At Issue

At Issue

At Issue

At issue

At Issue

At Issue

At Issue

A whole range of bilateral alliances between the Philippines and China barely made the front pages and prime time news late last week but their significance, surely, will linger for a long time.

It must have been total disenchantment, not just deflection or any impediment or obstacles, that has prompted the sudden renunciation of Senator Francis Escudero’s membership in the Nationalist People’s Coalition.

There has been no straightforward expectation on the reported prospect of Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia as the running mate of Lakas Kampi-CMD’s presidential standard bearer Gilberto Teodoro Jr. but surely, it has created a certain mood of optimism.

There are, of course, exceptions but generally it is true that only the educated are free. Still, it is conceded that the only thing more expensive than education is ignorance, as if you didn’t know.

With the current developments at every level on issues confronting the problems of the poor, it was timely that former President Joseph Estrada should make the expected announcement of his candidacy for the 2010 presidential elections.

The estimated 10-year period within which to relocate Metro Manila's informal settlers may be a long time schedule to solve such endemic social problem.

The new warning of yet another super typhoon issued by the PAGASA is just too much, and defenselessly exhausting, after experiencing “Ondoy” and “Pepeng.”

Former Speaker Jose de Venecia, after describing Defense Secretary Gilberto A. Teodoro, Jr. as “highly qualified” for the presidency, has said he has not decided yet whether to support former Senate President Manuel Villar, Jr. of the Nacionalista Party or Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino of the Liberal Party for next year’s presidential polls.

It's true – and it goes without saying – that the rebuilding of those ravaged and devastated by tropical storm “Ondoy” and typhoon “Pepeng” would extend far beyond the Arroyo administration and into the succeeding administration.

Whatever their partisans may say, the desertion of key Liberal Party leaders in the House of Representatives and their new alliance with the administration Lakas-Kampi-CMD was a bad preview of the things to come to the Noynoy-Mar candidacies.

The initial ANC forum, “Face to Face: 100 Local Government Champions versus Four Presidential Contenders,” was a good start in exposing to public view and understanding what’s in the minds of those seeking the people’s mandate to govern the country in the next six years of a new administration.

It is October – just the second “ber month” so-called, before December – and already they are talking of a wet Christmas with predictions millions of people could be celebrating the holiday season with their houses submerged in mud and floodwaters.

There should be no equivocation about it: The government was not prepared to meet the challenge of nature as it unleashed tropical storm “Ondoy.”

Years after the restoration of the Senate under the 1987 Constitution, a move to house it in its more or less proper place, is again being considered in hopes it would recapture its old glory.

Years after the restoration of the Senate under the 1987 Constitution, a move to house it in its more or less proper place, is again being considered in hopes it would recapture its old glory.

It seems unthinkable – or almost – that while those seriously affected by “Ondoy’s” fury were trying to shake off its ugly and flashpoint jolts, a warning was being issued on an approaching low pressure area that could develop into another typhoon within the week.

Tropical storm “Ondoy,” after mercilessly lashing out the major parts of Luzon, including Metro Manila last Saturday continues to be the subject of widespread tragedy and stress related by the victims themselves.

Below the line.

Malacañang’s immediate response dismissing as irrelevant calls by its less enlightened leaders for a loyalty check of Lakas-Kampi-CMD members and officials, including members of the Arroyo Cabinet, was a forthright decision that should serve as warning to overzealous partisans.

I was looking at the front page photo of Mar Roxas and Noynoy Aquino the other day with their hands raised with the Laban sign above the caption, “Liberal Party standard bearers” – and I was somewhat lost in thought, and off-course.

The official start of the political campaign for the 2010 elections is well far ahead, but already the atmosphere reeks of partisan brickbats and damaging insinuations.

Since the announcement of his decision to stand as candidate for president in the 2010 polls, Noynoy Aquino seems to be acquiring a public image that characterizes the optimism of a youthful politician earnest in his quest for his just cause.

It's the 199th Anniversary of the independence of Mexico: It was on this day on September 16, 1810 when Mexicans revolted against Spain after 300 years of Spanish rule as part of the viceroyalty of New Spain.

If there’s anything unpredictable these days, certainly it is not the weather: It’s the current political environment.

It may not really be the ultimate study in political development, still the slow but consistent trend in the rise of Gilberto ‘Guibo’ Teodoro as a potential standard bearer of the administration’s Lakas-Kampi-CMD is attracting widespread speculations.

