Focus Archives

Budget reforms up close

Mar 26, 2013 11:08 PM

By CHERRY JOY VENILES IN Florencio “Butch” Abad’s book, the national budget is a game—a game, he says, in which “political actors with conflicting demands and competing to get a larger pie of the nation’s scarce resources.” But years of experience as politician, lawmaker, academic and Cabinet secretary in three government administrations have also shown […]

budget, Butch Abad, zero-based budgeting

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Farmers score Angaras for ‘landgrabbing’ in Aurora

Nov 28, 2012 11:46 AM

By JONATHAN DE SANTOS
CLOSE to 3,000 families in Casiguran, Aurora stand to lose land that many of them have been tilling for half a century to make way for the extension of a Freeport zone that critics say does not benefit the community at all.

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Pinning their hopes on GPH –MILF pact

Nov 13, 2012 7:08 AM

By JOHNNA VILLAVIRAY GIOLAGON
BAGA-IR Panaggulan was on his boat that sunny day of Sept. 8, 2008, fishing in the Pulangi River in Bukidnon in Mindanao when he saw a boatload of soldiers armed for combat. Baga-ir, then 28, hurriedly paddled to shore. He asked his wife Zaida to pack their clothes and get ready to run.

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Wheelchair basketball in the doldrums

Nov 05, 2012 10:33 AM

THE UAAP men’s basketball games has ended while the NBA regular season finally opened on Oct. 30. In all these events, a group of basketball players watch on, cheering their favorite teams even as the itch to play grows. But competitions and chances for them to play are scarce, and not everyone knows about their existence. Compared to the more “popular” forms of basketball, wheelchair basketball in the Philippines is in a slump.

Abra PWDs, PWD Files

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PWDs able to deal with disaster

Oct 09, 2012 11:11 AM

By VERA Files

WHEN it comes to disaster preparedness, Filipinos can learn valuable lessons from a seemingly unlikely group: Persons with disabilities (PWDs) at the Tahanang Walang Hagdanan compound in Cainta, Rizal.

Disaster Preparedness, PWD, PWDs, Tahanang Walang Hagdanan

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The back channels: Trillanes, US and Pangilinan

Sep 21, 2012 12:24 AM

SEN. Antonio Trillanes IV acted as the Philippines’ backdoor negotiator with China from April to July this year, communicating with Chinese foreign affairs officials in a role, Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said, in which he won “minor successes.” But there were other back channels besides Trillanes.

Antonio Trillanes IV, Manuel V. Pangilinan, Panatag shoal, Panatag standoff

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Intra-ASEAN labor migration: It ain’t all bad

Sep 11, 2012 12:01 AM

NOT all stories of labor migration in Southeast Asia are bleak and foreboding. Many workers are only too happy to have found employment in the region’s more affluent states—with none of the struggles of their not-so-fortunate compatriots.

asean, labor migration, migrant workers

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ASEAN locks horns on migrant workers’ rights

Sep 11, 2012 12:00 AM

CONFLICTING interests of labor-sending countries like Indonesia and the Philippines and of labor-receiving countries like Malaysia and Thailand partly explain why it will likely take years for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to make the regional instrument to promote and protect the rights of labor migrants a reality.

asean, labor migration, migrant workers

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ASEAN urged to set up mechanism for migrant rights

Sep 10, 2012 8:44 AM

SHORTLY after arriving in Kuala Lumpur early this year to work as a domestic worker, Marissa Santos (not her real name) began complaining of severe stomach pains. Her Malaysian employer promptly returned Santos to her recruiter, also a Malaysian. But instead of getting her medical help, the recruiter subjected Santos to slave-like treatment at his spa.

asean, labor migration, migrant workers

Banner Focus The Corona Trial

Ateneo schoolmates now head two branches of govt

Aug 26, 2012 8:05 PM

By VERA Files

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino made history by appointing Lourdes Sereno as the country’s first female Chief Justice, but he also broke tradition by setting aside the seniority rule and naming to the highest judicial post one of the Court’s youngest associate justices, who also happens to be his college schoolmate.

Ateneo, sereno, supreme court