We beg to differ.
The Coco Levy Scam orchestrated by former President Ferdinand Marcos and his cronies (foremost of which was Danding Cojuangco) during the Marcos Dictatorship, taxed the coconut farmers in the guise of developing the coconut industry and alleviating the plight of the marginalized coconut farmer. Instead, the substantial funds generated from the Levy over the course…
Read More “The Coco Levy Scam, Danding Cojuangco and Grace Poe” »
“Hindi kaunlaran ng nakararami. Kaunlaran lang ng iilan.” This is what Marlon Angara, a fisherfolk from Casiguran, said when asked about what he thinks of Aurora Pacific Economic Zone or APECO. He is one of the locals who are at risk of losing their land and livelihood to give way for the construction of a…
I am normally ambivalent to calls for street protests organised around objects of “outrage” that could have been mitigated or prevented if Filipinos had simply participated in democratic governance properly and intelligently (such as voting wisely and applying a critical mind to politicians’ trite populist rhetoric). So I have mixed feelings about the latest call…
There is enough evidence to suggest that the passing of the Cybercrime Law was railroaded or rushed to avoid further scrutiny by the members of Congress. First, Senator Chiz Escudero quickly admitted “it was a personal oversight that the clause including libel among the crimes punishable under the new law was inserted in the committee…
Read More “Lawmakers who rushed to pass Cybercrime Law are now rushing to amend it” »
The Philippines indeed is a glitzy world of dynastic politics. The following signatories to the impeachment complaint of former Philippine Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona (of a total 188 signatories) are direct relatives of three Senator-Judges during the trial — Senators Edgardo Angara, Jinggoy Estrada, and Juan Ponce Enrile — who voted to issue…
Read More “All in the family: father-son-brother tandems that impeached Corona” »
Media people whether they be old-school journalists, “on-line reporters” or Web publishers (such as bloggers and much of the rest of humanity who have access to Facebook and Twitter among others) are up in arms about the raft of “anti-media” bills being drafted and passed in Congress. Critics of these measures assert that these “anti-media”…
Read More “Philippine Congress mints new anti-cybercrime and anti-slander laws” »
The impeachment trial of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona is about to resume after a six-week break. Thanks to a few objective Senator Judges of the impeachment court who admonished the prosecution team for giving information that had not yet been introduced in court to the media, the prosecutors have been compelled to stay…
Read More “Corona Impeachment: things the prosecutors wish the public would forget” »