It cannot be Bongbong
Fr. Wilfredo Dulay asks: How can we return to a golden age that we never had?
It cannot be Bongbong
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Dispute on FM Jr.’s running to pervade poll campaign
Dispute on FM Jr.’s running to pervade poll campaign
Marcos Jr. was tried and convicted of violating the 1977 NIRC in 1995 by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court, which imposed on him the following: 1) three-year imprisonment and a fine of P30,000 for “failure to file income tax return for the year 1985” and 2) three-year imprisonment and another P30,000 fine for “failure to pay income tax for the year 1985.”
Controlling the media narrative
Controlling the media narrative
From what he said during those interviews, it seems that what he is trying to pass off as his platform of government mostly consists of plans to revive his father’s discredited and long-dead programs. Among them is the revival of the training program for OFWs that during the Marcos Sr. dictatorship encouraged the export of Filipino labor as a cure-all for the unemployment problem that the Marcos Sr. regime could have solved by making more jobs within the country available.
World jurists weigh in on the ATA, red-tagging
World jurists weigh in on the ATA, red-tagging
Thus, the jurist body recommended that national and local government officials – including members of the National Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) – must refrain from labeling HRDs as terrorists. Any credible accusation of terrorist conduct must be pursued “through the rule of law, cognizable charges, compliance with due process and the right to a fair trial by a competent independent and impartial court,” it emphasized.
The elephant in the room
The elephant in the room
Marcos Junior’s claim about self-sufficiency in rice was similarly false. There was a rice crisis during much of his father’s reign, with people lining up for the cereal for hours, and mixing rice with corn. Alternative means of generating power were indeed explored during the last years of Marcos’ rule, but these attempts, such as the corruption-ridden, badly designed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, never made any difference in assuring reliable power sources beyond the 1980s.
Marcos slogans are just tactics, but…
Marcos slogans are just tactics, but…
If elected President, expect his policies in such areas as dealing with social unrest and the armed social movements to be influenced and shaped by the military’s perspectives and interests. Among other consequences, it will mean the persistence and worsening of the human rights crisis that has constricted what little remains of what passes for democracy in the Philippines.
Insulting presidential bets for supporting peace talks
Insulting presidential bets for supporting peace talks
Last Monday, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) director-general Alex Paul Monteagudo insinuated it would be “insane” to resume peace talks with the Left, claiming it would surely fail as it did in the past. The four presidential aspirants, he reportedly said, were just trying to “gain votes” by appearing to be statesmen.
No Exit
No Exit
Well thought-out, pro-active policies based on informed and rigorous analysis could have helped the country navigate the treacherous waters of the pandemic from its very onset in 2020. The need for them was especially evident during the last quarter of 2021, as well as at the present time. But they are precisely what were and are still missing in the far from strategic and purely reactive government response to the pandemic.
Philippines growth leads in Asean but downside risks remain
Philippines growth leads in Asean but downside risks remain
Back to the World Bank, the multilateral lending institution surmised that with the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, the pandemic would likely continue to disrupt economic activity in the near term. Besides this prospect, it warned that the notable slowing down in major economies – including the United States and China, the two largest – would adversely affect external demand (exports) in emerging and developing economies.
Challenge and opportunity
Challenge and opportunity
Much of the lies and rewriting of history that feed that preference are deliberately cultivated by the trolls and hacks in print and broadcast media in the pay of those handful of families that have monopolized political power in these isles for decades and who want to keep it whatever the cost to this country and its people. Those dynasties are not only threatening to completely overwhelm the relatively few adherents of reason, democratic choice, reform, and just plain civility among the citizenry. They are also flourishing by using the ideology of dominance, repression, and exploitation that lives on in what passes for the minds not only of the ruling oligarchy but also of its benighted followers.
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Challenges to terror law will continue before SC
Challenges to terror law will continue before SC
Practically all the petitioners and their lawyers who have spoken up welcomed these two rulings. However, they found these inadequate, arguing that other provisions that would similarly curtail civil and political rights should be declared unconstitutional as well.
Skepticism pays
Skepticism pays
To Filipino skepticism over Mr. Duterte’s seeming turn-around over China’s latest act of intimidation in Philippine territorial waters must thus be added the need to be especially alert over the distinct possibility that the 2022 elections will not solely be a contest among Filipinos but also another arena of contention between two of the most powerful countries on the planet.
On heroism and the duty to stand up vs tyranny
On heroism and the duty to stand up vs tyranny
“The ugly head of tyranny, lies and deceit has raised itself in the most difficult of times as we find ourselves in a pandemic of massive disinformation and historical distortion never seen before in Philippine political history.” Historical distortion, he stressed, “must be confronted with historical truth. Historical wrongs should be rectified by justice in the Bangsamoro as well as in the rest of the country.”
Reporting the circus
Reporting the circus
As part of the commitment to issue-focused reporting, they also pledged to look into and report on the track records of candidates, check and challenge false information and hate speech, provide the context of whatever events and issues may arise, monitor the independence of the State and other agencies involved in the elections, and encourage and support best practice in journalism.
Systems failure
Systems failure
It should be more than evident by now that only the election of a halfway decent, competent, and honest alternative to the present regime can at least begin the process of halting the country’s descent into failed State sta-tus. But that can happen only if the mass of the electorate has learned enough from the experience of the last six years to elect the officials the country so desperately and so urgently needs.
Expanding US military presence in Phl bases
Expanding US military presence in Phl bases
Looking at all these, one can surmise the rise of probable national security risk should a militarily powerful country deemed as enemy by the US opt to make a preemptive attack on the US facilities inside Philippine bases (a prospect which President Duterte has said he dreads). And with American soldiers practically being present year-round, the old social ills entailed by their previous presence, such as the prostituting of women near the bases, are likely to worsen.
Head scratchers: ’22 budget, apology for drug lord slay
Head scratchers: ’22 budget, apology for drug lord slay
Duterte said they were members of a drug ring operating not only in the Philippines but in the whole of Southeast Asia. He identified one of them as Youhua Xu, who he said is “one of the biggest shabu importers in the Philippines. He was a member of a transnational drug trafficking organization.”
Escape from freedom
Escape from freedom
In the Philippines, the above events of September at home and abroad have added to widespread citizen fatigue and resistance in exercising the sovereign right and duty of checking government excesses, holding it accountable, and demanding and struggling for the changes the country has needed for decades.
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