President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is reaping recognition for taking the ingenious step against China. The measured transparency policy as a way of pushing back against the forceful harassment is finding its mark as China has needed to justify, one-sided as it may be, its actions in the West Philippine Sea. …
Read More »Editorial
Innovation: Key to sustainable development amid climate change
Community participation is key to the attainment of sustainable development — a goal that seems attainable, yet remains an elusive proposition in the fact of continuing challenges. Sustainable development refers simply to how we can satisfy the current demands and preserve the capacity of future generations to do the same. …
Read More »Flexi-work won’t cut it
Back here in the Philippines, the government, instead of focusing solely on flexi-work arrangements, should prioritize long-term solutions to the transport crisis in the metro. A proposal of the Civil Service Commission, or CSC, to implement flexible work arrangements for government employees in Metro Manila, while seemingly well-intentioned, presents a …
Read More »EDSA’s lesson
US President Ronald Reagan watched all this from the White House. He had initially refused to ask Marcos to step down, offering him, instead, asylum. 24 February, 38 years ago today — The third day, which saw Juan Ponce Enrile, Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr.’s defense minister for 16 years and …
Read More »Who dropped the ball?
The suspension will be a major blow to Filipino athletes, especially those bidding to see action in the Paris Olympics. No amount of spinning or sugarcoating can hide the fact that the Philippines is on the brink of being banned from the international sports arena after it failed to comply …
Read More »Egos gone astray
Con-ass will leave to Congress the task of Cha-cha, but the Constitution is vague about the interplay between the Senate and the House. The Charter change express should examine long and hard where it is heading and consider canceling the trip since the debate has been reduced to who is …
Read More »Plastic waste: Let’s work on the recycle part of waste management
The 3-R slogan of waste management is “Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.” While an intensified information campaign can encourage households to reduce, reuse and recycle waste materials, there is much room for government and private sectors to raise the efficiency of the recycle part of the 3-R slogan, especially for plastic …
Read More »ES reminder timely
A strong deterrent to efforts to mangle the yearly budget and the culprits getting away with it is Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who, as Associate Justice, was the “ponente” or author of the 2014 Supreme Court ruling that declared the Disbursement Acceleration Program, or DAP, unconstitutional. He later became Chief …
Read More »Undying hunger for pork
In a landmark ruling in 2013, the Supreme Court declared the pork barrel system unconstitutional, mainly the Priority Development Assistance Fund, or PDAF, that provided yearly to each senator P200 million and each House member P70 million “for projects.” The decision was pivotal since it invalidated all forms of lump …
Read More »AKAP’s suspicious origin
There were no minutes of the meeting between the Senate and House panels in the bicam to reconcile conflicting provisions in the budget, nor did the media cover it. Budget insertions are back under the Senate’s lens after legislators stumbled on a suspicious item that surreptitiously popped up in the …
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