PEACE-MAKER Jose de Venecia Jr. Former Speaker of the House (Opening statement of Hon. Jose de Venecia, founding chairman and chairman of Standing Committee, International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP); former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Republic of the Philippines;...
(Labor day statement of Former Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr.) The paramount concern this labor day is for our leaders to ensure existing jobs are preserved and new employment is created. 4.2 million Filipinos are now unemployed nationwide, with 1 million workers losing their jobs in the NCR-PLUS...
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar This was the word used by the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) to describe the growing gap between the number of vaccines available to rich countries and the measly numbers given to developing countries. The latter rely mainly on...
GOVERNANCE MATTERS Former Vice President Jejomar Binay The outpouring of kindness and generosity through the community pantries has been nothing short of phenomenal. As of last count, over 300 community pantries have been set up nationwide, all of them offering Filipinos displaced economically by...
Finding Answers Former Senator Atty. Joey Lina Love of God and for thy neighbor could be the strongest driving force behind the concept of the community pantry that’s helping hungry Filipinos survive the pandemic. Of course, there may be other factors behind this form of bayanihan which has...
PEACE-MAKER Jose de Venecia Jr. Former Speaker of the House We are delighted that our son, Congressman Christopher de Venecia, spearheaded the restoration of the home economics building of our old school, the Dagupan Elementary School, now West Central Elementary School, which served as the brief...
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar As Filipinos continue to struggle against the COVID-19 pandemic, a different kind of outbreak has caused a shortfall in pork production and subsequently caused a sharp increase in food prices. While the African Swine Fever (ASF), which has...
GOVERNANCE MATTERS Former Vice President Jejomar Binay The economy, according to a statement from the Trade Secretary, lost an estimated P180 billion during the two-week enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) imposed by the government in Metro Manila and four other provinces. On the other hand, those...
FINDING ANSWERS Former Senator Atty. Joey Lina With the surge in COVID-19 cases overwhelming the healthcare system and filling hospitals to maximum capacity, many are fearful for their families, especially those with high-risk members who can be infected and can quickly deteriorate or even die...
PEACE-MAKER Jose de Venecia Jr. Former Speaker of the House Three days from now, on April 21, we will preside at the meeting of the 39-member standing committee of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP), which we will do so from our respective homes or offices in different...
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar I applaud the decision of President Rodrigo Duterte to allow the private sector to import COVID-19 vaccines “at will”. “No matter the price or how many they want to import, that is fine with me,” the President was quoted as saying...
GOVERNANCE MATTERS Former Vice President Jejomar Binay Last week, I was asked to speak before a webinar sponsored by the UP Portia Alumnae Association on my experiences as a human rights lawyer during martial law. As many of you know, I began my career as a lawyer in the 1960s, trading the comforts...
