Once again, President Benigno “P-Noy” Aquino III appointed a family friend to an important – and sensitive — government position notwithstanding allegations that his appointee, Domingo Lee, does not have the qualifications and experience required of the job as Ambassador to China. And to think that China is the second most important ambassadorial post, next to the United… Read More »
In a desperate attempt to protect herself from prosecution for plunder, former president and now congresswoman Gloria Macapagal Arroyo informed the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) of her opposition to the nomination of retiring Supreme Court justice Conchita Carpio-Morales to be the next Ombudsman. While it’s not uncommon for anybody to lodge an opposition to a nominee to… Read More »
With the abrupt resignation of Ombudsman Merceditas “Merci” Gutierrez, the door is now wide open for President Benigno “P-Noy” Aquino III to fulfill his election promise of bringing ex-president and now-congresswoman Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to justice. Indeed, with three cases – and more coming — already filed against her, karmic whammy is hitting Gloria with a punishing jolt… Read More »
By injecting a dose of politics, a seemingly routine execution by lethal injection of three drug traffickers – or “drug mules” – in China has become an international cause célèbre. President Benigno “P-Noy” Aquino III’s intervention and the frenzy of media attention, before and after the executions, have caused a lot of people to wonder, “What is this… Read More »
Ever since two brave military officers and a courageous government auditor came out to expose corruption in the military and the Commission on Audit (COA), two earth-shaking events occurred that could break through the massive “walls” that were built to protect corrupt officials during the nine-year presidency of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. On February 14, 2011, Bayan Muna party-list… Read More »
Last December 16, 2010, in a move that surprised the Aquino administration, Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia (ret.) pleaded guilty to a lesser crime of direct bribery and facilitating money laundering. In return, Garcia would surrender P135 million out of the P303 million he allegedly plundered. As part of the plea bargain, Garcia “cleared” his wife Clarita and sons… Read More »
Descendants of Great War veterans, in period uniforms, shake hands at the 2008 unveiling of a memorial to the truce. In 1914, ninety-six years ago, during the Great War — or World War I as we call it today — the British and French armies were manning the 27-mile Western Front fiercely defending French territory from the advancing… Read More »
The ouster of Gov. Fr. Ed Panlilio from the governorship of Pampanga once again reinforces the belief that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is being used to “terminate” the political lives of the enemies of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Panlilio was the third governor who got axed for not playing ball with Gloria. The day before Panlilio’s ouster,… Read More »
The term “pork barrel” refers to the use of government funds that are intended to benefit the constituents of a politician in return for their votes. In effect, it is an institutionalized — and legalized — form of vote-buying. So, whoever controls the allocation of pork barrel funds wields immense political power. In the nine years that President… Read More »
According to most accounts, the rigging of the 2004 and 2007 elections — which resulted in the election of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and the 12-0 sweep of the administration’s senatorial slate in Mindanao — was the work of the “Garci boys.” In 2005, wiretapped conversations — the “Hello Garci” tapes — between Gloria and Virgilio “Garci” Garcillano… Read More »