OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar We have been in some form of quarantine since March 15, 2020. I cannot remember all the acronyms (GCQ, ECQ, MECQ) assigned to the different levels of restrictions because they have mutated so much just like the COVID-19 variants. And starting...
Finding Answers Former Senator Atty. Joey Lina The recently-concluded Tokyo Olympics was indeed unlike any other, mainly due to the great uncertainty caused by the pandemic and the amazing performance of Team Philippines. There’s no doubt that host country Japan and all the participants deserve...
PEACE-MAKER Jose de Venecia Jr. Former Speaker of the House Like many international organizations, we in the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) had to indefinitely suspend some of our programs due to the raging global pandemic which, sadly, seems to have no apparent end in...
GOVERNANCE MATTERS Former Vice President Jejomar Binay We are only halfway through 2021, but this year may yet be our annus horribilis , a horrible year of death and decay, of a spiralling descent into a prolonged period of uncertainty for millions of Filipinos. This week, Metro Manila and other...
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar I have nothing but admiration and respect for our Filipino athletes competing in the Tokyo Olympics. In my book, they are the epitome of hard work and perseverance. As we go to press, we have already won our first gold medal courtesy of the...
FINDING ANSWERS Former Senator Atty. Joey Lina Hidilyn Diaz shall forever be known as the heroic Filipino athlete who captured the first-ever Olympic gold medal for the Philippines and instantly brought unbridled happiness to a nation suffering from the ravages of a pandemic. Her amazing...
The Commission on Audit records has revealed that former Senator Freddie Webb continues to fail to return to government the P112,928.30 unspent office rental deposit for an office space reportedly “refunded” to him during his incumbency as senator in 1998....
PEACE-MAKER Jose de Venecia Jr. Former Speaker of the House Perhaps not too many people know that before we became a pioneering businessman in the Middle East and North Africa in the 1970s until the early 1980s and then, with God’s blessing, a five-time Speaker of the House of Representatives, we...
GOVERNANCE MATTERS Former Vice President Jejomar Binay We are finding out quite belatedly that the first case of the Delta variant was recorded as early as April, but confirmed only last week by the Department of Health (DOH). Since April, the variant has spread to other parts of the country. The...
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar We seem to be caught in an unending Groundhog Day-like cycle of surges and lockdowns. We would experience a surge in new daily COVID-19 cases — similar to the one that hit us around March and April this year when daily cases reached a high...
Former speaker and Taguig-Pateros Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano credited his term as House of Representatives head for most of the legislative achievements that earned commendation from President Rodrigo Duterte during his State of the Nation Address on Monday, July 26. Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano “Most...
President Duterte has directed concerned authorities to step up efforts to restore Manila Bay to its former glory after years of pollution. President Rodrigo Duterte delivers his sixth and final State of the Nation Address before a joint session of Congress on July 26, 2021. (Malacañang) The...
