THE LAME DUCK IS A MINER
He spoke too soon. Manny Villar is a marked man when he said right after the SONA that the President is a spent force, a lame duck. While she made some reassuring words that she won’t be seeking reelection as the Constitution bars it, she was heard saying in jest somewhere in Pampanga that she...
A FATHER’S REDEMPTION
After two decades, we have seemingly outgrown our juvenile fascination with entertainment celebrities. We barred the likes of Tito Sotto and Lito Lapid from the Senate and Makati City Hall, respectively. Goma and Machete are sulking with their trophy wives. It looks like Bong Revilla and Jinggoy Estrada are revving up their public relations machines...
NO TO QUEZON DIVISION
When the provincial candidates hit the campaign trail last elections, nobody among them ever mentioned that there is a bill now up for plebiscite where we shall be asked whether we approve of the division of Quezon. What we remember was the vehement exhortation of the local bets on motherhood statements and rhetorics like unity...
One Quezon
Quezon Province, no doubt, is one big stretch of a country. A former governor once mused that Pres. Quezon, being a semi-dictator in his time, personally delineated the metes and bounds of his province, Tayabas, using a pencil in the presence of the chiefs of the Bureau of Lands and the present day National Mapping...
Naniniguro Po Laing…
NO JUSTICE IN THE HIGH COURT In terms of watershed appointments in the Supreme Court, nothing beats the watch of Cory Aquino. She approximated the standard of excellence observed by her predecessors from MLQ, Sergio Osmena, down to FM. Imagine a Supreme Court without a Jose P. Laurel or a Jose Bambino Luis Reyes. JBL...
Thanks, But No Thanks
We just have concluded the 2007 elections, with some dangling participles still to be fixed. While some operators are on the job doing cosmetic surgeries, the main point man and the face of GMA, Secretary Mike Defensor, has just conceded. The gesture has let off some steam and might look like a telegraphic directive on...
So You Get Elected…?
Soon the euphoria of victory is finally in its death throes. The surge of supporters claiming paternity to the poll success is now trickling in and may soon dry up. The hangover has taken over, and the adrenaline is no longer there. It is now getting down to serious business. Mayors and Governors are local...
The World According to Victor Wood
What purports to be the crème de la crème of Philippine media was there ready to clinically dissect the Senate pretenders. It was the much ballyhooed ISANG TANONG, a brainchild of GMA 7, one of the two highly successful private TV behemoths, the other being ABS-CBN. While it looks like a painful social corporate project...
No Finale From The Fat Lady
It has been 180 days ago since the road show began. And now after the day of vote casting, we begin the painful stage of counting. The wooing as journey was an event in itself, surpassing the destination of choosing. But in the counting we have the freebie of some catharsis. We root for some...
TO CHEAT IS PATRIOTIC
In all his auto bios, Diosdado Macapagal was portrayed as a statesman. No problem with that except that when he ran as president of the 1971 Constitutional Convention, he sought the push of the sitting President, Ferdinand Marcos. It was a fight between him and his 1961 routed political rival, Carlos P. Garcia. But Garcia...
A Protest Vote
Now that we’re passed the deadline for filing the certificates of intention for senators, now the list of the wannabes is out. So far, we have some 30 or less individuals who have some fighting chance in the next elections. Majority of these senatorial bets are professional politicians, i.e., with name recall, they rely on...
In Her Quimona
TIBURCIO, my paternal grandfather was an only child, an unico hijo. His father Ciriaco was a livestock trader and was known more in Lopez than in Calauag. He roamed the whole of South Quezon practically on foot buying cows, carabaos, goats, and horses. He brought his herd to Padre Garcia in Batangas to be sold...