A lot of laudable deeds have been attributed to the national hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal as a novelist, artist, poet, lover, martyr – you name it – and made them great.

I believe without question that Mar Roxas’ decision to quit and thus abort his presidential ambition even before the race could start to give way to Noynoy Aquino was the biggest sacrifice he has ever made in his life.

Malacanang's moderate reaction to Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno’s launching of his Moral Force Movement the other day underlines the vacillating relationships between the two branches of government.

There is no more equivocation, no indecisive preconditions: Former President Joseph Estrada has already started the process of political mobilization for his 2010 campaign.

Must they wait until they are publicly told that what they are doing is contrary to official decency in governmental affairs?

Making sense of what goes on in today’s political development is at times getting incomprehensible.

It seems predictable in the light of circumstances that public expectations should focus on Senator Manuel A. Roxas II and Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III for possibilities of their team-up in the coming 2010 presidential elections.

Surprised and saddened was how administration officials described their reactions to the sudden
declaration of former President Fidel V. Ramos declining the position of chairman emeritus of the merged Lakas-Kampi-CMD as proposed by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Philippine presidential elections have been for so long top-down affairs where traditional politicians with plenty of money proclaim themselves and then ask ordinary citizens to vote for them.

It came late – too late, in fact – but just the same Speaker Prospero Nograles’ recent defense of President Gloria Arroyo against the sneer and hissing of her detractors was a needed response from the House leadership.

Speculations are mounting that with the resignation of Ralph Recto as secretary general of the National Economic and Development Authority more members of the Arroyo Cabinet would follow suit purportedly to prepare for next years’s elections.

I thought I had seen enough when in close succession I saw photos in the front pages last week showing the Marcos children commiserating with the Aquino siblings over the demise of their mother, Cory Aquino.

From all indications, two of the country’s main political parties – and the oldest of the lot – are all geared up for the 2010 presidential elections.

That was a gallant, stately gesture that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo accorded on the late Cory Aquino’s family immediately upon her arrival before dawn the other day from a long trip abroad.

The science of government and the deeper understanding of public service are inflexibly linked with principles and ideals and made more meaningful by sentiments and affection.

Reports from Washington, D.C. described President Gloria Arroyo as “in high spirits” as US President Barack Obama welcomed her to the White House during her working visit late last week.

It happens all the time – almost.

Reactions to the SoNA are mostly partisan – mostly, but not quite. What is immediately evident is that opposition leaders seem to have suddenly become defensive.

Golf enthusiasts-cum-donors to a worthy cause will be glad to know that the Second Rafael M. Salas Cup will be held on August 7, which coincides with the late Mr. Salas’ birthday.

In a rare instance of common assent, two of the country’s ruling political leaders rose in unison the other day to pay tribute to what they described as respectable achievements of President Gloria Arroyo in the management of governmental affairs.

The barrage of news announcing the oath-taking of Gilbert ‘Gibo’ Teodoro as full-fledge member of the administration Lakas-Kampi-CMD provides fresh indications a wide consensus among party officials and members has been growing to proclaim him the party’s standard bearer in next year’s presidential
elections.

They are the children – the poor people’s riches, as well as the rich people’s treasures. Who are they?

Image, certainly, is not everything in the acceptance or rejection of anything, but it is earnestly important for public consumption for whatever it is worth.

The collaboration between the Supreme Court and the Department of Education on the propagation of the rule of law among the country’s youth is at once a welcome initiative in the development of responsible citizenry.

The days of the inept and corrupt politicians in our midst may be marked and numbered and what may emerge after they are discarded at the polls in next year’s elections are a new breed of leaders with candor and decisiveness and a wider view of the national scene that will guide their judgment.

The dismantling of political dynasties, long the bane of the country’s political environment, may yet happen at last if their members find the wisdom to join the renewed clamor for the passage of the anti-dynasty bills now pending in the House.

How divided really is the opposition?

Families flourish with time – and with a senator at that?

The news that is getting much public concern these days is the possibility of going back to manual voting after hopes have been generated by the much-vaunted computerized balloting in next year’s presidential elections.

Commission on Elections Chairman Jose A. R. Melo has chided Senator Francis Escudero for the senator’s morbid fear of a possible computer malfunction during the 2010 elections.

'Gibo' has acquired the advantage he needs to be proclaimed Lakas-Kampi-CMD standard bearer for the 2010 presidential polls.

Education should be more widely accessible to children irrespective of their parents’ financial resources – but more particularly to the children of the poor.

Music must be the international language because everybody, regardless of nationality or cultural background, responds to its rhythms, to its pitch and range.

