PEACE-MAKER Jose de Venecia Jr. Former Speaker of the House Following Malacanang’s renewed calls for unity and cooperation in the midst of continuing battle against the coronavirus, perhaps President Duterte may consider establishing some sort of a “Government of National Unity” by enlisting...
OF TREES AND FOREST One hundred twenty-two years ago, in the early evening of August 13, 2020, the American flag was raised over Fort Santiago marking the start of American colonization of the Philippines. This was preceded by the so-called “Mock Battle of Manila,” a charade of a skirmish...
GOVERNANCE MATTERS Former Vice President Jejomar Binay Since April, the government has been making discordant statements on its capacity to fund programs to control the coronavirus pandemic and revive the economy. The national leadership says the funds have run out. And until a vaccine arrives,...
FINDING ANSWERS Former Senator Atty. Joey Lina Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. It’s one of the longest words in the English language and it may mean something so wonderful and extremely good. Being so, one may relate it to the awaited coronavirus vaccine being developed — the long road...
PEACE-MAKER Russia’s discovery of a COVID-19 vaccine seems to provide light at the end of the pandemic tunnel. President Vladimir Putin has announced that the Russian-developed vaccine offers “sustainable immunity” against the coronavirus. He revealed that it was even administered on his...
GOVERNANCE MATTERS The government’s communications office has shared, on several media platforms, the contents of the National Action Plan (NAP) against COVID-19. The acronym could not have been badly done. But that is the least of my concerns. The NAP may be diplomatically described as ambitious...
OF TREES AND FOREST Do you remember how you learned about the concept of Bayanihan in elementary school? I clearly recall—just like very adult Filipinos who attended basic education in the country—that image of people in a community helping their neighbor relocate by literally...
FINDING ANSWERS Despite all the lockdowns and stringent measures already laid out, how come we have not flattened the curve of the coronavirus that continues to spread widely? I dare say the fault lies in enforcement. And I say this based on my experience tackling the SARS epidemic in 2003 when I...
PEACE-MAKER As though economic crisis, mass demonstrations since last year resulting in the resignation of then Prime Minister Saad Hariri, military conflict with neighbor Israel, and battling coronavirus were not enough, Lebanon is now besieged by another humanitarian crisis following a gigantic...
OF TREES AND FOREST In my column last week, I discussed the kind of entrepreneurial mindset that will help us get through this pandemic and the economic downturn it has spawned. In this column, I will look at that same entrepreneurial mindset and how it can help us rebuild our economy after the...
GOVERNANCE MATTERS Normally, news of a record-breaking increase in the number of patients who have recovered from the coronavirus would have been greeted with jubilation. Instead, the Department of Health (DOH) found itself fending off criticisms that it was fiddling with the numbers after it...
FINDING ANSWERS President Duterte’s swift decision to put Metro Manila and the provinces of Laguna, Cavite, Rizal, and Bulacan under the stricter modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) from Aug. 4 to 18 is a welcome development for our medical community. While it was short of the ECQ or...
