NIGHT OWL Anna Mae Lamentillo The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) released “The Project for Study on Improvement of Bridges through Disaster Mitigating Measures for Large-Scale Earthquakes,” a study it undertook in collaboration with the Department of Public Works and Highways...
NIGHT OWL Anna Mae Lamentillo When I was in Massachusetts in 2020, the city government of Boston just launched the “Go Boston 2030 Vision Framework,” an initiative which hoped to cement Boston’s place as America’s most walkable city by putting up infrastructure that would improve access...
NIGHT OWL Anna Mae Lamentillo Secretary Vivencio “Vince” Dizon would probably be the best example of a multi-tasker, and an effective one at that. He wears many hats, so to speak, serving at the center of the government’s COVID-19 response and the “Build, Build, Build” program. Secretary...
NIGHT OWL Anna Mae Lamentillo He was initially identified as President Rodrigo Duterte’s most trusted man, having served as the former Davao City Mayor’s loyal and trustworthy aide for two decades. He was also referred to as the “People’s bridge to the President,” ensuring that the...
NIGHT OWL Anna Mae Lamentillo Typhoon Nina, internationally known Nock-ten, entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) on Dec. 23. It intensified as a typhoon on Dec. 24 and made landfall over Catanduanes province on the evening of Dec. 25. At about three p.m., on Christmas Day, I received...
NIGHT OWL Anna Mae Lamentillo The economist. The reformist. The professor. While these may sound like characters in a television series, I’m just referring to only one real person. These could well describe the three main hats that Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno...
NIGHT OWL Anna Mae Lamentillo When I asked Finance Secretary Carlos “Sonny” Dominguez III if he thinks that the Philippines will become a trillion-dollar economy, his answer was an emphatic, “Of course! And not in the distant future.” Statistics prior to the COVID-19 pandemic show we are...
NIGHT OWL Anna Mae Lamentillo Seventy-one years ago, on Sept. 7, 1950, the Philippine Congress passed Republic Act 573 that authorized the sending of the Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea (PEFTOK) to help South Korea repel the North Korean aggression. The PEFTOK was composed of five battalion...
NIGHT OWL Anna Mae Lamentillo In political circles, the Executive Secretary is often referred to as the “Little President,” but the task is no little as could be attested by the ES Salvador Medialdea himself, who was already thinking of retirement when he was given the...
NIGHT OWL Anna Mae Lamentillo Senator Cynthia A. Villar won her first term in the Senate in 2013. She ran for a second term in 2019 and garnered 25 million votes, making her number one in that election. She says these are among her most unforgettable experiences in public service. But as a child...
NIGHT OWL Anna Mae Lamentillo Four years ago, the siege in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur, left a trail of death and destruction. What was once a lively and culturally vibrant city was turned into complete ruins after five months of battle. There was massive displacement of communities and loss of...
NIGHT OWL Anna Mae Lamentillo One of my earliest recollections of Department of Transportation Secretary Art Tugade was during the inspection of the LRT-2 East Extension Project – a railway project which would add four kilometers to the existing 13.8-kilometer LRT-2 train line, connecting Recto...