Controversies spawned by the persistent issue of Charter change may yet bring us to the brink of national chaos if the various sectors of society proceed with their rallies tomorrow.

Could it be that the House leadership is listening to a different drummer?

Don't take it hook, line, and sinker.

It was, no doubt, timely, and a moderating influence that Malacañang expressed confidence the full automation of the 2010 national and local elections would push through as scheduled.

Education should be more widely accessible to children irrespective of their parents’ financial resources – but more particularly to the children of the poor.

Surely, the unanimous approval by the House Appropriation Committee of the joint resolution seeking to raise the salaries of government employees effective middle of this year has lifted the waning dynamism of the millions of state workers.

Dissent in much of political history is a role played by the opposition and in our case, as it is practiced today, it is a continuing drama of acrimony and denunciations.

A morning daily on Sunday featured in a four-column spread the forthcoming marriage of Senator Manuel A. Roxas to long-time girl friend Korina Sanchez, the very popular broadcast journalist.

Politicians who are eyeing next year’s elections seem to be seeking a perfect time, probably a prolonged moment that will provide them the needed public exposure that they could build up to the crucial 2010 presidential polls.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo, voicing the government call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest in Myanmar, joins the international clamor for the Nobel peace laureate’s freedom led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

They call it delaying tactic but opponents of the Reproductive Health Bill in the House said they were just unprepared for the deliberation of the controversial measure the other day.

Regardless of what they say, the sudden resignations by the heads of two of the country’s dominant political parties indicated nothing less than a failure of leadership.

After 40 years of having been in the service of the country, mention of Radio Veritas today still conjures of a restrictive communication facility through which official statements of the Catholic church are issued.

The apprehensive reactions by concerned world leaders to North Korea’s rocket launching late Saturday night last week must have been spurred by what has been interpreted as blatant intimidation by the reclusive communist country against its declared enemies.

The ruling Lakas Christian Democrats, obviously keen in demonstrating its dominance in the multi-party coalition, has set under restrictions the number of its presidential nominees for the 2010 elections.

Despite the intense and outspoken antagonism exhibited by individuals and various groups against Charter change, its proponents in the House of Representatives appear determined to pursue it with might and main, so to speak – and, well, with an added new tact.

What's happening in President Gloria Arroyo’s Cabinet?

It seems unclear that despite the glowing publicity heaped on Philippine tourism all these years, it has been reported that lately the country got a lowly 81st spot among the tourist destinations in the world.

The report was that world landmarks from the Mall of Asia to the Great Pyramids of Egypt to Eiffel Tower and the Empire State Building went dark for Earth Hour.

In the House particularly, the intrigues are all over sowing confusions among its members and irritations and disgust to the already weary public.

It seems things are getting uglier everywhere, every time, and they appear particularly perceptible in politics and in various baselines of governance.

The Quezon City government, taking a definitive stand on the controversial family planning issue which the Catholic hierarchy condemns as anti-life among other bone of contentions, has launched what it calls “MP4” program.

Speculations that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is maneuvering to keep herself in power beyond 2010 persist amid Malacañang’s patent ambiguity in its denials.

IT may be unintentional but it appears quirky – if you may call it that – that a well-known Catholic bishop would condemn corruption in the high places of government while Malacañang was in the midst of spearheading a moral regeneration campaign in all areas of public service.

It may be unintentional but it appears quirky – if you may call it that – that a well-known Catholic bishop would condemn corruption in the high places of government while Malacañang was in the midst of spearheading a moral regeneration campaign in all areas of public service.

There was something decidedly unfortunate about the commotion evolving from the word of caution aired by some senators over certain provisions of the Visiting Forces Agreement between the Philippines and the United States.

THE response it stirred may be mild but just the same the attention it spawned was encouraging despite the absence of fanfare and the characteristic eagerness when it was made public.

ON Saturday, March 28, when the Philippines joins the world in the observance of Earth Hour for the second time, it is hoped there would be more awareness among the people of the environment that we have often taken for granted in our everyday life.

WE have written once or twice in this space about how the Metro Manila Development Authority demonstrated its unwavering determination to clear the megalopolis of sidewalk vendors and their makeshifts with their cheap articles of commerce and trade.

MISGIVINGS over the long-delayed plan to automate Philippine elections have been aired and heard, repeatedly, and it is assumed that eventually after those seemingly endless debates and misapprehensions, it may yet become a reality.

