The most sensible thing I heard from the Philippines in the past week were the words coming from Senators Franklin Drilon and Allan Peter Cayetano, who said there would be no let-up in the investigation by the Senate blue ribbon committee of the corruption allegations against the ailing Arroyos. Drilon and Cayetano were, of course, referring to Gloria… Read More »
CHICAGO (jGLi) – The Manila Hostage Crisis a year ago devastated the Philippine tourism industry just as 9/11 caused inbound tourism in the United States to take a nosedive. But unlike the United States, which does not have a national tourism czar, the Philippines is one of the many developing countries, which elevated the duties of promoting the… Read More »
Does President Noynoy Aquino’s refusal to apologize to relatives of the eight Chinese victims who died in the infamous Luneta hostage taking incident a sign of arrogance or lack of sensitivity? Trekking to Manila to remember the first anniversary of the tragic August 23, 2010, the Chinese kins presented four demands from the President among them the issuance… Read More »
I don’t get it. The Aquino administration is willing to face the wrath of an emerging superpower with at least a million-strong army to uphold its sovereignty over a group of small islets and shoals in the middle of the South China Sea, but is ready to surrender sovereignty over most of Mindanao, an area once called the… Read More »
The scandal that erupted under the watchful eye of Bureau of Customs Commissioner Angelito “Joselito” Alvarez has created a maelstrom of controversy calling for an investigation and dismissal of Alvarez. But, strangely, Malacañang doesn’t seem to know – or chose not to know – what’s going on at the Bureau of Customs since January 2011 when the first… Read More »
The news here continues to swirl around Gloria Arroyo, her husband and sundry family members. If all the latest allegations against the Arroyos are true, this family’s transgressions against the Filipino people are second only to Ferdinand Marcos’s depredations during the martial-law period in the 1970s-80s. But let’s forget about the Arroyos for now. After all, there’s been… Read More »
Early this week the whole of Canada, most especially the Greater Toronto Area, was deeply saddened by the news of the passing away of the leader of the National Democratic Party, the Honourable Jack Layton. He was the leader of the official opposition party in the Federal Parliament in Ottawa. Jack Layton as everyone in Canada addressed him,… Read More »
This piece has nothing to do with a Shakespearean play. It is rather exactly what it was or is: all’s well that ends well. It all started with a call for help from a friend whom I have not seen nor heard from for many years. Well, when you are in this part of the globe it is… Read More »
And I thought the Philippines’ corrupt politicians are the worst. It turns out America’s own “dysfunctional politicians,” as global rating agency Standard & Poor’s describe them, can destroy this great nation just as badly as highly contentious politics tears the Philippines apart on a regular basis. In downgrading the United States’ credit rating for the first time ever… Read More »
Will she? Visualize the scenario: Gloria Arroyo in drab orange with a big “P” on her back (the “P” not signifying President but Prisoner), languishing in a women’s penal facility somewhere in the Philippines, mopping floors or scrubbing the grime off toilet bowls, her trademark pout now permanently lodged on her face. She might not even be safe… Read More »