Tag: To Take A Stand

“I am an accidental chief justice. I know that you have expected maybe another individual to be appointed to this office,” said Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin when he spoke before justices and employees of the Supreme Court in the first flag-raising ceremony attended by him as chief justice. So he asked his colleagues: “Please accept me. I ask you to welcome me, to love me, to support me, to help me in my 11 months.”

Just as he had promised to change the system established by the elitist leaders of the past during his campaign for the presidency, President Rodrigo Duterte has remained the same man that he was when he was the mayor of Davao City. He has kept the simple lifestyle that he lived for 22 years as Mayor Digong.

While researching on the subject matter to understand the motivations behind it, I came across this piece from the Daily Pnut. Below is the abridged version of this amusing analysis.

Detractors of President Rodrigo Duterte cannot believe the findings of Social Weather Stations (SWS) that 70% of adult Filipinos are satisfied with the President’s performance and that the country is in the right direction despite the high prices of basic commodities, the drug trade still thriving, and incidents of crime as rampant as before.

Writer Jeff Haden spoke to a number of Special Forces operators about perseverance, developing the right mindset, and how the only limits we really have are self-imposed -- adaptability, attitude, mental toughness -- and that in life there’s no finish line. One of them, Herbert Thompson, a Special Forces (Green Beret) team leader shared a story of a combat mission he undertook replete with leadership lessons.

On Oct. 17, 2018, House of Representatives Speaker Gloria Arroyo spoke before the delegates to the 139^th International Parliamentary Union (IPU) General Assembly at the Centre for International Conference Geneve in Geneva, Switzerland. Mrs. Arroyo was head of the Philippine delegation to the IPU assembly.

One of the lies told by Juan Ponce Enrile in that pathetic video interview by Bongbong Marcos was that Bongbong’s father imposed martial law to save the country from the Communist threat. Actually, he imposed martial law to retain power beyond 1973 when his second term was to expire.

Filipinos are being destabilized by all kinds of risks -- political, safety and security, economic and external. It’s not that we’re new to it but we’ve never been through all that’s happening at the same time in rising intensity, real or imagined. What am I referring to? Hang on to your seats as I run through my list.

If Bongbong Marcos had hoped to present a revised version of the story of the martial law years by conducting that scripted video interview of Juan Ponce Enrile, he instead provoked an across-the-board retelling of what really happened during that dark period in our history.

As a direct witness to history spanning 48 years since my graduation from college, I can say that we haven’t learned from history’s valuable lessons.

It rained every day from September 1 to 19, 1972, placing Metro Manila and Central Luzon under water. Hundreds of lives were lost and crops worth millions were destroyed. The impact of the devastation on the economy wrought havoc on the already beleaguered Ferdinand Marcos presidency.

President Rodrigo Duterte claimed last Saturday, Sept. 8, that Senator Antonio Trillanes IV is colluding with the Liberal Party (yellows) and the communists (reds) in efforts to topple his government by October. Trillanes, meanwhile, remains camped out in his Senate office as of this writing to avoid arrest following the issuance of Presidential Proclamation 572 (PP572).

“THE next president gets to appoint 10 Supreme Court justices. The wrong choice might mean that black becomes white and white becomes black because they can interpret. And that’s why we need to be very, very careful. It will change the entire character of our judicial system. It will, therefore, change the entire character of the rules and regulations under which we live as a society,” Presidential candidate Mar Roxas told members of the Makati Business Club and the Management Association of the Philippines in March 2016.

As far back as 1991, I was vocal about investing in our defense should the government decide to let go of the US bases on account of a provision in the 1987 Constitution mandating “no foreign troops on Philippine soil.” Up to that point the US was our defense shield, and if we were to give it up then we would have to be responsible for the country’s defense.

When Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo sent to Congress a position paper opposing an administration proposal to lower the minimum age of criminal liability, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said that Cabinet members who do not agree with the President’s policies or directives must resign. He said, “I just reminded the secretaries that they are the alter ego of the President. Now, if they don’t agree with the President, they might as well tender their resignation. Because as Cabinet secretaries, you cannot contradict the views of the President,”

WHEN government and society come together to address a national problem, the “whole-of-nation” principle is at work. It epitomizes national unity, solidarity, and teamwork. This is what Rotary Club of Manila’s (RCM) “One Rotary, One Philippines, One for Marawi” attempts to do — harnessing private sector companies and civic groups to partner with government agencies to address humanitarian assistance needs of people impacted by armed conflict and natural disasters.

Ms. Gloria Arroyo said she has never entertained the idea even if she is in her last 11 months as representative of Pampanga’s second district.

