There was tenderness galore on Thursday at the blue ribbon committee hearing of the bloc led by Alan Peter Cayetano, by his own declaration “the legitimate, legal and moral Senate President.” Ignoring the changes made on Wednesday in the chamber’s power structure by the 12-member majority led by Senate President Pro Tempore Sherwin Gatchalian, Cayetano...
Author: Rosario A. Garcellano (Rosario A. Garcellano)
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When the Senate majority senators stage a ‘boycott’
The majority senators led by Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano were nowhere to be seen at the scheduled start of the 5 p.m. session on Monday and well into the evening. There was neither word nor explanation to the minority bloc (all 11 present and accounted for). Shortly the man posted online that the minority...
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Still trying to put out the flames
The new majority in the Senate began the week like a house on fire and they’re still trying to put out the flames. After persuading Bato dela Rosa to come out from under the rock he was hiding and add to the vote ousting Tito Sotto as Senate president, Alan Peter Cayetano has his hands...
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Consider the new Senate majority
Consider the Senate majority now led by Alan Peter Cayetano after the power seizure on Monday. It’s nearly identical to the grouping led by Francis Escudero that famously did in the first impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte. The Cayetano sibs. President Marcos Jr.’s estranged manang. The mother of the young Batangas lawmaker slapped...
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Plant a tree, but make sure it’s not mahogany
Every tree has a story, a name, a role in healing, Glenda Flores Co told her audience. She spoke in elegant Filipino—“Bawa’t puno ay may kwento, may pangalan, may silbi sa paghilom”—at the close of the program held to launch the book “Philippine Native Trees 404: Rooted and Rising” last April 28 at Club Filipino...
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The work of the House justice committee merits public attention
Ramil Madriaga’s allegations were intense, yet Vice President Sara Duterte did not seize the clear and present opportunity to make mincemeat out of them. There was no bloodbath during the daylong hearing of the House justice committee last Tuesday although there was a recurring ritual performed for the record: Madame Chair, the redoubtable Batangas Rep....
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At the ICC, a portrait of the strongman as aging family man
Nicholas Kaufman’s tack in portraying Rodrigo Duterte as an aging family man isolated from loved ones comprised a curious turn in the Defense’s presentation at the just-concluded confirmation of charges hearing at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. Having harped on the Prosecution’s supposed use of rhetoric and hyperbole to cover what he...
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The Veep’s declared run for No. 1 and her ‘ready’ running mate
Vice President Sara Duterte’s announcement of her presidential run in 2028 was hardly unexpected. She has been projected as front-runner; her approval ratings stay strong despite her questioned disbursement of P612 million in confidential funds taken from taxpayer money. The continuing absence of explanation for the disbursement is again in prime spot among the burning issues...
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Collective calls for accountability on various fronts mark February
The past year ended with a whimper. The public pressure brought to bear on the administration to produce results in assorted inquiries into the corruption scandal did not amount to much (and now requires recalibration). To be sure, due process takes time (in these parts, too long a time). But with the huge amounts of...
An unfinished flood control project in Tagbac, Jaro District in Iloilo City —PHOTO BY ARNOLD ALMACEN
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On the cusp of 2026, where are we at in the corruption scandal?
Catalina Cabral died under mysterious circumstances on Dec. 18 and Rossana Fajardo has quit the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) effective today, Dec. 30. Where are we at in the inquiry into the corruption scandal involving the institutionalized looting of public coffers? Christmas has come and gone and the new year approaches on winged feet,...