I CONGRATULATE Ombudsman Ma. Merceditas Gutierrez for her admirable withdrawal from her nomination as candidate for the Supreme Court for the reason, she claims, that her nomination was awkward because of her impeachment case now pending in the House of Representatives.
She said delicadeza dictates that while her impeachment case in the House remains unsettled, she [...]

THE Filipino nation appreciates and thanks the international community for coming to the aid of our country in the aftermath of the devastating typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng.
This column, as well as Filipinos everywhere, wishes to express gratitude to our brothers across the seas, through the United Nations, for the immediate and substantial aids which have [...]

Apropos to my mention about Filipino youth in my last column, Section 13, Article II of the Constitution states, “The State may call upon the youth between fifteen and twenty-three to render service to the nation.”
In line with this and in view of the temper of the times, I believe we now have to reconsider [...]

I was proud to say in my last column that typhoon Ondoy, although manifestly the most destructive natural calamity for a long, long time, with losses to lives, property, business and infrastructure in the billions of pesos, expectedly brought out the best in the Filipino.
Even as we write, men, women and young people continue to [...]

IT is imperative that there should be a clarification of the recent Supreme Court decision against premature campaigning. Unless clarifications are made, so many announced candidates may be subjected to all kinds of harassments from many sectors, which may eventually detract from the proper discussion of legitimate issues, as the candidates may be sued left [...]

I HOPE Secretary Alberto Romulo, one of the Cabinet members whom I respect, will come to terms with his conscience and make up his mind. He should balance between his close affinity with the Aquinos and his present ties with the Arroyo administration with whom he owes loyalty.
In my view, if past liaison is to [...]

Several issues back, I commented on a number of publications touching on the subject of media in general and media practitioners in particular. For instance, I talked about the book Regret the Error, authored by Craig Silverman, with the theme of “How media mistakes pollute the press and imperil free speech.”
I also commented on a [...]

More sea tragedies claimed lives and ships these past few days. The SuperFerry 9 of Aboitiz Transport System sank off the murky waters near Zamboanga, and oil has begun to spill in the sea surrounding it, threatening the ecosystem and the fishing industry in Zamboanga del Norte.
Fortunately this incident was not as disastrous as that [...]

The Senate has reopened the Zhong Xing Telecommunications Equipment Co. Ltd. (ZTE) case, although memory serves, committee chairman Sen. Richard Gordon had already announced a few months back that this particular investigation was already closed. In fact, I understand that a committee report was already forthcoming.
All of a sudden, however, because the Ombudsman released its [...]

Bro. Mike Velarde, spiritual leader of the El Shaddai charismatic movement, recently inaugurated his church said to cost some P1 billion. This manifests the great wealth of the El Shaddai ministry and we can imagine the tithes flowing into its coffers during each El Shaddai gathering. And of course, Bro. Mike is the first to [...]