Archive - Commentary

What do we do with the dark chapters in our history? We ingrain them in our collective consciousness by learning from them so that we can repudiate their revival.

Mere mention of the word "maharlika" already sends shivers down the spine of many, particularly those who keep unforgettable memories of the abuses of martial law and the administration of the dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr.

Ilan pa kaya ang dinoktor din ang cause of death sa libu-libong kaso ng pagpatay kaugnay sa drug war ni Duterte?

For the majority of us who are neither into actuarial science nor economics, we can learn from the many countries that have invested on a sovereign wealth fund. By doing so, it is possible to come up with an informed judgment on the proposed Maharlika Wealth Fund of the Marcos-Romualdez representatives in Congress.

It needs strong political will from both the local and national leadership to first protect its people from natural and man-made disasters. The people should be spared from a bigger disaster, that is, politics.

Even as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. adopted a different strategy from the Duterte administration’s brutal war against illegal drugs, the killings continue on the high side, data gathered through the Dahas Project of the University of the Philippines Third World Studies Center showed

One more time, You rewind another life, Gone at fifty, With just his poems, For his only son to peruse, As last mementoes

His death was an extrajudicial killing committed by the elitist cabal of Emilio Aguinaldo. Why have we left it unpunished? We have made Andres Bonifacio a victim of state impunity until today.

*This article was first published in TATAK KULÊ, Philippine Collegian Alumni Homecoming Souvenir Program, October 7, 2011. Kerima Lorena Tariman served as managing editor of the University of the Philippines student paper Philippine Collegian during AY 1999—2000. A poet and revolutionary, she was slain in an encounter between the New People’s Army and the 79th Infantry Battalion in Silay, Negros Occidental on August 20, 2021. Ericson Acosta, who served as consultant for the National Democratic Front of the Philippines was killed by elements of the 94th and 47th Infantry Battalion after being reportedly abducted in Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental on November 30.

Sabi ng Marcos administration: “Buhay ay Ingatan, Droga ay Ayawan." Pero dapat pa ring managot kung sino man ang responsable sa pagpatay ng libu-libong biktima ng madugong drug war. 

Sana noon pa ganito ang pag-iisip ni Sen. Bato. Hindi sana namatay 'yung libo-libong  "nanlaban" kuno.

Importanteng himayin natin ang pondo dahil pera natin ito. Dapat siguraduhin natin na hindi ito maaksaya. 

Where does the Marcos administration's policy to "exercise prudent macroeconomic and fiscal management in prioritizing expenditures" apply?

“It is a pity that only the introduction to this book is signed by Carlos Romulo.” So began the anti-Marcos fighter Raul Manglapus in his 1975 review of the book authored by Beth Day Romulo, “The Philippines: Shattered Showcase of Democracy in Asia.”

Does Zubiri need to witness the killings and hear the gunshots to believe the PNP report on 28 deaths in the first 100 days of the Marcos administration?

“I appeal to the media: help us beautify the image of the Philippines.” And the Senate president is every inch correct that the image of the country before the world is bleak.

Maayos na trabaho, hindi PR, ang magpapaganda ng imahe ng Pilipinas. Pakinggan ang komentaryo ni Christian Esguerra ngayong linggo.

When former president Rodrigo Duterte buckled under China’s bullying and reimposed a 2014 moratorium on drilling in the Reed Bank, off the coast of Palawan, in April, he and his advisers most likely did not realize that it would cost the government at least $13.78 million (about P800 million with today’s exchange rate) in unnecessary spending.

Where have all the music critics gone?

Critical thinking, hindi bagong batas, ang solusyon sa problema ng “fake news.” Sinu-sino nga ba ang mga pasimuno sa pagkakalat ng “fake news”? Alamin sa komentaryo ni Christian Esguerra ngayong linggo.

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.