Archive - Editor's Pick

By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS IT was almost midnight when Sen. Grace Poe made it to retired Col. Ariel Querubin’s birthday at the Clubhouse at Camp Aguinaldo last Monday. But she looked happy and energized. She told the remaining few guests that she came from the proclamation rally of former President Joseph Estrada, who is running

Ask average Filipinos what the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is, and most would give answers that vary from vague to downright wrong. They confuse ASEAN with “Asia,” even APEC or the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, and hardly know its significance. ASEAN is turning 50 next year, but experts interviewed for this video feature say

  By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS FORMER Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal, who is now consultant of the Nationalist People’s Coalition, said the Commission on Elections cannot postpone the May 9 elections as it is being floated now. He said there is only one option for Comelec: “To conduct automated elections on May 9, 2016.” Former Senator

  By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS IT’S as simple as that. Former Senator Richard Gordon who is running again for the Senate slammed officials of the Commission on Elections for painting a doomsday scenario if they were to comply with the Supreme Court decision to have the election machines on May 9 issue receipts of the

  BY LUCIA P. TANGI ONE day at sea, Filipina Marine Engineer Monique Arrojado found herself alone with the Danish captain of an international cargo vessel she was deployed to. “There is something in you. I really like you,” the captain bluntly told Arrojado, then 22 and a fourth engineer, in his office. Arrojado was

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL AS the five presidential candidates tried to outsmart each other in the first PiliPinas Debates held in Cagayan de Oro last month, one community watching it on television or online simply couldn’t relate: the Filipino Deaf. The Commission on Elections and GMA News Inc., its media partner for the historic debate,

By JAKE SORIANO FOR a time during the presidency of Benigno Simeon Aquino III, it seemed peace in Mindanao was finally within grasp. On Oct. 5, 2012, the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) signed the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro (FAB). A crucial guiding document in the peace

    By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS ​​IT was an obviously elated Grace Poe that came to the Liwasang Bonifacio to celebrate International Women’s Day organized by the militant women’s group, Gabriela, yesterday. She had just received word that the Supreme Court, voting 9-6, junked the disqualification decisions of the Commission on Elections on the issues

  By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS THE Chinese have not occupied Jackson Atoll (Philippine name is Quirino and Wufang Jiao in Chinese)  in the Spratlys, as erroneously reported in Philippines media. Not yet. But the Chinese were there last December as related by the spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Hong Lei in his regular press

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL AFTER months of debate, the Commission on Elections has finally resolved to activate the on-screen verification (OSV) feature of vote-counting machines (VCMs) for the May 9 elections. Voters will be allowed a maximum of 15 seconds to verify whether or not their choices are accurately read by the VCMs. If there

By LUIS T. CRUZ AT the beginning of this year, an important milestone began in Southeast Asia with the inauguration of the ASEAN Community. What does ASEAN Community mean to the lives of ordinary Filipinos aside from no longer getting a visa when going as tourists to other Asean countries namely Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia,

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL A former lawmaker is facing criticism for his insensitive remarks on the alleged special treatment given to persons with disabilities (PWDs) in verifying their votes through the voice prompt feature of vote counting machines (VCMs). Former Biliran representative Glenn Chong questioned the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for allowing people with visual