Category Archives: Columns

AFTER A long wait, the government hopes to start the awarding process for public-private partnerships (PPPs) at the end of this month or soon thereafter. Five projects are said to be almost ready: the P6.3-billion Metro Rail Transit Line 3, the P7.7-billion Light Railway Transit Line 1, the P1.6-billion Daang Hari-South Luzon Expressway link road, the P10.6-billion Ninoy Aquino International Airport Expressway Phase 2 and the P21-billion North Luzon Expressway-South Luzon Expressway connector road. Continue reading →

THE RECENT 25th anniversary celebration of our People Power Revolution reminded us of the world’s acclamation of former President Cory Aquino as the “Icon of Democracy.” Our “yellow revolution” in 1986 reverberated in the dismantling in 1989 of the once-monolithic Soviet Union and the “colored” birth of new sovereign states like Ukraine, Georgia, Lithuania and several Eastern European nations. Echoes of that political metanoia are now heard in the Middle East, where democratic revolutions are toppling entrenched dictatorships. Continue reading →

SECRETARY ALBERT F. del Rosario was called by President Aquino to lead the Department of Foreign Affairs during these critical times when our international relations are being severely tested. From China where too many overseas Filipino workers (OFW) are condemned to death for drug crimes, to the Middle East where revolutions are dislocating them, and to the United States where the planet’s largest economy is still bedeviled by low growth and high unemployment, the world is changing and challenging our meager capacity to cope. Continue reading →

LAST SUNDAY, I wrote that the Committee on Justice of the House of Representatives could immediately resume the impeachment of Ombudsman Merceditas N. Gutierrez that was suspended by a status quo ante order issued by the Supreme Court. True, a decision becomes final 15 days from its receipt by the parties, who may even prolong the period by filing a motion for reconsideration. Until the motion is resolved, the judgment will not attain finality. Continue reading →

IN GUTIERREZ v. House of Representatives (Feb. 15, 2011), the Supreme Court allowed the Committee on Justice of the House of Representatives to continue hearing the two complaints filed by former Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel and by Renato M. Reyes against Ombudsman Merceditas N. Gutierrez. It also lifted the status quo ante order that suspended the hearing. Question: May the House continue the hearing immediately even if the decision has not attained finality? Continue reading →

MANY CONGRESSIONAL probes raise a lot of noise but in the end produce nothing worthwhile. However, the on-going Senate and House hearings on the P303-million plunder charge against former AFP comptroller Carlos F. Garcia have brought up positive and puzzling turns. Continue reading →

FRANTIC CALLS for the re-imposition of the death penalty fill the front pages and the broadcast lanes every time gruesome crimes—like the recent car thefts and the Edsa bomb carnage—happen. Like many citizens, I am appalled by the grisly violence in our midst, but I firmly believe the death penalty is the wrong solution. Continue reading →

IN DECEMBER 1989, the Aeroport de Paris in France submitted to the Philippines (PH) the preliminary designs of a new terminal for the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia 3). Realizing the futuristic needs of the incoming 21st century, President Fidel V. Ramos has—since his election in 1992—fittingly pushed for an even better Naia 3. Continue reading →

PUZZLING IS the recent ruling of the International Center for the Settlement of International Disputes (Icsid) based in Washington, D.C. The ruling voids its earlier decision, dated August 16, 2007, dismissing the claims for compensation of Fraport AG, a German company, against the Republic of the Philippines (PH) in connection with Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia 3). Continue reading →

DURING HIS six years in office, President Aquino will not—in the normal course—have the opportunity to overhaul the composition of the Supreme Court and to change judicial mindsets. He would be able to name only four of the 15 high court magistrates, not enough to sway a new judicial philosophy and direction. Continue reading →