The past six months have not been auspicious for the Philippines. In 2019, Mindanao, especially Regions XI and XII, suffered earthquakes one after another (July 19, Oct. 16, 29, 31 and Dec. 15). Many have not yet recovered from the devastation. This disaster was closely followed by two typhoons: Typhoon Tisoy on Dec. 2 and […]
It is an inauspicious start for the Year of the Rat. Taal volcano, the world’s smallest but one of the Philippines’ most active, has been spewing forth its fury since Jan. 12, and as of Tulay deadline, there is no end in sight. More than 100,000 evacuees are crowded in evacuation centers. The sight of […]
The earth shook violently. The wind howled, blowing away anything in its path. Rain inundated the land, washing away what had withstood the wind. Calamities wrought by earthquakes and storms continue to hit the Philippines mercilessly. Mindanao residents have not yet recovered from the devastation arising from the series of earthquakes (averaging 6.5 in magnitude) […]
After the devastation wrought by earthquakes in Mindanao in October and November came the equally destructive typhoon “Tisoy” (Kammuri) that slammed the Bicol and Visayas regions. We were lucky to have left Calbayog, Samar the night before Tisoy made landfall. It was windy and raining intermittently the whole day we were there. Our Calbayog contacts […]
“Ninja cops” currently hog the headlines, but they are not new creatures in a dysfunctional police force. I first heard about them in the mid-1990s. Members of the Manila Police Department would kidnap Tsinoys and bring them to police stations, which they described as “safe houses,” to demand ransom from the victims’ families. One victim […]
China was brought to its knees by the imperial powers more than a century ago. But slowly, it has restored and restructured social order, reconstructed and rebuilt infrastructure, reinvigorated and redirected the national spirit to achieve swift and unprecedented growth and development. Thus, China has great reasons to celebrate, and it did. On Oct. 1, […]
Why the silence and inaction? The Commission on Elections on Sept. 9 released the report on the recount and revision of votes in three pilot provinces where losing 2016 vice-presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. alleged massive cheating had taken place. After the recount, Vice President Leni Robredo increased her winning margin by nearly […]
The recent ruckus over the aborted release from prison of former mayor Antonio Sanchez of Calauan, Laguna, flushed out a lot of hitherto buried issues. The public outrage over the order to release Sanchez, a rape and murder convict, brought forth the issue of nontransparency and secrecy in implementing Republic Act No. 10592 or the […]
The Chinese Embassy in the Philippines has publicly admitted the seriousness of problems emanating from their citizens’ involvement in Philippine offshore gaming operations and gambling-related crimes, for that reason they recommend that if you like gambling you research for all the info that you would need where that you start to be sure that you […]
First, we hear self-ascribed whistleblower Bikoy, Peter Joemel Advincula in real life, implicating President Rodrigo Duterte’s children and allies in the illegal drug trade. Next thing we know, he was singing a different tune and accusing the political opposition of plotting to oust the president. In between were more twists and turns in his tales. […]