HOTSPOT Twitter removed en masse on Friday the blue checkmarks for organizations, celebrities, personalities and journalists which were verified under its "legacy" verification process. By "legacy," we mean the time before Elon Musk bought Twitter. The blue checkmarks meant the accounts were real,...
HOTSPOT Straight from the quiet time of Holy Week, tempers exploded on Twitter after somebody lamented that Metro Manila supposedly had “no culture” compared with other metropolitan centers abroad. The fury was completely understandable because “culture” refers generally to a people’s...
HOTSPOT Holy Week used to present an opportunity for total rest of the senses and contemplation. If one would not attend church services, or is simply far from the loud and ardent singing of the Pasyon at the neighborhood Pabasa, one could really take a pause from everything. No TV and radio, and...
HOTSPOT As a son of a public school teacher and also a graduate of public schools, I fully support ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro. I’m pretty sure many do so too, considering that she has 25 years of teaching experience and a record as a globally-recognized leader of teachers. It would be hard...
HOTSPOT Many are familiar with the rights and freedoms to a nationality, to travel and to unimpeded navigation, and to due process in immigration and other immigration rights. A lot are embedded in our national and international laws, and in treaties. These matters are especially timely, given the...
HOTSPOT Did you know that there were 18,087 positions at stake in the 2022 elections? Give or take a few positions whose terms of office exceed three years, this would be roughly the same number of positions to be contested in 2025. I again looked for this number after I saw a widely-shared social...
HOTSPOT It is unconventional wisdom but governments, past and present, actually owe generations of jeepney drivers and operators a lot. The fact is, these family-run micro-enterprises have been the backbone of public transportation nationwide. Without them, there’s no mobility across the...
HOTSPOT Tonyo Cruz We have been told many times that it is the Constitution’s fault that our economy is not developing. Never mind wealth and income inequality, regressive taxation, institutional corruption, regulatory capture, and the chronic joblessness as evidenced by more labor migration. The...
HOTSPOT Tonyo Cruz I have been refusing to attend big events but the Manila Bulletin’s recent 123rd anniversary celebration was an exception. I made sure I would be able to go so I could again see and of course thank our editors and our president for the space and moral support for my role as a...
HOTSPOT Tonyo Cruz If House ways and means committee chair Rep. Joey Salceda would have his way, a new tax would be slapped on luxury watches, cars priced above ₱5-million, private planes, residential property above ₱100-million per unit, liquor costing above ₱20,000 per bottle, and leather...
HOTSPOT Tonyo Cruz I first met Owen Bayog in late 1997 at a public school in New Washington, Aklan. We were there for a National Council meeting of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines. The minute I saw Owen, I thought we won’t ever get along. He was huge and had a menacing look. Sure...
HOTSPOT Tonyo Cruz As of press time, I haven’t seen or heard commemorations of the second People Power uprising’s 22nd anniversary this past week, either official state-led ceremonies or alternative events. Neither have we heard of preparations to mark the 37th anniversary of the first People...
