THE Filipino nation has another reason to celebrate—the recent victory of boxer Nonito Donaire Jr., who retained his flyweight crown against a dangerous South African challenger. While Donaire has not yet attained the super status of Manny Pacquiao, nonetheless, this victory should make us all proud.

As far as I’m concerned, news stories like this, when a countryman prevails over a foreigner in a contest of brains or brawn, is worth much better rating in the front pages of local dailies than a headline about the return of Joc-Joc Bolante. You see, it has been my long-time view that achievements of our compatriots are what we should consider better news because it makes us all stand taller, makes our country better-looking than what critics, including some in the media, want to depict as ugly and miserable, always emphasizing the bad news over the good which they wrongly believe is the selling point of their paper or broadcast network. Even the fourth-place finish of our young mathematics students who competed against the best in the world should rate larger print in our broad and scandal sheets, much better than talking about long-concluded Senate investigations which are more like political zar-zuela than “in aid of legislation.”

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FOR the first time since 2001, the Philippine Daily Inquirer established its readership dominance among broadsheets in Metro Manila in the third quarter of 2008, according to the Nielsen Media Index study for the quarter. The Inquirer elbowed out close rivals, Manila Bulletin and Philippine Star, for the readership lead position.

Nielsen Q3 2008 survey found that in Metro Manila, the Inquirer had a 47 percent readership among those who said they had read a broadsheet the day before. The Bulletin came second with 36 percent, while the Star was third with 34 percent. The Inquirer posted an 8 percentage point increase from the results of Nielsen’s index of 2008 Q2, when it had only 39 percent, the biggest readership jump in seven years.

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BACOLOD CITY — I have not read so strong an accusation of corruption here than the one recently released by Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines President and Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, together with four other Bishops.

The Lagdameo statement accused President Arroyo and her administration as corrupt, that there is social and moral cancer, and a need for having a new government.

Lagdameo is joined by Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz, Masbate Bishop Joel Baylon, Banga-Bata-an Bishop Socrates Villegas, and Legazpi Bishop Emeritus Jose Sorra.

Lagdameo told the press, the stand was his as Jaro Archbishop and not of CBCP, a product of “communal discernment” with the four other Bishops in calling for immediate reforms.

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THE Kingdom by the Lunok must now be in the era of prosperity after three straight terms of Datu Pandit as he himself so boasts. It is incredible that while the Kingdom by the River is being torched to the ground, the Kingdom by the Lunok on the other hand is similarly toppling from the rampage of a similar triumvirate.

The Kingdom by the River has the Trio Los Bobos comprising Kuyabog, Sirum-sirum and Tibakla.

The Kingdom by the Lunok has a similar rapacious team, the New Trio Los Bobos comprising Datu Pandit, Kitkit and Tokmol.

With his brand of governance, Datu Pandit led the Kingdom for three straight terms wandering in the wilderness of incompetence and corruption. His third and final term is already ending yet he has nothing to show but endless tales of shenanigans. His assistants, Kitkit and Tokmol helped him turn the kingdom into Chinatown.

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2nd of a series

GENERAL SANTOS CITY – The MOA-AD has been declared “contrary to law and the Constitution”. Any hope for it – now dead – to animate the peace process is moot. But what chance could it have had the Court been a little liberal?

The Decision has the answers.

The President’s Powers

As the Court has acknowledged, despite that the “constitutional provisions on autonomy and the statutes enacted pursuant to them have … been partially successful” with the creation of the ARMM, “the Filipino people are still faced with the reality of an on-going conflict between the Government and the MILF”. The Court saw the problem the MOA-AD intended to address. What’s surprising, however, was that it skirted its prescribed solution.

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BACOLOD CITY — The United States elects its President today, November 4 to them. Whoever they choose, Barack Obama or John McCain no one will question.

We will not hear them making charges of cheating or mass vote buying. The Americans will not allow themselves to be cheated. Nor will they allow themselves to be bought.

You cheat an American and you will have a fight. And they are the ones who spend for the candidates they like. Campaign funds come from the contributions of supporters. And they contribute not for a future sweetheart business deal with the new official. One contributes because he believes in the cause and in the person.

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PLANNING offices are regular features of provinces, cities and municipalities in the Philippines. These offices are mandated to chart the growth of their respective local governments and at the same time provide contingencies during crisis. But there are development issues that straddle across boundaries, giving birth to regional planning to effectively address concerns that are not exclusive to one local government. Regional planning has thus become a venue for sharing ideas, resources and actions so common problems can be attended to collectively.

However, recent environmental phenomena caused by climate change – like the flood that hit Iloilo City and neighboring municipalities – showed that regional planning may not just be enough to manage growth. In this era where the environment directs what development path communities should take, there is a need to look beyond political regions and start acknowledging that we don’t just live in cities, municipalities and provinces but also in watersheds, ecosystems and ecoregions.

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WITH the US presidential election just a breath away, Democrat Barack Obama is holding an average lead of 6 percentage points over Republican John McCain, according to Bloomberg. The Obama camp is talking about a landslide win, and McCain is battling to overcome his rival’s momentum in the polls, defiantly playing the underdog role.

McCain has blasted the media’s skeptical assessment of his chances in Tuesday’s election. “The pundits have written us off, just as they’ve done several times before,” he said. “We’re points down, but we’re coming back.”

McCain is fighting back in the face of the Bloomberg report that 10 polls released the past week showed Obama with leads ranging from 3 points in a Fox News Poll to 11 points in a New York Times/CBS News survey.

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THIS year’s US presidential election will go down in history as a gripping tale of high drama and epic struggle. On Tuesday, November 4 history will be made. If the trend holds, Barack Obama will become the first black president of the United States.

Obama’s rise in American politics is astounding and awesome. A first term senator at a young age of 47, he is poised to lead the most powerful nation in the world. His victory is not just a personal one. It represents the triumph of the black people, particularly in America who endured a long history of discrimination, oppression and marginalization.

The black people in America had gone a long, long way since the time slave traders captured their ancestors in Africa like animals and sold them like commodities in the slave markets in the New World. In America, they suffered maltreatment from the whites that considered them less human.

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THE Massachusetts Port Authority has installed 20 wind turbines on the roof of its main office center at Boston Logan Airport. The eight foot tall turbine towers will generate power equivalent to 2% of the building’s monthly energy use. Investment is $140,000 and will provide an annual savings of $13,000 in electricity cost at the same time saving about one ton of CO2 per year. The payout period is 10.77 years without considering cost of money. We can see from the preceding figures that indeed wind power is NOT YET economically feasible and cannot serve the entire power needs (in this case only a miniscule 2%!) of a given establishment. And so RISE (Responsible kuno Ilonggos for Sustainable Energy) should stop boasting that wind power is the alternative energy source to replace the 164-MW coal fired power plant of Global Business Power as power source in Iloilo, besides there is NO wind energy potential in the entire Panay and Guimaras Island.

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