After a year in the works, the country’s third major telecommunications player has been named,...but not without controversy.

A larger-than-life concrete statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary stands on the rotunda just beyond the Thành pho? Ho Chí Minh, the City Hall, more formally called the People’s Committee Building. It is as if the Holy Mother had stepped out of the Basilique-Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Saigon behind her, the twin-belfry cathedral built by the French colonizers between 1863 and 1880. Noisy vehicles and pedestrians swirled around her to the main artery road Nguyen Thi Minh Kai and its tree-lined tributary roads. But there are only about six million Catholics in communist Vietnam, representing just 7% of the total population.

The Universal Health Care (UHC) bill is at its final stages. After a couple of preparatory meetings during the Congress break last October, the Bicameral Conference Committee is officially meeting tomorrow to reconcile the differences of the Senate and the House versions. At this rate, we can expect that the UHC bill will be signed into law before the year ends.

The proposed amendments to the economic provisions of the New Federal Constitution are most critical to our aim of attracting more inflows of foreign capital to the Philippines. One of the most controversial and hotly debated issues is the long-standing matter of land ownership.

For starters, this is not about the Bar Exams.

Those Filipinos aware of the record-breaking looting of the public treasury by the Marcos kleptocracy are hailing the Sandiganbayan’s conviction of Imelda Marcos on seven counts of graft. They had already lost hope that any of the billions diverted to Swiss bank accounts, real estate, and jewelry and art collections in Bern, Paris and other world capitals will ever be recovered, or that any form of legal retribution against the thieves is forthcoming, but have been heartened by the graft court’s decision 27 years after charges were filed against the Marcos family matriarch.

By definition, a hero is “the consummate person, ripe and perfect; accurate in judgment, mature in taste, attentive in listening, wise in sayings, shrewd in deeds, the center of all perfection.”

“Something terribly wrong with a program that grows ever larger even when prosperity for everyone else is increasing. We should measure welfare’s success by how many people leave welfare, not by how many are added.” -- Ronald Reagan, 40^th US President

In August 2018, Republic Act 11058, otherwise known as “An Act Strengthening Compliance with Occupational Safety and Health Standards and Providing Penalties for Violations Thereof,” was enacted. This law seeks to enforce stricter and wider coverage for compliance with safety rules in the workplace, and provides that “the State shall ensure a safe and healthful workplace for all working people by affording them full protection against all hazards in their work environment. It shall ensure that the provisions of the Labor Code of the Philippines, all domestic laws, and internationally recognized standards on occupational safety and health are being fully enforced and complied with by the employers, and it shall provide penalties for any violation thereof.” The Act makes it clear that employee safety is primarily the responsibility of the employer.

About 10 years ago, a very good friend lent me a book by authors Kieron O’Hara and Nigel Shadbolt, both based in the United Kingdom. Titled The Spy in the Coffee Machine, I found the book to be a very interesting read. In fact, it came to memory just recently as I noted the news report on a proposed law to make mobile numbers “portable,” or that a person can maintain his cellular number for life.

It may not be obvious to many; but elections in the Philippines are manifestly not competitive. A clear symbol of that condition is the apparent permanent existence of political dynasties, composing of 100 or so families in the Philippine political setting. It may be difficult to discern whether this permanence of political dynasties is the effect or the cause of improper election practices but, just the same, it may be worthwhile to highlight what I think are the two most significant election campaign practices that make our elections not competitive.

One of the most controversial issues on management rights today is the right to enter into contracting arrangements. Contracting is an arrangement where a business owner, also called a principal, agrees to farm out to another entity, called a contractor, the performance of a specific job within a definite period. In turn, the contractor hires its own employees to perform the job farmed out by the principal.