Archive - Commentary

Super Typhoon Pablo (international code name Bopha) hit Davao Oriental and Davao de Oro provinces on December 3, 2012. It was Category 5 and was the strongest tropical cyclone on record to ever hit Mindanao at 280 km/hr. It surpassed Severe Tropical Storm Sendong (Washi) that hit northern Mindanao a year earlier on December 16, 2011.

While browsing Facebook on Monday, I saw the Paliwan Bridge in Bugasong, Antique had collapsed. Its approaches were washed away so the bridge is now in the middle of a river- a scene that brings back childhood memories of my dangerous and arduous journey through raging rivers during the rainy season.

Atayde's proposal is just one of several measures needed to restore public trust in government. It is in keeping with the ideals of good governance in public service, ridding the bureaucracy of crooks.

Only someone with the credentials of Ruben Carranza can tell the story. Once a commissioner in charge of investigation and litigation at the Presidential Commission for Good Government, he was involved in the prosecution of cases against the family of the conjugal dictators Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos that led to the recovery of $680M in ill-gotten funds from various Swiss banks.

Malaking pagsubok ang pagpatay kay Percy Lapid sa sinseridad ng administrasyong Marcos na gawin ang tama laban sa kriminalidad. Makinig sa komentaryo ni Christian Esguerra ngayong linggo.

Carreon could have immediately quelled allegations and suspicions that Remulla had been given special treatment had he said outright that the Supreme Court had declared mandatory drug testing for drug suspects as unconstitutional.

"Hindi kasalanan ng ama ang kasalanan ng anak."For now, we will park that statement as a vacuous one, especially if it comes from Remulla political ally Bong Revilla. The moral theology of the sin-of-the-father-sin-of-the-son interface is the wrong application for the Remulla son’s riddle on his drug charges.

Hopefully, all other drug suspects will be treated in the same way the law enforcers handled the case of the Justice secretary's son, regardless of their economic status or high connections.

Pulse Asia’s recent survey on “fake news,” which showed that the majority of Filipinos are confident in their ability to tell whether a political news is true or not, indicates their naivety about the tangled web that is social media.

Maging oportunidad sana itong kalbaryo ng pamilyang Remulla para suriin ang problema ng droga sa bansa at magkaroon ng mas kumprehensibong solusyon.

For his last hurrah in office, Rodrigo Duterte had the privilege of spending a total of P4.5 billion in confidential and intelligence funds. How he spent that colossal amount will never be known.

We need decisive and concrete actions now to create more jobs, bring down food prices, and deliver other public services efficiently. Ordinary folks want to have parties, too!

Wishful thinking ba kung patigilin niya ang trolls sa pagkakalat ng kasinungalingan?

“Abuso sa kapangyarihan.” That line was a never-ending refrain, nay a motif even, of all his hard-hitting commentaries on radio and on his vlogs.

Padilla may be going through a serious identity crisis, from being known as the Philippine cinema’s bad boy to being the country’s No. 1 senator. He wants to earn the “honorable” title.

Taktika ba para tabunan ang matitinding issues?

Cruz-Angeles must be reminded that part of her job as press secretary is to clarify, not obfuscate, statements for the public to understand better communications involving the president and the government.

I witnessed it. Countless others heard it on radio. The date was February 23, 1986. Fidel V. Ramos and Juan Ponce Enrile held a press conference announcing their historic break from the ruthless regime of Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. For Enrile, the dictator’s martial law administrator, it was a tell-all. He confessed before the world that his so-called ambush on the eve of September 23, 1972 when Marcos publicly announced the imposition of martial law was faked.

"Move on!” ‘Yan lagi ang sinasabi ng pamilyang Marcos para sanggahin ang kritisismo sa kanilang bersyon na maganda at masagana ang buhay noong panahon ng Martial Law sa ilalim ni Ferdinand Marcos Sr. Hindi sila umaamin sa mga pang-aabuso; hindi rin sila humihingi ng tawad. Ganun na lang ba ‘yun?

Sen. Imee Marcos described the Palace parties as "simple," probably compared with those they had during the time of her father.

Stoically she defended the proposed 2023 budget of her office at the hearing of the House Committee on Appropriations as though there was no ongoing public furor over her fondness for confidential funds. It was typical brash and nonchalant Sara Duterte.

Public service ba talaga o power?

With news of the recent demise of Queen Elizabeth II flooding all social media apps, stories of Imelda’s love for royalty have resurfaced. If she were still first lady today, she would have booked a chartered Philippine Airlines flight to London pronto and she could gain entry to the funeral mass on September 19 at Westminster Abbey where government leaders and crowned heads of Europe, Africa and Asia are expected to be present.

Sa gitna ng nagtataasang presyo ng mga bilihin, tama bang sisihin ang mga bumoto kay Bongbong Marcos?