How Insensitive

June 24th, 2008

Maybe its just me, or maybe its because I happen to know someone who’s brother is still listed among the missing from the sunken MV Princess of the Stars but I find the management of Sulpicio Lines to have been pretty insensitive to the families of the victims.
During the press conference held by the company, […]

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A Ray of Hope?

June 3rd, 2008

The recent appointments of General Alexander Yano to AFP Chief of Staff and Lila de Lima to the Commission on Human Rights bode well for an improvement in the Arroyo regime’s human rights record.  Yano’s remarks at his appointment that he would tolerate neither military adventurism or  extrajudicial killings shows an intention to adhere more […]

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Where Is Jonas Burgos?

May 1st, 2008

One year ago, activist Jonas Burgos was having a late lunch at a restaurant at the Ever Gotesco Shopping Mall in Quezon City when he was kidnapped by four armed men and a woman.
Witnesses say the kidnappers dragged Burgos into maroon Toyota Revo with plate number  TAB 194.  The Revo, along with two other vehicles […]

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Why Rice is So Expensive

April 21st, 2008

At the risk of oversimplifying things, here’s an explanation of why rice prices are skyrocketing.
In a recent interview, Albay Governor and former stock market analyst Joey Salceda put the different pieces of the global economic puzzle together to explain why food prices are so high. Taking the core of his analysis, adding bits and […]

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China Admits Spratly Deal was for “Exploration”

March 12th, 2008

Acknowledging Article 12 Section 2 of the Constitution, the Arroyo regime has defined the debate over the legality of the Spratly deal in the follwing terms. The president is empowered to enter into exploration and development agreements with foreign entities PROVIDED that she notify Congress within 30 days of the execution of the agreement.
She did not […]

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First the Spratlys, Next Palawan?

March 9th, 2008

I have written that according to my sources, the China-Philippines Spratly deal was an explicit precondition to the $2 billion a year in loans that the Chinese government committed to the Philippines. This item from no less than the Office of the Press Secretary shows that the Northrail loan was granted at the same […]

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Treason

February 27th, 2008

Allow me to expound a little on a story I did for The Correspondents on February 19th.
Seven countries claim ownership of the disputed Spratly Islands, just off of Palawan. China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malsysia, Indonesia, Brunei, and the Philippines all claim to own part or all of the Spratlys. These overlapping claims have been […]

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A Series of Unfortunate Incidents

February 21st, 2008

If I were Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, I would be demanding someone’s head.  I’m not  talking about Romy Neri, who called her “evil” or Joey Salceda who called her a bitch.
I mean the guy who’s bright idea it was to (allegedly) kidnap and possibly liquidate Jun Lozada when he got back from Hong Kong.  It added just […]

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Bizarro World

February 14th, 2008

Why is it so hard to do the right thing in this country?
In the ZTE story, Jun Lozada and Romy Neri tried to play ball with the powers-that-be and as long as they did they were fine. But when they began to talk about the corruption in the ZTE National Broadband deal, security forces surrounded […]

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Lozada vs Neri?

February 9th, 2008

Of the many things that came to light since Jun Lozada emerged from the shadows of what he calls “The Dark Side”of the State, one thing that struck me was the role that his former boss Romulo Neri has taken on. Neri, as many of you will recall, was the original whistleblower here. He set […]

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