We beg to differ.
Rioting. Looting. Mugging. Stealing. These are activities people would normally associate with street gangs. But the recent mayhem in London that involved all those activities has baffled every expert in every society. They are baffled because the people involved didn’t just come from the “alienated poor, those without hope, lashing out in rage and despair. 
Read More “Rioting in London: How it could happen in the Philippines” »
Quite a number of Filipinos were shocked by the news that Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri had filed his resignation following allegations of electoral fraud during the 2007 senatorial elections. The move was a first in Philippine political history. There has been no Filipino public official on record who resigned out of delicadeza or shame in…
Read More “Senator Zubiri resignation: Is it an admission of guilt?” »
People who believed they were right, continue to believe that they are right, and then go on to make people believe they are right, and then proceed to surround themselves with people they have successfully persuaded to see this self-conceived righteousness… Perhaps this is one of many ways a psychopath is made, and from which…
“Pinpoint the mastermind behind the Hello Garci scandal and prosecute all those who participated in this shameless act”. These are the exact words of deposed former president and convicted plunderer, Joseph “Erap” Estrada regarding allegations of cheating in the 2004 Presidential elections. His statement reeks of vendetta. It seemed like a good idea then, but…
Read More “Election fraud did not just happen in 2004, it happened in other elections too!” »
Making news today is another blast from the past — the re-opening of the 2004 election cheating scandal that engulfed most of former President Gloria Arroyo’s term from then ’til 2009 and a new investigation mounted on the back of a possible testimony from Zaldy Ampatuan and Lintang Bedong both of whom have admitted to…
Read More “Why re-opening the Hello Garci case is like the second invasion of Iraq” »
Filipinos do not know what they want. In 1986, hundreds of thousands of Filipinos took to the streets to rally against the late strongman, former President Ferdinand Marcos. The three-day protest eventually led to the ousting of the so-called “dictator” and alleged human rights violator. Twenty five years later, Filipinos from the Mindanao region of…
The longer I write about Philippine society and its politics, the more convinced I get that the country’s state of law and order is a joke. Take Davao City for instance. All this time I thought that the city was a model for what following the “rule of law” could do. It turns out, to…
The imbroglio Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte suddenly finds herself in after she punched court sheriff Abe Andres on the face in front of TV cameras is becoming complicated. It is complicated by her family’s uncoordinated public relations approach as evident in the belligerent stance her father, now acting Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, exhibited when he…
