Category Archives: Columns

PRESIDENT MACAPAGAL-ARROYO’S PRESENT term expires on June 30, 2010. Can she legally extend her reign beyond that date? My answer: Yes, if our Congress, Supreme Court, Commission on Elections and people will agree to a revision of our Constitution. Continue reading →

MANILA, Philippines–“You should have asked for her ouster,” bemoaned my guru, former Senate President Jovito R. Salonga, upon reading my column last Sunday, titled “Most corrupt.” Continue reading →

“WE WILL WORK TO FIX THE CORRUPTION that has, unfortunately, long plagued our nation. We have been working to take control of the situation. Our efforts will include passing a comprehensive anti-corruption reform act in 2008.” Continue reading →

TODAY, I WOULD LIKE TO SING “HAPPY BIRTHDAY” to the University of the Philippines as it celebrates its centenary. Continue reading →

MANILA, Philippines–My father did not finish high school (my mother hardly attended primary school). However, he valued education as the gateway to success and the way out of grinding poverty. So, he worked doubly hard as a lowly government employee to see his four children through college. And to his delight, my eldest sister Tessie graduated “summa cum laude” with her chemistry degree, my only brother Nardo topped the board exam for electrical engineers, and my “Ate” Loleng finished her commerce studies. Continue reading →

ANNUALLY, WHEN SCHOOLS OPEN, THE Department of Education gets a bashing. Though this year’s opening was relatively smooth, some regions still reported shortages of classrooms, books, desks, teachers, and pupils who were unable to enroll. The militant Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) says that 41,905 new classrooms are needed to attain a 1:45 classroom to student ratio. Continue reading →

NOW THAT THE SUPREME COURT HAS resumed its regular sessions after its month-long summer break in May, our people eagerly await the resolution of many pending public interest cases. At least three of them involve presidential secrecy, legally known as executive privilege. Continue reading →

“WHAT IS AN INDEPENDENT DIRECTOR? Why did you accept the position?” So my friends asked me after media reported my election as one of the two independent directors of Meralco. (The other is retired banker Vicente L. Panlilio.) Continue reading →

MANILA, Philippines—The Supreme Court must have agonized over its participation in the Judiciary, Executive and Legislative Advisory and Consultative Council. Jelac is obscured by penumbras of unconstitutionality and impropriety. Continue reading →

HARDLY NOTICED BY OUR NORMALLY NOSEY media was the four-day conference of all the top officials in Asia of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), which was held here last week. The meeting was so private that even Foreign Secretary Alberto G. Romulo did not know it. Continue reading →