We beg to differ.
About a week ago, I wrote a column for my regular Manila Times gig praising the efforts of a Facebook group called “Masbate Talks” for taking the ordinary social media group format a couple productive steps farther, and turning it into a model of public attentiveness and interaction with their local government that could easily…
Read More “Masbate Government Doesn’t Want You People All Up In Their Business” »
The number of Filipinos who are getting fed up with Philippine President Benigno Simeon “BS” Aquino III is definitely growing. As Churchill would say, he has all the virtues they dislike and none of the vices they admire. Granted, there are still those who are in denial of the likelihood that BS Aquino personally benefits…
Read More “PNoy’s reason for keeping the PDAF is weak, pork barrel should be abolished” »
I think the pork barrel should be abolished. Some people think some people have benefited from pork barrel money and that abolishing it will be like throwing the baby out along with the bath water. Perhaps. But that is really the sort of Robin Hood mentality that has no place in a modern 21st Century…
Read More “PDAF and the jeepney: Why the pork barrel should be abolished” »
Sometimes, you’ll see things on your timelines (FB and Twitter) that you don’t expect to. Apparently, a few people think that it is a worthwhile exercise to compare former president Gloria Arroyo and current President Benigno Simeon Aquino III (BS Aquino), in terms of pork barrel and natural calamities faced. But then again, should we…
As indignation-fuelled momentum mounts in the lead-up to the planned “million people march” to the Luneta Grandstand at 9 a.m. on the 26th August, Monday, the obvious question What happens next? comes to mind owing to the immense challenge of bringing erring senators and House representatives to justice. The scale of the outrage over the…
The rains that came just this weekend intensified to the extent that come Monday, August 19, the resulting floods brought traffic in the Metro to a standstill. Several parts of Metro Manila had no choice but to call off class for all levels. Government offices were forced to declare “no work” due to the hazards…
I seem to be part of the lucky few in my city where 15 out of 18 barangays are submerged in water after a continuous downpour of ‘Maring’. The great revelation in all of this is that floodwaters always have a way of bringing all things to the surface. It is a trite simile of…
Lest anyone is tempted to buy the desperate attempt of the current occupant of Malacañang (to the extremely limited extent he has had anything at all to say about it) that abuse of the pork barrel is something that only happened when OTHER people were in charge, here’s a reminder from a little more than…