OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of technologies not only in surviving the lockdown but in navigating the new normal as we start to revive our economy and restart social activities. Some of these technologies were already...
FINDING ANSWERS Former Senator Atty. Joey Lina While it comes as no surprise, given the economic stranglehold inflicted by stringent lockdowns last year as the pandemic started to rage, the news that the Philippine economy suffered its worst so far is still quite shocking. On Thursday last week,...
PEACE-MAKER Jose de Venecia Jr. Former Speaker of the House We, Dagupeños, are proud of the appointment by US President Joe Biden of Filipina-American Camille Calimlim-Touton as deputy commissioner of the US Bureau of Reclamation. Calimlim-Touton’s parents, Carl Calimlim and Marlene Bangsal, are...
GOVERNANCE MATTERS Former Vice President Jejomar Binay The term “enemies of the state” was used loosely by repressive regimes worldwide in the 1970s to justify the persecution of political opponents and activists. The Marcos regime used it as an all-embracing label against the broad range of...
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar The United States has inaugurated a new president. Former Senator and Vice President Joseph R. Biden was inaugurated as its 46th president a few days ago. I congratulate President Biden on his victory in the recent elections and his eventual...
FINDING ANSWERS Former Senator Atty. Joey Lina I would like to share the insights of former Agriculture Secretary Leonardo Montemayor, chairman of the Federation of Free Farmers, about the predicament of the nation’s coconut farmers who remain poor despite the Coco Levy Fund worth billions of...
PEACE-MAKER Jose de Venecia Jr. Former Speaker of the House (Remarks at a virtual rally organized by the Universal Peace Federation with the theme “One Million People Praying for the Healing of the Nation and the World”) May I congratulate the Universal Peace Federation (UPF) led by our...
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar (Part 2) Pulse Asia, in its November 2020 Ulat ng Bayan national survey conducted November 23 – December 2, 2020, noted that while 95% of Filipino adults reported awareness of the development of COVID-19 vaccines, a near majority of...
GOVERNANCE MATTERS Former Vice President Jejomar Binay Society invests so much power in the police and other law enforcement agencies based on an implicit trust that these powers will be wielded responsibly and for the protection of citizens. When these powers are abused, which we have seen happen...
FINDING ANSWERS Former Senator Atty. Joey Lina In my Teleradyo program Sagot Ko ‘Yan last Sunday, I had an interesting discussion with Marinduque Governor Presbitero Velasco Jr., national chairman of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP), and he shared some remarkable...
PEACE-MAKER Jose de Venecia Jr. Former Speaker of the House We are saddened by the turn of political events in the US days before the inauguration of former Vice President Joe Biden as president on January 20, three days from now. The intensity of the venomous atmosphere, violent protests and...
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar (Part 1) I love reading surveys, and not just those pertaining to politics or elections. I enjoy reading public opinion polls because, when done correctly and using rigorous scientific methods, they showcase what our people are thinking and...
