We beg to differ.
The traditional sins of omission of Senate investigations “in aid of legislation” are on exhibit again this being the an election year. Politics is tough in the Philippines. It’s tough everywhere but it’s tougher here because there is no such thing as a principled stand. It is mostly the business of show as an entertainer…
The edification of Noynoy Aquino continues. “Soul-searching” is often mentioned. Few of his faults are highlighted in death. It’s his achievements which are being bruited about along with the anecdotes about how “good” a person he was. I bought into all these in 1983 after his father former Senator Ninoy Aquino was assassinated. No Internet…
After years of muddling through the Philippines’ “justice” system, some progress in the crackdown on pork barrel politics has finally been made. Janet Lim Napoles now reportedly faces “jail time of 12 to 18 years for each count of malversation” after the Sandiganbayan ruled “Napoles, [former Cagayan de Oro representative Constantino Jaraula], and three others…
Screeching “activists” from the Philippine Opposition seem to be losing the plot. For them, the bigger outrage surrounding the persistent scourge of pork barrel politics in the Philippines is the recent placing of “Pork Queen” Janet Lim Napoles on a witness protection program by the Department of Justice (DOJ). The important aspect of the plot…
Read More “Janet Lim Napoles is worth more to Filipinos as a witness than as a jailed crook” »
So presidential candidate Mar Roxas (Mar), echoing President Noynoy Aquino’s (PNoy) refusal to lower income tax rates, claims that lower income tax rate would be detrimental to the Filipino people. He states that with a reduced collection in income taxes, many government programs where a lot of people benefit from would be compromised (e.g. PhilHealth,…
They say the best way to understand something complicated is to approach it the way a child would: ask simple questions. To understand the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, Filipinos should do the same – ask simple questions. Once people finally get down to the basics, they will soon realize how unrealistic, unnecessary and wasteful the…
Read More “The Bangsamoro Basic Law is not the solution to the conflict in Mindanao” »
The recently published report from the Commission on Audit (COA) has confirmed what some of us have suspected all along: the current Philippine government’s policy to uplift the status of the poor could be a scam for government officials to pocket public funds. The report is also a good case against the proposed Bangsamoro Basic…
Read More “Millions of pesos stolen in pork scam; now billions could be stolen under the BBL” »
So, yet again, we approach another seminal presidential election and there is much bubbling and foaming on the surface of the political scene. While the attention of the public has been focused on the turbulent surface of Philippine politics, few have appreciated the underlying reason behind that turbulence. For like the way rough rapids only…