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 »
Early this week the whole of Canada, most especially the Greater Toronto Area, was deeply saddened by the news of the passing away of the leader of the National Democratic Party, the Honourable Jack Layton. He was the leader of the official opposition party in the Federal Parliament in Ottawa. Jack Layton as everyone in Canada addressed him,… Read More »
This piece has nothing to do with a Shakespearean play. It is rather exactly what it was or is: all’s well that ends well. It all started with a call for help from a friend whom I have not seen nor heard from for many years. Well, when you are in this part of the globe it is… Read More »
And I thought the Philippines’ corrupt politicians are the worst. It turns out America’s own “dysfunctional politicians,” as global rating agency Standard & Poor’s describe them, can destroy this great nation just as badly as highly contentious politics tears the Philippines apart on a regular basis. In downgrading the United States’ credit rating for the first time ever… Read More »
Will she? Visualize the scenario: Gloria Arroyo in drab orange with a big “P” on her back (the “P” not signifying President but Prisoner), languishing in a women’s penal facility somewhere in the Philippines, mopping floors or scrubbing the grime off toilet bowls, her trademark pout now permanently lodged on her face. She might not even be safe… Read More »
Justice, denied for four years to one, Aquilino Martin Pimentel III, was finally served on Thursday, 12 August, 2011. Pimentel was officially declared the 12th duly elected senator in the 2007 elections in this country by the Senate Electoral Tribunal chaired by Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio. The dogged frenzy with which the new senator pursued his… Read More »
Summer is on its way out and so is the rumbling around festivals. But could you imagine a world for Filipinos without any festival at all — as in AT ALL? I could not. Filipinos would disappear from the planet the moment Euphrosyne, the goddess of mirth, takes away singing, dancing, beauty pageants, and anything to do with… Read More »
With the brouhaha over questions as to which festival is the biggest, the grandest, most popular, high-speed money-maker, one would wonder what would come next. If the intent is to outdo each other, then the same question will be asked all over again next round, next year. I was invited to the ‘ABS-CBN Canada One Kapamilya sa Mabuhay… Read More »
An awesome horror enveloped me when I heard and saw on television the horrific slaying and bombing that killed at least 76 people and destroyed considerable property in Norway. What???. Terrorism? Another 9/11? And then, I heard the announcer say that it was like that Oklahoman tragedy. A single person was responsible for all the blood spilled and… Read More »