wed. This, after a New Jersey judge rejected the state’s appeal to halt same-sex marriages. Superior Court Judge…
Not Since Ramon Magsaysay
Jinggoy Estrada has apparently succeeded in diverting the attention of both mainstream and social media, from the P10-billion pork scandal to alleged anomalies involving Noynoy Aquino’s Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP)…
Wait and see
RECENTLY, the Filipino community was abuzz as news spread about a 63-year old woman who was allegedly detained and harassed by US immigration officers for six hours at the Seattle-Tacoma…
Filing a complaint against abusive immigration officers
FOR many kababayans visiting the United States, the most dreaded part of the trip is going through the immigration inspection. The recent news about a 63-year old Filipina being harassed…
PNoy, good second class
Innuendos concerning his association with alleged Queen of Pork Barrel Scams, Janet Lim-Napoles, his insistence on retaining his humongous presidential pork barrel-in-disguise, and recent allegations of bribery to ensure the…
Legal opinion: What to do when harassed at the US Immigration Port of Entry
YOU’VE got your US visa, excited to visit and tour around the United States, only to be subjected to harassing interrogation and threat of airport-to-airport deportation at the US immigration…
PNoy, Good Second Class
Innuendos concerning his association with alleged Queen of Pork Barrel Scams, Janet Lim-Napoles, his insistence on retaining his humongous presidential pork barrel-in-disguise, and recent allegations of bribery to ensure the…
Loving from a distance: The OFW story
IT WAS a three-day visit to the Philippines I wish I never had to take. I had to come back to my homeland for a reason most Filipinos living abroad…
Strong ties
TIME may not yet be ripe for another US president to set foot on Philippine soil. Philippine Ambassador Jose Cuisia Jr. said that the consulate in Washington, DC has not…
Goodbye, my dear brother David
PLEASE allow me to deviate from my usual commentaries and discussions about current issues. I want to use this opportunity to pay homage to my younger brother, David Santos. He…
Kababayans debate: Should Napoles testify in the Senate?
WHAT is supposed to be a common aspiration– to end corruption in the Philippines and seek justice in the pork barrel scam — has now divided Filipinos all over the…
The gift of tolerance
ONCE described as a medieval institution, the Catholic Church (under the leadership of Pope Francis I) is no longer sitting on its laurels. The high prelate is encouraging the Church,…
Invoking the power of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee
WHAT is the role of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee in the quest for truth and justice in the ongoing investigations for the pork barrel scam? What mandate does it…
Of Pity, Pork and Pagpag
Aside from our inability, as a people, to sustain our anger, and our poor collective memory, we have one more trait that keeps us from exacting full retribution from public…
Fil-Ams take action: Pork barrel system is institutionalized plunder
THE first batch of plunder charges may have been filed against lawmakers and other officials allegedly involved in the P10-Billion Pork Barrel Scam in the Philippines, but Filipinos around the…
Never again
It was an era in history that older generations of Filipinos would rather forget. But lessons from this tumultuous period has taught us to commemorate the past — if only…
Plunder charges filed: What’s next in the long road to justice?
Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and Jinggoy Estrada. They are but three among lawmakers recommended to be charged for plunder, after the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)…
Botched attempt
WHILE the standoff between Philippine military forces and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) continues in Zamboanga City, Vice President Jejomar Binay took his share of the spotlight, after his failed…
Kababayans’ comments on the impending US strike on Syria
“Our ideals and principles, as well as our national security, are at stake in Syria, along with our leadership of a world where we seek to ensure that the worst…
Do your homework
Starting October 1, open-access markets for subsidized coverage under Pres. Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul may change your health insurance — and not necessarily for the better. According to the Associated…
Lessons from 9/11
“WE will never forget.” These words are forever etched in the hearts and minds of people across the world, as we recall that fateful day when the World Trade twin…
Should the US trust the proposal of Russia and avert US strike in Syria?
After the Obama administration’s all-out push for a limited military strike against the Assad Regime for using chemical weapons to slaughter more than 1,400 of its own people to hold…
Deniability and Passing The Buck
It was during the presidency of Ronald Reagan that “deniability” became a buzz word in international media. The US Congress attempted to hold Reagan directly accountable for the Iran-Contra scandal,…
Fil-Ams react to the pork barrel scam: ‘Tuloy ang laban!’
“ENOUGH with politicians pocketing people’s taxes, while the rest of the country are suffering from the devastation of the floods,” Los Angeles- based Fil-Am community leader Art Garcia said in a…