Illegal drugs slipping past the Bureau of Customs, illicit affairs and hidden wealth, basketball players as intelligence officers, corrupt bank official absconding with bank money. Scandal after scandal have been bombarding our sensibilities. Yet, society appears so blasé about them, in the same manner it seems to have become numbed to the continued extrajudicial killings […]
A s part of their homework, my granddaughters, ages 9 and 7, were instructed to watch President Duterte’s second State of the Nation Address on television. The SONA would be discussed in class, they were told. The two girls asked me to sit with them so we could listen to it together. For the first […]
I am writing this in the car while caught in traffic on a rainy day. Nothing new and, as Doc Jim always advises us, it’s pointless to be angry about something you cannot change or control. Those are wise words from an accomplished physician. Among the many hats he wears, Dr. Jaime Galvez-Tan is a medical […]
It has been over a month since the Marawi City siege started. Residents are hopeful the end is in sight and they can return home or at least check if they still have a home to go back to. Matching, if not exceeding, the terror wreaked by the Maute group is the terror spawned by […]
Crisis in Marawi, martial law in Mindanao, suffering of evacuees, tragedy at Resorts World Manila, fake news from the Department of Justice. These filled the front pages of newspapers and topped the newscasts on the eve of celebrations for the nation’s 119th Independence Day. It was as if the events had conspired to thumb collective […]
Where but in the Philippines does a sorely unqualified and inexperienced figure get appointed to a critical position in government as reward for services rendered during a political campaign? Margaux “Mocha” Uson’s appointment on May 8 as assistant secretary at the Presidential Communications Operations Office is the latest proof. She has been assigned to take […]
It is bad enough that drug suspects were found cramped in a makeshift tiny secret jail cell inside a police station in Manila, but it became worse when high-ranking Philippine National Police officials defended its existence. Acting on information from relatives, officials from the Commission on Human Rights paid a surprise visit to the Raxabago […]
The Department of Tourism has set as a target 12 million foreign tourists by the end of President Rodrigo Duterte’s term in 2022. The number may be too ambitious, but it is not unreachable if basic problems can be addressed soon. Infrastructure – roads, airport, facilities, communication and transportation – is the No. 1 logistical […]
Last I checked, we still have a free press. Foreign media, especially, cannot be expected to keep quiet about and not report bad news. So, Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo should stop blaming the press and Vice President Leni Robredo for the difficulties in attracting tourists to our country. She should blame instead bad things happening […]
The title of today’s column is based on a saying, “If you stand upright, don’t fear that your shadow will be crooked (身正不怕影子歪),” which goes together with another, “A tall tree attracts more wind (樹大招風).” I am sure these two Chinese maxims had been dinned into the late Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo since he […]