THAT was decidedly an unprovoked challenge when Senator Manuel Villar raised the issue of financing a presidential campaign.

A "PACK of wolves" is the apt description, and the crimes of plunder and other criminal acts the proper charges, against those involved in the infamous P728 million fertilizer fund scam.

SOME 86 percent of Manila residents favor the passage of the Reproductive Health bill now fending in Congress.

THAT was a sharp retort from a member of the House expressing abhorrence over calls for civility and common courtesy from the Senate leadership.

THE seriousness with which the government drive against the drug menace is being pursued took a new turn when President Gloria Arroyo the other day decided to take a direct hand on matters of dismissal of drug-related cases being handled by the Department of Justice.

THE appeal for concern for the world’s poor aired at the just-concluded World Economic Forum at the mountain resort of Davos, Switzerland continues to resonate with such urgency as to touch peoples and governments everywhere to contribute to the alleviation of poverty wherever it may be found.

MALACAÑANG’s announced willingness to cooperate in the Senate investigation of alleged cartel practices in the bidding of multi-billion peso World Bank-funded Philippine projects brings new focus to the much-talked about venalities in the high places of government.

EVERYBODY knows, of course, Richard Nixon’s famous insistence that "I am not a crook," in connection with the infamous Watergate investigation during his presidency.

THE media these days have been awash – as if you didn’t know – with accounts of all kinds of investigations raging from multi-million peso scam to hidden motives behind extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, to allegations of bribery, to lifestyle checks, to rampant technical smuggling: The bringing of charges continues…

HUNDREDS of migrants forced into boats without engines and left to die at sea?

AFTER the devastation wrought by the American invasion of Iraq the government is now disposed to launch a massive reconstruction program, and is looking at the Philippines as an important participant in the undertaking.

IT has been observed, and often enough, that those who enjoy power and privilege, either in government or in private position, find it casual and easy to abuse their primacy over the helpless and those without resource.

SUPREME Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno, brushing off the increasing support to exhortations that he run for president in the next national elections, has categorically disowned any interest in it, saying the judiciary should be insulated from politics.

THE current talk in Quezon City today is the proposed creation of additional congressional districts to hasten its further development.

LEADERSHIP, surely, is about great vision but it is also about adherents and followers willingly and assiduously giving their best to achieve such ambition.

IN full force.

RELIANCE on foreign sources to fund national development programs has been boon to most depressed countries around the world.

IT was probably a pitiable excuse when Senator Manuel A. Roxas said he was expressing the people’s sentiments when he started cursing at the recent anti-Charter change rally in Makati.

FORMER President Fidel V. Ramos, lamenting the relentless attempts by the Catholic Church to label modern family planning methods as means intended to induce abortion, has warned of the government’s chaotic approach to family planning, saying the Philippines is now the 12th most populous country in the world.

THE readiness with which Malacañang claimed credit for the positive results that a recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed, palpably demonstrates the scantiness of good news that the administration can cozily identify with.

THE reorganization of the Arroyo government with the changes in the composition of the President’s Cabinet is again a favorite topic in public conversations, quoting Malacañang sources.

TOMORROW, when Manny Pacquiao climbs up the ring at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas to meet with the towering boxing icon Oscar De La Hoya, what the world will see is the courage of the Filipino to pursue his dream, however dangerously.

WHAT’S the House leadership up to?

AFTER what have been said and what they are saying about the desirability and infirmity of the Reproductive Health Bill now being debated in the House of Representatives, its prospects of acceptance for congressional concurrence appear auspicious, if not fated.

EVENTUALLY, it seems the Commission on Elections is acquiring an unfolding talent for national fulfillment through clean and honest elections.

IT is understandable as is often the case that the Church extends its influence over the state, despite their separation as mandated by the Constitution to be inviolable.

Speaker Prospero Nograles, exhorting anew Lakas-CMD party leaders, has taken a strong line for widespread consultations with their members in the local and grassroots levels to determine who should be the party’s standard bearer in the 2010 presidential elections.

There were incoherence and obvious laxity in the jumble of measures that the House and the Senate are said to be focusing on during the current regular session of Congress.

Maybe it is lack of perspective that makes possible the inexplicable development that hounds the Association of Southeast Asian Nations; but it could be self-interest.

The continued disarray and clash of opposing views that pervade the public grumbling over the rise of oil cost are understandable, despite yesterday’s rollback of the price of diesel fuel.

It is late, too late in fact, but that the government has eventually moved to avert the increasing incidence of crimes around, is a welcome decision.