Ber months na. To all of you still Pinoys! heart, aba, madaming paalaala ito- hmm, time to fill the balikbayan boxes with presents for loved ones back in the Pinas- makeup and beauty products for the relatives mahilig magpabeauty, branded sports shoes for the mapormang nephew/ niece, food items- spam, nutella, velveeta, etc (naku, may maidi display na… Read More »
“Figaro” is the name of the main character in the play, “The Barber of Seville,” which was first played in 1775. But today – or should I say in the last decade – “Figaro” was the name of the most powerful and, allegedly, the most corrupt person in the Philippines. You don’t read “Figaro” everyday in the newspapers.… Read More »
Since 2005 Philippine Press Club Ontario has played host to annual winners of Marshall McLuhan Prize for excellence in Philippine journalism. This year’s winner is Carol Arguilles, news editor of prolific no-nonsense weekly web-based paper published from Davao City, the Mindanews. The Marshall McLuhan Prize is a “flagship public diplomacy” initiative of the Canadian Embassy in Manila. Named… Read More »
Finally, after five years of being classified as “Top Secret,” the Aquino administration released the “Mayuga Report” but only after the Department of Defense reviewed it. Oddly, but not surprising, the report cleared four generals of alleged involvement in the “Hello Garci” election cheating scandal in 2004. Those cleared were generals Hermogenes Esperon, Roy Kyamko, Gabriel Habacon, and… Read More »
The most sensible thing I heard from the Philippines in the past week were the words coming from Senators Franklin Drilon and Allan Peter Cayetano, who said there would be no let-up in the investigation by the Senate blue ribbon committee of the corruption allegations against the ailing Arroyos. Drilon and Cayetano were, of course, referring to Gloria… Read More »
CHICAGO (jGLi) – The Manila Hostage Crisis a year ago devastated the Philippine tourism industry just as 9/11 caused inbound tourism in the United States to take a nosedive. But unlike the United States, which does not have a national tourism czar, the Philippines is one of the many developing countries, which elevated the duties of promoting the… Read More »
Does President Noynoy Aquino’s refusal to apologize to relatives of the eight Chinese victims who died in the infamous Luneta hostage taking incident a sign of arrogance or lack of sensitivity? Trekking to Manila to remember the first anniversary of the tragic August 23, 2010, the Chinese kins presented four demands from the President among them the issuance… Read More »
I don’t get it. The Aquino administration is willing to face the wrath of an emerging superpower with at least a million-strong army to uphold its sovereignty over a group of small islets and shoals in the middle of the South China Sea, but is ready to surrender sovereignty over most of Mindanao, an area once called the… Read More »
The scandal that erupted under the watchful eye of Bureau of Customs Commissioner Angelito “Joselito” Alvarez has created a maelstrom of controversy calling for an investigation and dismissal of Alvarez. But, strangely, Malacañang doesn’t seem to know – or chose not to know – what’s going on at the Bureau of Customs since January 2011 when the first… Read More »
The news here continues to swirl around Gloria Arroyo, her husband and sundry family members. If all the latest allegations against the Arroyos are true, this family’s transgressions against the Filipino people are second only to Ferdinand Marcos’s depredations during the martial-law period in the 1970s-80s. But let’s forget about the Arroyos for now. After all, there’s been… Read More »