LEGAZPI CITY, Albay – Former Camarines Sur Rep. and Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. was found dead in his bedroom in his house in Naga City, Thursday, June 30. Police said that the body of Andaya was discovered by his personal assistant, John Mark Patrick L. Señar, with a bullet wound to the...
Six former rebels received P65,000 financial assistance each under the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP), a flagship program of the Duterte administration’s peace and order agenda, according to the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG)-Aurora province....
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar The Philippine Vice President has traditionally been viewed as a mere backup, a spare tire, to the President. Unlike in the United States where the VP serves as the president of the Senate and presides over the Senate's daily proceedings, the...
FINDING ANSWERS Former Senator Atty. Joey Lina Food, along with air and water, is undoubtedly the most essential human need. So essential that it’s among the most basic in the Hierarchy of Needs of renowned psychologist Abraham Maslow. With food being a basic necessity, it isn’t surprising if...
PEACE-MAKER Jose de Venecia Jr. Former Speaker of the House The triumphant uprisings in history demonstrate how ordinary citizens courageously claimed their civil liberties and demanded the right to decide their own destinies. ‘People Power’ liberations have in recent times taken place in other...
FINDING ANSWERS Former Senator Atty. Joey Lina Father’s Day last Sunday was especially meaningful for me and other members of the Lina clan as we reminisced about my late father and namesake who instilled love of country in all his 12 children. It was the patriotism that he inspired in us that...
PEACE-MAKER Jose de Venecia Jr. Former Speaker of the House As the Philippines and the whole world celebrate Father’s Day today, we wish to pay tribute to our father, the late Jose Ravago de Venecia Sr. After World War II, our father served as judge at large for the entire Bicol region, appointed...
FINDING ANSWERS Former Senator Atty. Joey Lina As our country commemorated Independence Day last Sunday, the back-to-back diplomatic protests lodged against China a couple of days earlier for encroaching in Philippine waters got me thinking on what more should be done to get respect for our...
Former Senate President Manny Villar OF TREES AND FOREST Today, June 15, is the birthday of my friend, the late Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago. She would have been 77 years old and I imagine still as feisty and loving as I remember her. In my mind, Miriam occupies a place in the pantheon of great...
PEACE-MAKER Jose de Venecia Jr. Former Speaker of the House Our wife Gina and we mourn the passing of our dear friend, the respected columnist, veteran journalist, and bestselling book author Carmen “Chit” Navarro Pedrosa. We first met Chit Pedrosa in the early 1960s when we were both young...
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar I spent all my years as a public servant in the legislature. From 1992 to 2001, I represented Las Piñas in the House of Representatives where I was fortunate enough to be chosen as Speaker by my peers. Then from 2001 to 2013, I served as...
FINDING ANSWERS Former Senator Atty. Joey Lina All children should be able to read by age 10. Reading is a gateway for learning as the child progresses through school – and conversely, an inability to read slams that gate shut. Beyond this, when children cannot read, it’s usually a clear...
