The 14-0-1 voting by the Supreme Court declaring as unconstitutional the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and the use of Malampaya Fund for purposes other than energy-related projects gives us a hopeful sign that democracy is alive and well in the Philippines. The unanimous vote showed that the Judiciary is not subservient to the Executive Branch and is… Read More »
For two days over the weekend, I volunteered to help pack donations dropped off by donors at the Goldilocks Bakeshop and Restaurant in Cerritos and witnessed first hand how a calamity has brought the best in people, how a tragedy has brought people of different persuasions together to come to the aid of their fellow men. People from… Read More »
President Aquino must have really been piqued being called the “Pork Barrel King” because after critics gave him that title, he went on a series of speeches attacking his critics and defending again his misuse of both the congressional pork barrel, the Priority Development Assistance Fund, and his own pork funds, the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP). Aquino added… Read More »
Somebody should call the dare of President Aquino to impeach him. Although it is close to impossible that his partners in crime in Congress would vote to impeach, much less convict him, filing an impeachment complaint would at least put on record that there was an attempt to remove him. At the same time, people would know how… Read More »
The people cheered when President Aquino called them his “bosses” as he thanked them for treading “the straight and righteous path” and creating change during his second State-of-the-Nation address on July 25, 2011. Now, more than two years later, his sincerity in calling the people his “bosses” and in promising to tread the “daang matuwid” with them is… Read More »
The problem with our so-called public servants is that they join the government hoping to make money out of it and to enjoy the perks and privileges that often go with the position. Thus, after every presidential election, supporters of the winning candidate jockey for so-called juicy positions, such as directorship in government-owned and controlled corporations. The government… Read More »
My heart raced fast as we approached Binan Doctors Hospital last Friday. My daughter and I had just landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and asked to be driven straight to the hospital where my 89-year-old mother had been lying in bed for 19 days. My brother had e-mailed me two days earlier to suggest that if… Read More »
Isn’t it ironic that an administration that was propelled to power on a promise of honesty and transparency should now stagger under the weight of suspicions of corruption and dishonesty? And isn’t it a pity that the people who were hoping to be liberated from decades of despair by this administration should now again become hopeless about their… Read More »
“Kahindik-hindik” (horrifying). That was how Commission on Audit Chairman Ma. Gracia Pulido-Tan described the anomalies involving the misuse of billions of pesos in funds coming from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or simply the pork barrel. Perhaps a better word would be “nakakasuka” (makes one vomit). The COA special audit report all but confirmed the series of… Read More »
I thought President Aquino was done blaming all the country’s troubles on the previous administration. But obviously, the blame game continues, and will probably go on for the duration of his term. After a laudable State-of-the-Nation Address in July in which he did not blame the Arroyo administration for the country’s ills for the first time and instead… Read More »