HOTSPOT Tonyo Cruz I have an admission to make: I voted last May 9 for Vice President Leni Robredo knowing she would lose. I was mentally and emotionally prepared for a loss. A week before the elections, I visited friends in Cebu and Negros, and went around to get a feel of the situation. Except...
HOTSPOT Tonyo Cruz In an ideal world, the partylist system would attract outstanding leaders from mass movements, civil society, non-government organizations, cause-oriented groups and parties of the poor and the marginalized. But we don’t live in an ideal world. The traditional politicians,...
HOT SPOT Tonyo Cruz On May 9, we are going to vote to fill up more than 18,000 positions from the president down to municipal councilor. Out of 18,000 posts and tens of thousands of candidates vying for these posts, I’m asking that you “gimme five” and let’s do a “high five” for: Leni...
HOTSPOT Tonyo Cruz As we enter the final week of the campaign, it is important to look back at history’s valuable Marcos-related lesson: The Marcoses could be defeated. They’re not unbeatable. We have done it twice in history. In 1986, after the dictator Marcos tried to tamper with the results...
HOTSPOT Tonyo Cruz The past few years have been a challenge to Filipino farmers. We’ve seen and heard reports of produce being discarded, and farmers going bankrupt due to rice tariffication and illegal imports. In many parts of the country, death squads have orphaned farming families or split...
HOTSPOT Tonyo Cruz A good number of people are reacting negatively to what happened at a show where kids were unable to answer basic social studies and history questions. The disappointment is understandable. But the problem is that many assume that Philippine history is a major subject in the...
HOTSPOT Tonyo Cruz The unrelenting “red scare” has not worked. Vice President Leni Robredo has gained ground while the dictator’s son went down in the latest public-opinion survey despite the rabid anti-communist rhetoric and red-tagging accusations hurled against her. Robredo’s association...
HOTSPOT Tonyo Cruz For a country of over 100 million, the Senate with its membership of only 24 senators could really be one of the most exclusive clubs in the world. The conventional wisdom is that senators could only come from traditional politicians and celebrities. But that could be mainly due...
HOTSPOT Tonyo Cruz This week marked the apparent start of political consolidation behind the major candidates for president. Partido Reporma rocked the political firmament by switching its support from Senator Ping Lacson to Vice President Leni Robredo. Lacson’s red-baiting gamble against...
HOTSPOT Tonyo Cruz To be honest, we kids who grew up in the 1980s were too young to remember the Marcos dictatorship. So when opportunity presented itself in 2001 to do something good for the country, many of us went to EDSA and many other places across the country. It wasn’t easy. The...
HOTSPOT Tonyo Cruz Just a few weeks back, Vice President Leni Robredo’s supporters were adamant in urging the Makabayan coalition to endorse her. Other presidential candidates were also vying to be backed by the progressive movement. Happy reactions thus met Makabayan’s eventual decision to...
HOTSPOT Tonyo Cruz A lot has been going on, especially as we went into full election campaign mode. I forgot to remember and to mark the eighth anniversary of this column here on the Manila Bulletin. I started this on Jan. 5, 2014, initially coming out twice weekly. Yes, folks, it has been eight...
