Category Archives: Columns

Significant is the recent reorganization of the Cabinet into five clusters. It signaled the ardent desire of President Benigno Aquino III for his official family not only to be individually talented, but also to be team players. Like in basketball and other endeavors, teamwork is as important as talent in shooting the basket. And in winning the war on corruption and poverty. Continue reading →

MANILA, Philippines—A great idea Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago has. Her Senate Bill 2797 extends the retirement age of government workers from 65 to 70 years. She cogently argued, “Many people want to keep working for a variety of reasons other than economic survival, including enjoyment of the office camaraderie or the sense of purpose that work brings.” In turn, the government would “benefit from the expertise of our public officials for a bit longer.” Continue reading →

I READ the three recent resolutions of the Second Division of the Sandiganbayan (SBN), composed of Presiding Justice Edilberto G. Sandoval (chairman), Justices Teresita V. Diaz-Baldos and Samuel R. Martires (members), regarding the plea bargain agreement (PBA) between the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) and Maj. Gen. Carlos F. Garcia. Continue reading →

SEVERAL MAJOR events in the last 10 days deserve analysis and comment. There was the fairy tale wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. There was Labor Day and its relevance to globalization. There was the sudden surrender of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez and its consequences. There were worthy appointments, like that of Augusto Lagman to the Commission on Elections, and Teresita Herbosa to the Securities and Exchange Commission. There was the death of Osama bin Laden. And there was the beatification of Pope John Paul II. Continue reading →

WHY DO towns want to be converted into cities? Why do existing cities oppose their conversion? Why do remote islands, like Dinagat, want to become provinces? The answers have economic and legal dimensions, which, unfortunately, inflicted collateral damage on the Supreme Court. Continue reading →

IN CELEBRATION of Palm Sunday, I wrote on three of five leadership qualities of Jesus Christ. On this Easter Sunday, let me continue with the fourth and the fifth. Continue reading →

TODAY, PALM Sunday, Christians celebrate the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem where He was hailed a King. If Jesus entered our modern Philippines now, what kind of leader would He be? Would He be relevant to our nation’s problems? Continue reading →

HARDLY NOTICED was a recent news release of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines showing that—per the Office of the Solicitor General—marriage annulments “rose by more than 40 percent over the past 10 years… from 4,520 cases in 2001 to 8,282 in 2010.” This is probably because both the Church and the State allow legitimate annulment but prohibit divorce. Continue reading →

TO BOOST tourism, investments and the economy in general, President Aquino recently issued Executive Order (EO) 29 “authorizing the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) and the Philippine Air Panels to pursue more aggressively the international civil aviation liberalization policy.” Popularly known as “open skies,” this policy allows foreign carriers to access our “country’s airports other than the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).” Continue reading →

THE BREAKDOWN of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in earthquake- and tsunami-devastated northern Japan has revived public debates on the feasibility and wisdom of reactivating the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP). These debates all remind us that, despite not benefiting from it, our impoverished people dutifully paid in installment for this nuclear monument. As a retired jurist, I am in turn sadly reminded that, despite decades-old charges of corruption, bribery and other crimes attending the BNPP, no one has yet been convicted or sent to jail for the fiasco. Continue reading →