Tag: pork barrel

Money laundering joins list of crimes that flourished under Noynoy Aquino government

March 18, 2016 Ilda 11 Comments

It looks like Philippine President Benigno Simeon Aquino is going out with a bang. Less than two months before the next Presidential Elections, an audacious cyber heist incident has sent shock waves around the world. If not for its sheer brazenness, that it involved a tiny Third World Catholic country like the Philippines makes this…

Crime, Government

Entrenched thievery: The Philippines remains home to institutionalised money laundering

March 18, 2016March 18, 2016 benign0 7 Comments

In an era that has seen the demise in just a couple of decades of the legendary secrecy that shrouded Swiss banking and the shadowy transactions of its princely clients, the Philippines stubbornly persists as a blight to global banking transparency thanks to its infamously outdated bank secrecy laws. Certainly it comes as no surprise…

Crime

The Philippines is worse off 30 years after the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution

February 24, 2016February 25, 2022 Ilda 408 Comments

I’m tired of reading stories from old farts about the so-called “people power” revolution that transpired at EDSA in 1986. These old-timers hold a tradition to relive the tale over and over and this year is no different as Filipinos set out to mark the 30th anniversary of the event. The stories seem to be…

Development, Economy, Politics

Daang Matuwid brought the Philippines straight down the highway to hell

February 5, 2016February 6, 2016 Ilda 42 Comments

Daang Matuwid. What the hell does it mean? Its literal translation in English is “straight path”. Without any context, it does not make a lot of sense. Straight path to where, exactly? However, its ambiguity helped launch the Presidency of a non-performing lawmaker Benigno Simeon ‘BS’ Aquino III back in 2010. A lot of people…

Crime, Development, Government, Politics

Filipinos need to rise and defeat the villains of Philippine society

January 23, 2016 Ilda 31 Comments

It has been said that every search for a hero must begin with something that every hero requires — a villain. In the Philippines, the search for a hero has been very hard. That’s because identifying the villain or villains who keep Filipinos chained to their wretched existence is harder. I believe that if Filipinos…

Politics, Society

5 Big Reasons President Aquino Will Be Remembered As A Failure Of A Man

January 19, 2016 Grimwald 22 Comments

Well, it seems we can all be grateful that President Aquino’s term is almost over. Indeed, just a few more nights and it looks like we can finally say good riddance to perhaps one of the worst regimes that ever graced Malacanang. Needless to say, I’m sure a lot of you feel relieved that in…

Crime, Government, Politics, Society

Mar Roxas is part of the Philippines’ problem and will not be an effective president

December 23, 2015 Ilda 71 Comments

Filipinos will be given another opportunity to change the course of their future in the 2016 Philippine Presidential Elections. The chance to remove power from the members of the oligarchy who have reigned with incompetence and mediocrity in the last 30 years is coming soon. One can only hope the voters will not waste this…

Development, Government, Politics

Episode X: Mar Mar Binks Runs for President

December 19, 2015 Charles Englund 14 Comments

In a galaxy not so far away… (Scene: the planet Pailofbeans. A great hall. Two Jedi, a Master and his Padawan, are talking) Master Englund: You seem troubled my young padawan. Padawan: Yes, Master Englund. I am confused. Chaos abounds in the Republic. Our senate is ineffective and corrupt. We used to be the second…

Culture, Government, Politics, Society