THE PUBLIC be forewarned that there is an impostor who has been calling me and saying he is Atty. Mike Arroyo, the President’s husband, but every time I return his calls or his messages, he refuses to acknowledge or answer his cell phone.
Curious, I had his messages monitored, and it appears that this person is [...]

WHEN the Philippines joined the race to become industrialized several decades ago, it was at the expense of agriculture. The thinking then was that progressive countries must be industrialized, and that being an agricultural economy was being backward.
We now know that was a mistake. We forgot that the United States, one of the most industrial [...]

THE Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has asked the President for a restudy of the value-added tax on oil, and the oil-deregulation law for possible amendment or outright scrapping in the hope to ease the escalating price of oil which, in turn, influences the prices of basic commodities in the market.
The position of [...]

I BELIEVE it is now the best time for me to express my appreciation and gratitude to those kind-hearted individuals and groups that, without being asked, voluntarily gave valuable support to our efforts to provide assistance to all those who suffered loss of property and even lives as a result of killer Typhoon Frank.
There are [...]

WHEN the President presents her State of the Nation Address (Sona) before the joint session of Congress and the people a few weeks from now, I sense a dilemma confronting the Chief Executive in the light of our current situation.
Politicians in the past like to downplay the setbacks and the gloomy part of the country’s [...]

THE COLOMBIAN commando operations which rescued former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt from her guerrilla captors should be studied carefully by our own Army rescue specialists, as well as the special forces of the Marines and the police. Such precision could help them in rescue operations, especially in the troubled areas of Mindanao and particularly in [...]

THE ANNOUNCED claim of former Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr. that he was approached by someone who offered to kill the President is not only a queer incident, but also indicates that former VP Guingona must have considered the threat against the President as frivolous. Either that or the former Veep is irresponsible.
If Guingona considered [...]

IS THE P500 power subsidy granted by the President to electric consumers legal, and therefore a sound and compassionate presidential policy? Some sectors have questioned the validity of this subsidy, particularly former national treasurer Leonor Briones and Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. In answer to various speculations, we put the country to rest with [...]

THE SLOWDOWN in the growth of the economy to 5.2 percent in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) in the first three months of 2008 shows our vulnerability to developments in the Middle East, where our oil comes from, and the United States, where a large part of our products are exported; in addition the [...]

THE 110th Independence Day commemoration programs all over the country posted many “firsts” in our history.
It was the first time the day was a working holiday. It was said to be the least costly of all other celebrations as organizers did away with parades and costly displays and, instead, tapped various government agencies to provide [...]