The Commission on Audit records has revealed that former Senator Freddie Webb continues to fail to return to government the P112,928.30 unspent office rental deposit for an office space reportedly “refunded” to him during his incumbency as senator in 1998....
PEACE-MAKER Jose de Venecia Jr. Former Speaker of the House Perhaps not too many people know that before we became a pioneering businessman in the Middle East and North Africa in the 1970s until the early 1980s and then, with God’s blessing, a five-time Speaker of the House of Representatives, we...
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...
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar We seem to be caught in an unending Groundhog Day-like cycle of surges and lockdowns. We would experience a surge in new daily COVID-19 cases — similar to the one that hit us around March and April this year when daily cases reached a high...
Former speaker and Taguig-Pateros Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano credited his term as House of Representatives head for most of the legislative achievements that earned commendation from President Rodrigo Duterte during his State of the Nation Address on Monday, July 26. Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano “Most...
President Duterte has directed concerned authorities to step up efforts to restore Manila Bay to its former glory after years of pollution. President Rodrigo Duterte delivers his sixth and final State of the Nation Address before a joint session of Congress on July 26, 2021. (Malacañang) The...
Finding Answers Former Senator Atty. Joey Lina Last week’s southwest monsoon habagat that was intensified by Typhoon Fabian brought more rain than the unforgettable Typhoon Ondoy, yet Marikina was spared from massive flooding. The continuous rainfall at 2 a.m. last Saturday recorded at 134...
PEACE-MAKER Jose de Venecia Jr. Former Speaker of the House Tomorrow, July 26, President Rodrigo Duterte will deliver his sixth and final State of the Nation Address (SONA), with the COVID-19 plague still hovering over our country and around the world. It will be the second time that our nation...
OF TREES AND FOREST Former Senate President Manny Villar It is true what Indian writer Anita Desai once wrote: “Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.” Going to other places are not temporary destinations where you merely stop and go. They stay with you — the beauty and the...
Finding Answers Former Senator Atty. Joey Lina The recent World Bank (WB) report of an “unacceptably poor school climate” in our country where 80 percent of Filipino schoolchildren “do not know what they should know” has been hard to swallow for education officials. Education Secretary...
PEACE-MAKER Jose de Venecia Jr. Former Speaker of the House The Asian, European, African, Latin American, Australian, and US parliaments could organize a program and send delegations to the North Korea legislature, their Ministers of Agriculture and Tourism might interact with their North Korean...
GOVERNANCE MATTERS Former Vice President Jejomar Binay Messaging has never been this administration’s strongest point. This has been evident since day one of the government-enforced lockdown, when unclear and conflicting directives from senior officials only added to the fear, confusion, and...