MANILA The first point to make is: don’t call them “Million People” marches against the sensational pork barrel scam here because the turnouts so far have been nowhere close to that number. Nobody is complaining about this discrepancy between the advertised turnout and the actual numbers because people are loath to be called spoilsports or killjoys and attract… 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 »
CHICAGO (FAXX/jGLi) – The honeymoon of President Aquino with the Filipino people is apparently coming to an end. And he has nobody to blame but his instinct and his sub-alterns. Mr. Aquino might claim to have anti-corruption crusade up his sleeve. But ask him about his labor and human rights records. In 2010, members of the Philippine Airlines… 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 »
Government of the People, for the People and By the People The government of the most powerful country in the world, the United States of America, has closed down! Thousands of Federal employees have been furloughed. Special benefits have stopped, national parks have been closed, and the military for a while did not get their pay. A veteran… Read More »
MANILA Under pressure from an angry public, the government here has charged three senators, several former congressmen, members of their staffs, and the alleged mastermind of serial theft of the people’s money with plunder, a non-bailable offense. The big fish among the accused include Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, a controversial political figure whose long career dates back to… Read More »
For several weeks now, the world has been on the brink of a disaster. The immediate trigger was the attack in Syria using chemical weapons that killed about one thousand adults and more or less 400 children. The published videos of the incident were horrific; children and adults gasping for breath, rows and rows of the dead, young… Read More »
When it rains it pours daw po. We hope it will stop here in the Philippines. We do not really mind the downpour that characterizes the country’s wet season. But we all pray that the downpour of revelations of scams and controversies stops at least for a while as we try to catch our breaths and find relief… Read More »
CHICAGO (FAXX/jGLi) – The squabble between Senate President Frank Drilon and Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago is giving fits to overseas Filipinos, who are willing to join and vet for honest and qualified people to act as placeholders when a big number of Senators and Congressmen will start to take a difficult trek to jail when the Ombudsman elevates plunder… Read More »
Member, Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE), Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada (NEPMCC) and Reporters Without Borders TORONTO – Seven out of 10 Filipinos 65 years and above live in poverty in Canada’s largest city and rely mainly on monthly government doleouts for their economic security, a study on Filipino seniors… Read More »