PEACE-MAKER We mourn the passing last December 8 of our dear friend, the industrialist Dr. Chen Lipkeong of Malaysia. A medical doctor-turned businessman — with interests in property, energy, and gaming — Dr. Chen was also known for his philanthropic works not only in his beloved country but...
PEACE-MAKER On Dec. 8, 2021, we in the 350-member International Conference of Political Parties (ICAPP) conducted a special conference on climate change, as our modest collective contribution in the battle against climate change. Ban Ki-moon, the 8th Secretary General of the United Nations,...
PEACE-MAKER Before the demise of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in October 2011, another Middle East strongman with whom we also had interesting encounters fell from power in December 2003: Saddam Hussein. As with Gaddafi, we first met him in the 1970s when we were a pioneering businessman in the...
PEACE-MAKER Timor Leste President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose Ramos-Horta arrived in Manila two days ago for a state visit. He met with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Malacañang, where they discussed educational, technical, economic, and political cooperation between our two...
PEACE-MAKER As of this writing, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was scheduled to speak at the joint session of the House of Representatives and Senate at the Batasan Pambansa. This paper’s editorial yesterday, Nov. 4, pointed out that the Japanese Premier’s address is...
PEACE-MAKER (In our column last Sunday, we spoke of the need to create more avenues for dialogue, cooperation, and solidarity amid the protracted wars, lingering tensions, as well as the issues and challenges besetting the international community. One such avenue is through political parties. We...
PEACE-MAKER We sadly note the ongoing bloodshed in Israel and Palestine; long-drawn-out war in Ukraine; lingering tensions in the Korean Peninsula, West Philippine Sea, East China Sea, and Taiwan Straits; periodic killings in Syria, Iraq, Libya, and Afghanistan, among many other bloody hostilities...
PEACE-MAKER We are saddened by the killing of our kabalayen, Marjorette Garcia of San Jacinto, Pangasinan, who was an overseas Filipino worker in Saudi Arabia. It was a sad day not only for her loved ones but for the country. For Marjorette’s death is not just a personal tragedy, but a...
PEACE-MAKER We in the 350-member ICAPP, the International Conference of Asian Political Parties, take pride in the recent achievements of our women colleagues – Khuon Sudary of Cambodia and Nalinee Taveesin of Thailand. Khuon Sudary, vice chairperson of our standing committee, ICAPP’s governing...
PEACE-MAKER After many years in Philippine politics and in political party and parliamentary diplomacy in the international community, we have spent the last three years just observing political events and developments. We are heartened that our son, Congressman Christopher, has continued our and...
PEACE-MAKER In a period marked by climate change and environmental challenges, planting of trillions of trees worldwide is a visionary solution to combat the climate crisis. The planting of trillions of trees is a practical and essential strategy to mitigate climate change and secure a...
PEACE-MAKER Vietnam is where we spent our initial foray in international relations, as a 30-year-old presidential assistant, concurrently assigned as minister, economic and press counselor at the Philippine Embassy in Saigon, the South Vietnam capital then (now Ho Chi Minh, capital of the united...