THE saying that “when the US sneezes, the whole world gets a cold,” is again coming true with the latest hard fall of the Lehman
Brothers investment bank and Merryl Lynch.
Sadly, there is news that AIG, which is the mother company of Philamlife, is reported to be floundering, except that the US federal government has rescued [...]

THE headline of one of the major dailies which has a penchant for finding faults in the government screamed about a supposed rice scam.
According to this newspaper, the irregularities were discovered in last year’s P218.7-million rice-related expenditures incurred by the Department of Agriculture (DA) on hybrid rice, certified seeds, farm inputs and fertilizers for farmers [...]

THERE was something positive about the failure of the government to implement the frontloading of expenditures which was announced during the first quarter. That was when we began feeling the impact of the global energy and food crises, aggravated by speculation, as well as manipulation, by unscrupulous traders.
At least, we avoided loss of public funds [...]

THE Supreme Court deserves the gratitude of the nation for the fast action it has taken in connection with the Court of Appeals (CA) scandal. We should congratulate the three-man panel of retired justices, headed by Justice Carolina Griño Aquino, which conducted the marathon hearings and made the recommendations to the Supreme Court.
By and large, [...]

DESPITE gloomy predictions from the Cassandras of darkness in this country, a silver lining appears from the report of Fitch Ratings, one of the more notable international financial monitoring groups which said the flow of foreign direct investments (FDI) to the Philippines “has remained largely stable, but the regional situation appears to be changing, with [...]

SOMEBODY asked me that with the global economy bottomed out, how could I see recovery in light of the easing of oil and commodity prices?
I responded that it is too early to say that the global economy is improving. Just look at the subprime problem in the United States, which triggered the worldwide credit crunch. [...]

I AGREE that the Intramuros Authority Administration should be charged for the massive cutting down of trees in Plaza Roma right in front of the Manila Cathedral.
I don’t think Intramuros Administrator Anna Maria “Bambi” Harper can claim ignorance that the cutting of these trees was against the law. But even assuming that she is ignorant [...]

DR. LYDIA Depra Ramos, Department of Health (DOH) regional director for Region 6, has been repeatedly announced as “outgoing director” of the region. But she is still lording it over, notwithstanding the fact that other officials and employees of Region 6 are already nauseated at the very sight of this notorious person. She must really [...]

THE double-digit drop in earnings of major players in the banking industry in this year’s first semester was not unexpected. It was caused by the global credit crunch triggered by the subprime crisis in the United States. And this impact continues to be felt today.
When the subprime crisis hit, I remember the immediate reaction of [...]

THE government is correct in trying to restrain the so-called Ilaga group in Mindanao because of the past notoriety of the vigilante group.
However, I will not begrudge these Visayan vigilantes if they will rearm in order to defend their families and homes from the deprivation of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) forces; after all, self-defense [...]