The filing of certificates of candidacy (COCs) by those running for the Senate ended two days ago on Oct. 17. As usual, the media focused their attention on high-profile and so-called “nuisance candidates.” But they failed to mention that the outcome of the May 2019 elections, particularly for the House of Representatives and the Senate, will be crucial to the survival of this rumored democracy.

For progressives, Brett Kavanaugh’s true alleged sin is not sexual assault. Rather, were they sincere, his crime is actually much much more horrible: Kavanaugh is a lawyer who believes and upholds the textualist and originalist schools of constitutional interpretation.

In this season of discord and discontent, people are angst-ridden and anxious. Like the strange and fickle weather, the collective mood is blue one day, bright the next and gray in between.

The government recently announced that it will suspend part 2 of the oil excise tax hike this coming January 2019. So another increase of P2/liter for both diesel and gasoline will be temporarily suspended but the tax hikes in 2018 of P2.50/liter for diesel and P2.65/liter for gasoline (from P4.35 to P7.00/liter) will remain.

No, I am not from La Salle. Neither am I anti-Ateneo. But, I am pro-Green. And by Green, I mean the environment. I understand that going about change is difficult, so is moving out of comfort zones. In this sense, going Green or making our lives Green -- or doing things in ways that do not further harm the environment -- can take much time, effort, and resources.

The recently concluded Annual Public Policy Conference of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) aptly entitled “Harnessing the Fourth Industrial Revolution (FIRe): Creating Our Future Today” aims “to promote awareness and understanding of the FIRe and encourage everyone to be proactive in preparing for and adapting to the changes that come along with this industrial era.” According to the World Economic Forum, FIRe is building on the third industrial revolution, which focused on the digital revolution but this era is “characterized by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres.” Artificial intelligence and virtual reality are just some of the tools of this rapid technological change.

THERE is a great imbalance between the available supply of celebrities and the high demand for their appearance (paid or unpaid). When the event for the star, rock or corporate, invited six months ago to be keynote speaker, ribbon cutter, master of ceremonies, or wedding sponsor finally comes around, he realizes it is too late to back out. He makes his excuse (I need to undergo minor surgery) and scrambles to offer a proxy as sacrificial lamb.

Responding to concerns of alienating the private sector, Secretary Dominguez III said the administration welcomes unsolicited proposals, since the private sector would have a better grasp in identifying potential problems and offering better solutions to these problems. Unsurprisingly, the more welcome attitude towards unsolicited proposals has led to a surge in submissions from the private sector.

Ditas De Los Santos-Yamane is a Filipino-American who is running for mayor of National City in San Diego County. Yamane, who is a licensed real estate broker, is a tireless community worker. Every festival or fair of the Fil-Am community and every civic initiative that the city mounts will likely have her among the workhorses. She has also served as president of the local chamber of commerce and is chair of the city’s planning commission and committee on government affairs of the Pacific Southwest Association of Realtors.

Entities and individuals covered by Republic Act No. 10173, otherwise known as the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (“DPA”) were required to register with the National Privacy Commission (“NPC”) in two (2) phases: (1) the appointment of a Data Protection Officer by last 09 September 2017; and (2) the registration of Data Processing Systems by last 08 March 2018.

Because I was probably promoted too fast in my earlier schooling and am a natural rebel, I was not always an exemplary student. However, because I was blessed to have been sent to exemplary schools, and gifted with many extraordinary teachers, I was fortunate nonetheless to have learned from the best. To this day, I often think of my dedicated teachers all the way back to my kindergarten days, to whom I owe so much.

All is not well with the economy and I am compelled to sound the alarm on imminent risks.