Archive - Commentary

At the “Democracy and Disinformation” conference at the University of the Philippines Baguio, this curiosity-seeker came away with her “old-fashioned” views reinforced on the vital role of fact-checking in combating the spread of fake news in print and broadcast media, and more so in social media.

Just when we thought he was looking better with the dark blotches on his face gone (courtesy of Honeylet’s facial cream?), the President’s health condition once again returned to the front page when he didn’t show up in the Barangay Summit on Peace and Order in Palo, Leyte on Friday, the first day of February.

Last week, The House of Representatives adopted a Resolution that would make it extremely difficult to get a copy of the members’ Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth.

President Rodrigo Duterte’s vituperation against the Roman Catholic Church is unprecedented in recent Philippine political history. Not even the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos’s record matches it.Yet, in a predominantly Catholic country, his outrageous display of irreligiosity appears to perturb only a few.

Many of us have resigned to our fate of having Duterte as president until June 30, 2022. We will survive, we tell ourselves. But not many of our children.

Take note at how Gloria Arroyo, speaker of the House of Representatives, maneuvered on the controversial bill lowering the minimum age of criminal liability from age 15 which is in the existing law to originally, nine years old and finally 12.

Across Ben Thanh market in Ho Chi Minh city, at a street corner, a little boy about seven or eight years old was lying on a spread out carton box material reading a comic book. With him was an old woman slicing mushrooms. At the feet of the boy was a dog dressed in red.

Would ASEAN-10 survive at all with such a huge development gap, not to mention vast differences in political cultures among its member states in development and vast differences in political cultures?

Observing the simmering conflict between Finance Secretary Carlos “Sonny” Dominguez III and House Speaker Gloria M. Arroyo, I recall an article in the Sept. 15, 2001 issue of the Philippine Star that featured the narration of Justin R. Phillips, general manager of The Linden Suites located at San Miguel Avenue of the dramatic three days of January 2001 when the self-proclaimed members of the “civil society” succeeded in cutting short the presidency of Joseph Estrada and installed in Malacañang the vice president.

There are two things that unite Filipinos: a Manny Pacquiao fight and Miss Universe. The latest Catriona Gray victory is the proof. Getting the crown since Pia Wurtzbach in 2015 had become the national obsession, more than getting back the Balangiga bells.

While the sangkabekihan is now Cat-crazy, let me be the first to suggest that beauty contests, whether male or female, should be elevated to a sporting event.

Former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay, who is running for senator in the May 2019 elections, showed his keen observation of the desperation of President Duterte about things getting out of control and his resorting to a “policy of distraction.”

The one thing that spooks President Duterte fiercely is the case of crime against humanity brought against him before the International Criminal Court in The Hague which gave him the dubious distinction of being the first Southeast Asian leader to be charged before the ICC.

Enjoying a vibrant sharing in social media are video statements of artists urging the public to vote in the May 2019 elections. Some go one step further and specify “Vote Straight Opposition in May 2019.”

At last Friday’s remembrance of the Maguindanao massacre at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani, the feeling was a mixture of frustration and hope.

I love it that Foreign Secretary Teddy Locsin, Jr slammed Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo for saying Malacanang doesn't really mind signing an agreement on gas and oil exploration in the disputed waters of the South China Sea drafted by China.

Police Chief Oscar Albayalde’s tantrums over the blockbuster teleserye “Ang Probinsyano” is alarming coming on the heels of Pres. Duterte’s renewed attack on ABS-CBN, threatening non-renewal of its franchise which is due to expire on March 30, 2020.

We will be watching out for the details of the agreement on the joint exploration in the Spratlys that is expected to be signed in the presence of President Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping when the latter comes to Manila on Nov. 20 and 21. If there would be any agreement on joint exploration at all.

It’s doubtful that the fabulous Imelda Marcos would ever set foot in jail after the conviction by the Sandiganbayan on seven counts of graft with a prison sentence totaling 77 years (six years and 1 month to 11 years for each case).

As Manila prepares for the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping two weeks from now, Beijing steps up its control of the Spratlys islands in South China Sea, the latest of which is the announcement that they have started the operation of a marine observation center in the artificial islands that they have built in areas that the Philippines and four other countries claim.

It looks like another naive, impulsive move, but turning over the Bureau of Customs to the military is possibly the most dangerous move Duterte has hatched.

There is something very wrong about the statement of AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Carlito Galvez praising the President for agreeing to the rule of law.

It took only a single act by one man to restore the fading faith of democracy –loving Filipinos in the country’s justice system.

It takes courage not to toe the President’s line.

To many families, politics is a family business. And they prefer it to be a monopoly.

Christopher Lawrence Go, popularly known as Bong Go, special assistant to President Duterte until last Monday, made a mark in the country’s electoral history by filing his certificate of candidacy for senator the 2019 midterm elections accompanied no less by the highest official of the land.

Things will never be the same between China and President Duterte after the latter’s unprovoked comment about businessman Michael Yang and Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua at the dinner with officers and members Philippine Military Academy Alumni Association, Inc. last Oct. 4 in Malacañang.

The shaming of Party List ( ACTS OFW) Rep. Aniceto Bertiz, III (which he fully deserves) quickly caught on because of the closed-circuit television video which was circulated in Social Media.

This time, President Duterte is telling the truth: he has killed people without the victim or victims going through due process.

Former Scout Ranger Abe Purugganan, co-founder of the Young Officers Union, a group of rebel military officers in the late 80s, who is now a diehard Duterte supporter posted in his Facebook wall his assessment of the national situation.