Archive - Focus

By MICHAEL A. BENGWAYAN
THEY came at the first light of day.
Walking through the unsuspecting mossy forests, they passed by the life-size images of Jesus and Roman Centurions depicting the Christianity's Station of the Cross just below the two gigantic government television antennas and half a dozen more communications transmitters.

THE U.S. Court of Appeals has found probable cause for former Police Officer Michael Ray Aquino to be extradited to the Philippines to stand trial for the Dacer-Corbito double-murder case. “Upon review of the record, we conclude that competent evidence supports the probable cause finding in this case,” according to a May 3 certified true copy of the court’s judgment affirming the ruling handed down by the District Court for New Jersey last Oct. 14.

By GREGORY PAUL H. YAN
INSIDE a dank, dimly lit corner shop within the sprawling Cartimar pet complex in Pasay City, a representative of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) gazed at a large and brightly lit aquarium where the shop’s most expensive fish are displayed for sale.

By AMER R. AMOR
AFTER the earthquakes that hit Japan and New Zealand, volcanologists are drawing attention to the possibility a big one could hit Baguio, but the city lacks a comprehensive disaster management program and has in fact repeatedly failed to enforce environment rules that could mitigate disaster.

By ED SITJAR
JEANNE sat with her 2-month-old baby at a fastfood restaurant in a mall in Caloocan City, looking like a regular customer. In reality, she was there to make a sale, and waiting for a client to pick up the merchandise.

By ROLAND G. SIMBULAN
AS I write this, I reflect on an unforgettable country that I have traveled to in the mid-1980s—Libya —which is hogging the world headlines today. Libya is in the midst of a bloody civil war, or more accurately, at the center of a people’s uprising against its leader, Moamar Gadhafi, who has ruled Libya for almost 42 years.

By IBARRA C. MATEO
HIV infections in the Philippines are “increasing at an alarming rate” especially among adolescents and this has been attributed to their increasing use of social media, according to the latest report of the Department of Health (DOH).

By TESSA JAMANDRE
CONDOLENCES have been sent to the families of victims of the New Zealand earthquake, but the mother of a missing nurse says she believes her daughter is still fighting for her life beneath the rubble and is begging authorities not to stop the rescue.

By YVONNE T. CHUA
PARTLY owing to the armed conflict in Mindanao, the Philippines counts among the countries that are not on track to achieve education for all (EFA) by 2015, according to Unesco’s latest monitoring report.

By KHRYSTA IMPERIAL RARA
AS Filipinos celebrate today the 25th anniversary of the toppling of a 14-year-old military regime, hundreds of thousands of Arabs continue their street protests against over-staying dictators and monarchies in the Middle East and North Africa.

By LUZ RIMBAN
THE NATION is celebrating the landmark EDSA People Power Revolution, but Philippine history might have run a different course had deposed president Ferdinand Marcos only addressed the question of succession early enough.

By ARIEL SEBELLINO
FOR four days in February 25 years ago, Filipinos enthralled freedom-loving people all over the world when they stalled military tanks with nothing but rosaries and roses and the determination to win back the freedom taken from them by a strongman who ruled the country for more than 20 years.