Archive - Focus

By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES
AT the start of the year of the rabbit, Abrenians are in no way celebrating and are instead grieving for their own Rabbit -- the slain broadcast journalist Cirilo Gallardo. Gallardo’s DJ name was Gio Rabbit, but friends called him Tootz Cyril.

BY ELLEN TORDESILLAS
FORMER state auditor Heidi Mendoza said she went to the hearing of the House of Representative committee on justice with only one purpose: to tell the truth of what she knows about the misuse of military funds when Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia was comptroller

By YVONNE T. CHUA and ELLEN TORDESILLAS
A FORMER state auditor who testified against ex-military comptroller Carlos Garcia disclosed over the weekend a “request” from a government office for her to tell the public the evidence in the plunder case against the retired major general is weak.
But the request, made about a week after the Sandiganbayan on Dec. 16 allowed Garcia to post bail on the basis of his plea bargain agreement with special prosecutors, has only strengthened Heidi Mendoza’s resolve to reveal what she says is “the truth behind the Garcia case.”

By TESSA JAMANDRE
WHILE many blame climate change as the cause of strange weather conditions that are adversely affecting agriculture, the Hanunuo Mangyans in Occidental Mindoro attribute it to the desecration of their burial grounds by Japanese looking for skeletal remains of countrymen who perished during World War II.

By MYLAH REYES-ROQUE
ISABELITA C. Vinuya, 79; Pilar Q. Galang, 80; Maxima R. Dela Cruz, 82; Leonor H. Sumawang,79; and Maria L. Quilantang 80, are five women who belong to the group “Malaya Lolas.” They traveled from Mapaniqui in Candaba, Pampanga to Manila on Dec. 14 to pursue their fight for justice.

By MARK JOSEPH UBALDE
FORMER President Corazon Aquino was named by Time magazine as one of the “25 Most Powerful Women of the Past Century,” joining the ranks of civil rights activist Rosa Parks, Nobel laureate Mother Theresa, and even music icon Madonna, among others.

IF you gather all the Philippine coins circulating in the market today, their combined weight would be equivalent to 24,183 jeepneys, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Philippine coins in circulation run into billions --- 15.74 billion pieces to be exact. BSP says the huge quantity of coins is such that there are 193 coins for every Filipino. That is the ratio of coins to the present population of 92.2 million, excluding the 11 million overseas Filipinos.

By BOOMA CRUZ
THE smile vanishes as soon as she hears a deafening roar across the Abuan River in Isabela province. “I hate that sound,” former Isabela governor Grace Padaca says. “They’re really back.” “They” are hatcheros or chainsaw operators who are indeed back in business, cutting age-old trees at the northern Sierra Madre.

By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES
WHILE thousands of barangays all over the country still await the final results of the October 25 polls, eight of 10 barangays in Tubo town in Abra already knew their new set of officials about a month before election day.

A CANADIAN diplomat said a Freedom of Information Law will make public servants more accountable and will be a tool against graft and corruption.

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III has disregarded the recommendations of the Incident Investigation and Review Committee to charge administratively Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Rico E. Puno and recently retired Philippine National Police chief Jesus Verzosa.

By CHIT ESTELLA
MANY Filipinos might have been pleased with President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III’s performance in the first 100 days of his term—but not his former professor at the Ateneo de Manila University.

By KIM ARVEEN M. PATRIA
AT first, politicians attend to needs. After some time, the needs turn to wants and desires. Soon the desire becomes greed. Then, to satisfy greed, they push the country to the brink of poverty.

WHAT has the country got to do with the highly publicized marital case of television host and presidential sister Kris Aquino and basketball star James Yap? None, many might be quick to say. But for Kris, the speedy resolution of her petition to nullify her marriage to James will not only benefit her but the

By MELVIN PURZUELO
ILOILO CITY. -- The Department of Environment and Natural Resources on Tuesday stopped the test-firing of the newly constructed coal-fired power plant in Barangay Ingore, La Paz district due to complaints by residents of the barangay and other nearby communities about the foul odor and the noise coming from the plant.

ONLY Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim has been recommended for criminal sanction by the committee that investigated the August 23 hostage; the rest of the government officials were recommended  for administrative sanctions. At the same time, the recommendations opened the possibility of heavier sanctions for officials involved with the  “recommendation  that a preliminary investigation be conducted

ON 20 September 2010, the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines has been given by the Philippine IIRC the First Report of the IIRC on the 23 August 2010 Rizal Park Hostage-taking Incident: Sequence of Events, Evaluation and Recommendations. Since it is a long report, the Chinese side does need time for a careful study. The

THE Incident Investigation  and Review Committee on the August 23 hostage-taking identified eight critical incidents that turned the  crisis into a tragedy, the report made available to the public today showed. They are: 1.The Crisis Management Committee was not activated in accordance with the Manual on the activation of a Crisis Management Committee (CMC).  Mayor

By KHRYSTA IMPERIAL RARA EVERY day at 6:30 a.m., Pacman goes to his training area for a 30-minute run. Egged on by his trainer, he goes through his morning routine with the focus and determination of a top-seeded athlete. But this Pacman doesn’t spar with his coach. This Pacman chases his trainer around instead. Pacman the

By ELLEN TORDESILLAS MALACANANG has antedated the appointment papers of Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo to cure the original that the Commission on Appointments found defective. Romulo, a holdover from the Arroyo administration, took his oath and had been functioning as foreign secretary in the first 40 days of the Aquino administration without an appointment, documents showed. Romulo

By TESSA JAMANDRE A MILITARY court will decide today on the plea—twice denied under the government of former President Gloria Arroyo—to exonerate 16 military officers facing mutiny charges for a supposed plot against her in 2006. This is the first time that the court martial proceedings will resume under the new commander-in-chief, Benigno Aquino III. After

PRESIDENT Aquino  is giving himself and Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo two more months to  work on the compatibility of their working style. In an ambush interview, Aquino confirmed  a report by VERA Files Monday that the reason Robredo’s appointment is in acting capacity was due to differences which date back to the election campaign. “There

SUPPORTERS of Interior Secretary Jesse M. Robredo are rallying behind him, saying it is “unjust” for him to be blamed for the Aug. 23 hostage debacle when he has no jurisdiction over the Philippine National Police. This developed as Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda confirmed a VERA Files report that the appointments of Robredo, together with

By ELLEN TORDESILLAS, LUZ RIMBAN, YVONNE CHUA and AVIGAIL OLARTE WHEN Malacañang submits to Congress for confirmation its list of Cabinet appointees, Interior and Local Governments Secretary Jesse Robredo, who is under fire for supposedly mishandling the Aug. 23 hostage-taking crisis at the Quirino Grandstand, won’t be on it. A list of appointments made by