OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar Typically, the end of the year gives us time to reflect on the year that was and to look forward to the new year and beyond. We would usually come up with resolutions not just for the incoming year but also for the long-term. But this is not...
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar Merry Christmas to all my readers and to the rest of the Filipino nation! My family and I wish everyone a safe, meaningful, and happy holiday season. I know it has been a difficult year and some might think that the pandemic has sucked the...
GOVERNANCE MATTERS Former Vice President Jejomar Binay This year, we will be celebrating Christmas under the most trying circumstances. The joyful exuberance that has characterized the Christmas season in our shores is now tempered by caution, if not fear of being infected by the COVID-19 virus....
On the anticipated release of the P100-billion coco levy fund, another veto is coconut farmers’ last hope after the House version of Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund (Coco Levy Act) was passed on third and final reading and turned out to be “worse than the Senate version of the law”....
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar There is no other way to put it. 2020 has been a horrendous year. We started the year with the rumblings of Taal Volcano which dislocated families and damaged houses and disrupted livelihood. Our country has been devastated by a number of...
GOVERNANCE MATTERS Former Vice President Jejomar Binay Recently, I was able to catch a portion of a talk show on cable television where the guest showed no compunction about his reckless behavior or reined in his self-praise. It was a wanton display of arrogance at a time when we should be...
Sec. MarkVillar and his daughter Emma performs "Can't Help Falling In Love." Public Works and Highway Secretary Mark Villar posted on Facebook a video of him playing “Can’t Help Falling In Love” by Elvis Presley with his saxophone while his daughter Emma sings the song. It was a...
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) downgraded its growth forecast for the Philippines as the nation struggled in containing the coronavirus outbreak that hampered economic recovery. Based on ADB’s Asian Development Outlook update, the Manila-based multilateral institution has projected that the...
GOVERNANCE MATTERS Former Vice President Jejomar Binay Government officials should learn to speak with one voice. This is a basic communication principle that should have been in place nine months ago, when government, after much reluctance, acknowledged the existence of a health crisis. The number...
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar Nelson Mandela, revolutionary, political leader, and former president of South Africa, once said: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” And I absolutely agree. I think that education is our most...
GOVERNANCE MATTERS Former Vice President Jejomar Binay The secretary of justice, asked to comment about the resurgence of extra-judicial killings with lawyers as victims, admitted having difficulty in investigating and prosecuting the killers and the masterminds. He described the killings as...
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar It’s going to be a different holiday season this year. Countries around the world are grappling with a dilemma of whether to relax pandemic restrictions to allow people to celebrate the holidays. On one hand, there is fear that relaxing...
