“Mayuga-gate”

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 wheels of justice must move on

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 »

Ganda ng Palawan! Babalik – balikan!

Alahoy! Alahoy! Ala nang sasaya! Bakasyon dun satin, kaibang – kaiba! Lalut ke tagal nang di nakauwi ka! Sa NAIA palang haping – hapi ka na! * * * Paalala, ingat! Sus, paulit – ulit! Kaingat kanino? Tinamaang lintik! Huh! Si Joe Damasco, agad niyang sambit! “Sakin sila ingat!” Saka humagikgik. * * * Si Pilosopong Lao, pinagmamalaki!… Read More »

Manny to conquer Hollywood after a recording success?

Who would ever think that Manny Pacquiao would make it big as a singer? Well, his song Sometimes When we Touch recorded in U.S. currently lands in no. 11 in the music charts there. Hold your breath, Manny now ranks among the biggest hit makers all over America like Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, The Journey, among others..From a… Read More »

“Super PH Tourism Secretary” Wanted

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 »

USE OF MARRIED NAME IN PASSPORT

Q. Hi Atty Wong, I am a follower of your column. Sa tulad naming mga OFWs dito sa Canada, at malayo sa mga kamag-anak at mahihingian ng payo, ang iyong column ay ang aming sandigan kung kami ay may mga katanungan. Ako ay malapit ng ikasal. Ang mga papers ko po, visa, work permit, school records, at pati… Read More »

THE ART OF APOLOGY

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 »

Fighting for Spratlys, giving up Mindanao?

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 ‘untouchable’ Angelito Alvarez

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 »

Remembering Ninoy

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 »