November 26th, 2008
We all knew the fourth attempt to impeach President Arroyo would not prosper regardless of what kind of arguments or facts the minority congressmen presented at the Justice Committee hearings.
Its never been a question of evidence or eloquence but where your bread is buttered. And for most congressmen, the butter comes from the general direction of the [...]
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November 21st, 2008
Sources within the House majority tell me that Rep. Luis Villafuerte has circulated a resolution in the Lower House to convene Congress into a constituent assembly to revise the 1987 Constitution. One source says as of Thursday night (20 November) more than 170 congressmen have signed the resolution. I spoke to a majority congressman who [...]
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November 18th, 2008
I’ve quickly pieced together an account of the senate coup, based on conversations with different sources. Allow me a disclaimer. This was done quickly, and while I believe that this narrative is generally accurate, I’m sure that some of the details will be disputed by some of the parties. This is not meant to portray anyone in a bad [...]
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October 14th, 2008
The People’s Alliance for Democracy, the group spearheading the protests against the Somchai government, and have managed to oust two prime mineters, has gained the support of the Thai Royal Family.
Queen Sirikit attended the funeral of a slain protestor and even donated a million baht to the families of the protestors.
Filipinos everywhere should share the [...]
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August 3rd, 2008
I just had a look at the Memorandum of Understanding between the Arroyo Regime and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and here are my INITIAL IMPRESSIONS:
It looks like genuine autonomy for the so called “Bangsamoro” people. The proposed Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) will have control over and claims to the resources of the ancestral homeland. [...]
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July 21st, 2008
The Cha-Cha train has left the station.
As we inch closer to 2010, the it looks as if the Palace is making one last attempt to extend the term of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and this time they’ve learned from their mistakes.
You see, unlike last time when the attempt to shift to a parliamentary form of government was clearly nothing [...]
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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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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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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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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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