The government recently published a National Security Strategy (NSS) for the first time, prepared by the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) Hermogenes Esperon and quarterbacked by Undersecretary Vic Agdamag. President Rodrigo Duterte signed the document on May 16, which outlines the administration’s plans for a “secure, peaceful, modern, and prosperous Philippines.

As this is being written (hours before the State of the Nation Address), a massive protest rally is being mounted to denounce President Rodrigo Duterte for failing to fulfill his campaign promise to put an end to contractualization and “endo.”

Am I for Federalism? My answer is a qualified yes if it meets certain preconditions. No partisan color here, just a citizen’s assessment of what is best for the country given our present circumstances from over half a century of observation and experience.

Laban Gilas Pilipinas! Puso! That is the fighting motto of the Philippine basketball team. Though the odds be great or small, but with heart so strong, Gilas Pilipinas will fight to win over all.

Panos Mourdoukoutas, a contributor to Forbes magazine, wrote a commentary entitled “China will lose the South China Sea game.” Let me quote him verbatim in the succeeding paragraphs.

The many feature articles that appeared in various publications last week in commemoration of Jose Rizal’s 157^th birth anniversary brought to mind the series of articles he wrote in La Solidaridad from 1889 to 1890 on the Philippines 100 years from then. We quote passages from the articles which have significance to our times.

Ten years ago, my family took our first ever cruise to celebrate three milestones: my 38^th wedding anniversary, 60^th birthday and my youngest daughter’s 28^th birthday. We chose Alaska via Vancouver (first time for all of us) and, on our return spent a week in Whistler, a skier’s destination, before returning home. Not sure now if we flew PAL or Cathay Pacific, but our cruise line was Royal Caribbean.

Many condemned President Rodrigo Duterte kissing an ordinary Filipina worker in Seoul as a power play ­­ -- the President taking advantage of his position to overwhelm the married woman to kiss him on the lips. Others say the issue is the crowd’s reaction to the “unpresidential” behavior -- the adoring Filipinos cheering vigorously their President flirting with women.

It is interesting to note that at the necrological services for former Senate President Edgardo Angara, Joseph Estrada and Gloria Arroyo, in whose presidencies...

Tomorrow, May 23, is the first anniversary of the Marawi siege. The battle began when Islamic State loyalists, the Maute group, supported by terrorists...

Referring to the granting of the quo warranto petition that led to the ouster of Maria Lourdes Sereno as chief justice, Presidential Spokesperson Harry...

In its May 4 report, Bloomberg news revealed that in Metro Manila’s main financial district and its fringes, signs of new inhabitants are everywhere. “Around...

Today is Labor Day in the Philippines as it is in many countries. Labor Day is synonymous with, or linked with International Workers’ Day,...

The political season is upon us. This May we will hold our barangay and SK elections. Next May, the mid-term elections will be for...

The recent departure of Vitaliano Aguirre from the Duterte Cabinet brings to mind what I wrote a year ago. I wrote on April 18...

For those who know the drill, disaster response consists of a series of deliberately taken steps -- awareness, mitigation, preparation, response, management, relief-rehabilitation, and...

Joel Ruiz Butuyan wrote in his Inquirer column of March 5: “Malacañang has not explained what the Philippines stands to gain in the President’s...

Last week, I was drawn to various conferences that swirled around unending security issues. I’ll share some of the more important ones and try...

Many pundits liken the impeachment of Maria Lourdes Sereno to the impeachment of Renato Corona. Except for the fact that the respondent in the...

Just exactly do we mean when we talk about dynasties? Far from what we read in myths and legends, and see in the movies,...

“For one brief shining moment Filipinos from all walks of life set aside their walls of division and came together for a common purpose...

So here we are, 32 years later after those four fateful days in February 1986 that began as a revolt and then morphed into...

In response to Senator Leila de Lima’s resolution calling for an inquiry in aid of legislation into how government agencies can perform their mandate...

On Dec. 19, 2017, President Duterte signed the Tax Reformation for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) bill into law, branded as the first tax reform...

Senator Richard Gordon and Former Customs commissioner Nicanor Faeldon engaged in power play during the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on alleged corruption in...

Scarborough Shoal (also known as Bajo de Masinloc, Panatag, Panacot), Benham Rise (now Philippine Rise) and the Celebes Sea have been making the news...

The line above is from William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet where Hamlet’s mother says it in reference to the protestation of a lady that she...

“Epiphany” has taken on a new meaning for me. Previously, it was about the 3 Kings or 3 wise men who went to see...