THE United States escalated in the past week its rhetoric over the rapid reclamation being undertaken by China on Mischief Reef (Panganiban Reef) and a few other reefs and shoals in the South China Sea, with US President Barack Obama capping the new word offensive by expressing concern over the Chinese’ bullying tactics. “Where we get concerned with… Read More »
The satisfaction rating of President Aquino continued its free fall this week, hitting its lowest since he became president in 2010. And guess who is being blamed again? The media, of course. I’m not a bit surprised that Communications Secretary Sonny Coloma is blaming the media for the latest slide in his boss’ rating. After all, he is… Read More »
Two disturbing news reports came out over the weekend that could compromise our country’s claim to Sabah. One was written by the Vera Files that said the Philippines has offered to downgrade its claim to Sabah in exchange for Malaysia’s support for its case against China before the United Nations. The other, which appeared in the Manila Times,… Read More »
Novelist George Orwell once said, “In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” In this context, we can say that the Board of Inquiry tasked to determine the facts about the botched operation to hunt two wanted terrorists in Mamasapano, Maguindanao last month that led to the death of 44 members of PNP’s Special… Read More »
More than nine months after President Aquino certified the bill that would extend the life of the agrarian reform program by two more years, House Bill 4296 and a related measure, HB 4375, remain languishing in the House of Representatives apparently because of strong opposition from landlord members of the lower house. Without the extension, more than… Read More »
THERE are many reasons for people to demand that President Aquino step down, the latest and most plausible being the mishandling of the operation to hunt down two terrorists in Mamasapano in Maguindanao that resulted in the massacre of 44 Special Action Forces policemen. From the moment Aquino revealed his arrogant and vindictive behavior when he personally… Read More »
WITH the United States focused on eliminating the growing threat of Islamic extremism in the Middle East and Russian adventurism in Ukraine, and the Philippine government caught up in the maelstrom of the bloody Mamasapano carnage and corruption scandals, China quietly doubled its efforts to build new islands in the volatile South China Sea to bolster its claim… Read More »
“Oh, how I would like a poor Church, and for the poor,” with these words, Pope Francis set the tone for his papacy. The Pope has shown he meant what he said by discarding expensive vests in favor of simple white robes, staying in modest housing instead of the papal apartments, and using a Ford Focus instead of… Read More »
“Oh, how I would like a poor Church, and for the poor,” with these words, Pope Francis set the tone for his papacy. The Pope has shown he meant what he said by discarding expensive vests in favor of simple white robes, staying in modest housing instead of the papal apartments, and using a Ford Focus instead of… Read More »
The latest survey by the Social Weather Station showed that about 52 percent or 11.4 million Filipino families rate themselves as poor, the worst in eight years in terms of self-rated poverty. It matched the self-rated poverty percentage during the Arroyo administration in 2006. “We note the results of the survey. And we continue with our efforts to… Read More »