GOVERNANCE MATTERS Former Vice President Jejomar Binay By the time this column sees print, Metro Manila would have been under Alert Level 4 for one week. An official of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) described the situation over the weekend as “good,” but his...
A civic group hailed the approval by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of a formal probe into President Rodrigo Duterte's drug war and the Davao Death Squad killings. (AFP / MANILA BULLETIN) "Civil society is heartened by the ICC's move to authorize the investigation on crimes against humanity...
GOVERNANCE MATTERS Former Vice President Jejomar Binay Businessmen by nature are not prone to criticize a sitting administration on every matter involving national policy. But it took a policy gaffe of epic proportions, one with far-reaching consequences on the economy and the livelihood of...
GOVERNANCE MATTERS Former Vice President Jejomar Binay The month of September is considered as the start of the Christmas season in our country, but there seems to be little reason for many of us to be cheerful as we used to be before the pandemic. Whatever remains of our holiday spirit is being...
GOVERNANCE MATTERS Former Vice President Jejomar Binay A ranking government official was quoted in media as defending the decision of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) to relax quarantine restrictions in Metro Manila despite alarming increases in the number of daily COVID-19 cases. He said it was...
A multi-sectoral group hit the Department of Health (DOH) for "deficiencies" in P67-billion coronavirus disease (COVID-19) funds, saying it's a "clear disregard" for people's health and wellbeing. (ALI VICOY / MANILA BULLETIN) The DOH has been under public scrutiny recently after the Commission on...
Despite the Commission on Audit’s (COA) clarification that it is “premature” to conclude that the P67 billion worth of “deficiencies” it found in the Department of Health’s (DOH) handling of pandemic funds is linked to corruption, Vice President Leni Robredo has flagged the unspent 2020...
GOVERNANCE MATTERS Former Vice President Jejomar Binay The unprecedented performance of our athletes at the just-concluded Tokyo Olympic Games has given us a much-needed respite from the non-stop barrage of depressing news. We emerged from the Games with one historic gold courtesy of weightlifter...
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...
The Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) backed President Duterte in renewing his call to Congress to pass the E-Governance Act that would aim to help the public transact with the government during the coronavirus pandemic. Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) Director-General Jeremiah Belgica (Photo from...
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...
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has vowed to “constantly develop and re-engineer” its current mechanisms in providing social protection services to Filipinos, especially the vulnerable and poor sectors. (Photo from DSWD) DSWD Secretary Rolando Joselito D. Bautista made...