It was a far-off piercing sound, a high note. It was continuous, becoming louder, coming closer. It was a moving sound. Before I fully realized what it was, the sound was loud in front of my place and went on without stop, becoming farther and farther. I was fully awake. It was a fire truck. I glanced at… Read More »
Two feisty woman officials reminded us last week why campaigns against corruption in the Philippines never succeed. They don’t succeed because after the corrupt acts are exposed and publicized, there is no follow-up, much less prosecution of the accused. Chairman Grace Pulido-Tan of the Commission on Audit (COA) has ordered the agency’s officials to monitor compliance with… Read More »
In my previous column, I said the Philippines should expect more aggressive bullying by China in the disputed seas in the coming weeks because the Crimea crisis has divided the focus and forces of the United States between that part of Europe and Asia. Indeed, on March 9, just a few days after Russian troops seized Crimea,… Read More »
CHICAGO (JGL) – The Philippine National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) has been vested by Republic Act 8042, the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995, with original and exclusive jurisdiction of voluntary or panel of arbitrators to decide disciplinary action on violations of recruitment laws, rules and regulations involving employers, principals, contracting partner and Filipino seafarers deployed… Read More »
When Russia sent its troops to Ukraine’s Crimea province purportedly to protect the Russian-speaking population in the region, the action reignited the second Cold War between Russia and the United States that actually began more than five years ago but eased in the last couple of years with the seeming cooperation between the two countries in negotiations with… Read More »
The murder of Zamboanga Judge Reynerio Estacio Sr. of the Zamboanga Regional Trial Court last Friday by two motorcycle-riding men brought to focus once more the culture of impunity that has pervaded Philippine society for decades. The ambush also brought to fore the worsening peace and order condition in the country and the incompetence of the country’s law… Read More »
Young senator Alan Cayetano wants to run for president in 2016 or 2022. But former President Joseph Estrada doesn’t think he’s qualified. Look who’s talking? Is Estrada, popularly called “Erap,” a college dropout, former movie star and politician, qualified to pronounce judgment on other potential candidates for the highest office? The one and only Erap once hoisted the… Read More »
First, medical doctors became furious when the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s shame campaign hit the road with the first of a series of advertisements- the print ad, published in the Philippine Inquirer showed a doctor piggybacking on a teacher who presumably earns a lower salary than her but pays higher taxes to the BIR. To the rescue came… Read More »
With his family and well-known community leaders and friends around him to stress his political outlook, Filipino-Canadian lawyer Rafael Fabregas kicks off a grassroots campaign to win the nomination of the Liberal Party of Canada and hopefully become its standard bearer in the election for a seat in Parliament representing Scarborough Centre riding in the Greater Toronto Area.… Read More »
I planned to stay a year. Here I am on my forty-first year of living in the country, Canada. I left the Philippines on a one-year leave from my position at work. After the first year I wrote my place of work for another year of extension of my leave. After two years, I went back and personally… Read More »