If to migrate means leaving one’s country, then one is entitled to do so. Our own Constitution provides that the right to choose one’s abode or to travel cannot be impaired except by court order or by law in the interest of national security, public safety, or public health, respectively.

Moving on with our attempt to understand the proposed federal Constitution, a glimpse of one very cherished provision of the Bill of Rights deserves a prominent place in the national discourse -- The Freedom to speak, express and assemble.

The 10^th international conference Ako Para Sa Bata (Nov. 19 and 20, SMX Convention Center Manila) has the theme “INSPIRED,” an acronym that means: Implementation and enforcement of law, Norms and values, Safe environments, Parent and caregiver support, Income and economic strengthening, Response and support services, Education and life skills, and Delivery systems.

Integrated Public-Private Partnership (PPP) means the construction then operation and maintenance (O&M) phases will be done by a single entity while Hybrid PPP means the construction is done by one entity, the O&M to be done by another entity. Funding of the former therefore will be fully shouldered by that entity while in Hybrid PPP, construction cost to be funded via ODA/foreign loan or Philippine government budget appropriation, O&M by a local private firm.

Whether here or abroad, the level of nastiness in national politics in recent years has reached perhaps its highest peak in history. It often appears that the gloves are off for most candidates, many of whom find it appropriate to make the most horrible public comments about others, often their opponents or critics, but sometimes even completely uninvolved people.

About 18 years ago, I had a management professor at AIM who wasn’t completely sold on recycling. In one class discussion, Ning Lagman, whom I believed has retired from teaching, expressed the opinion that recycling would be insignificant in a production process that reduced or minimized, if not eliminated, “waste.” Without waste, there will be nothing to recycle.

WITH the invention of the camera built into the handphone, a gadget as indispensable as the wallet or purse (OMG, I forgot my phone at home), any grouping of people can be photographed and the image quickly posted. A camera always at hand has changed behavior, especially the social pastime of rumor mongering.

We have a deeply rooted, overwhelming governance problem. What surveys show as the citizen’s waxing and waning support for the national leadership has a continuously dark undertone -- the people have a generalized distrust of government. This is unsurprising as most of those in power are not merely ineffective, they are dysfunctional. They are not merely incompetent as rule enforcers, they are distorting the rules.

President Rodrigo Duterte’s latest rants against saints is, to my mind, just another instance of his continuing campaign to express his machismo; still another effort to demonstrate his manliness in terms of iconoclasm against all things held sacred, even by religious tradition.

Which should we prefer: a blustering, vulgar President Rodrigo Duterte or a sleazy, barefaced liar like President Donald Trump? The ideal answer is: Neither. But if we have to make a choice, it would be Duterte. As his spokesman, Salvador Panelo, rationalizes, whenever Duterte puts his foot in his mouth, he should not be taken seriously because he’s just joking. Trump, on the other hand, is a vicious demagogue who purposely lies to confuse, mislead and delude the American public, especially his voter base.

“When the last tree has been cut down, the last fish caught, the last river poisoned, only then will we realize that one cannot eat money.” -- Native American saying

When a “bright idea” needs legislation, 90 to 99% it is a lousy idea that will not work if not implemented by force, coercion and state favoritism. In contrast, many of the brightest innovations and successful business projects in the country and the world were born without legislation, they just prospered under a competitive environment.