It’s almost as if where there’s lawyer Leila de Lima—former senator, justice secretary, human rights commissioner and, until late last year, the Philippines’ most prominent detainee—one could expect blistering commentary on any of the day’s hot-button issues, such as Charter change or the imminent move of the International Criminal Court against her chief jailor’s scandalous...
Tag: politics
Post
Student leaders stand against Cha-cha
In January-March 1970, youth and student organizations and their allies among workers, farmers and religious groups held numerous rallies and other forms of protest across the country in what became known as the First Quarter Storm of 1970 against the decades-old sociopolitical ills plaguing the nation. One of their major demands was a nonpartisan constitutional...
Post
Marcos-Duterte bickering is ‘all politics’ from which nothing can be gained, says Drilon
First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos’ snub of Vice President Sara Duterte minutes before she and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. boarded the plane for Vietnam on Monday was very telling, and former senator Franklin Drilon sees tough days lying ahead of her in the Cabinet. According to Drilon, Sara Duterte’s position in the Cabinet became “more...
Post
‘Economic Cha-cha’ is sweeping the political dance floor
The plot thickens with the Senate announcing full participation in the planned activity of the moment: the amendment of the Constitution. Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri’s surprise filing on Jan. 15 of Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 6 proposing the amendment of certain economic provisions represents a stronger than usual push for Charter change....
Post
High court’s rules do not cure ‘horribly repressive’ antiterror law, says lawyer
The rules set by the Supreme Court on the Anti-Terror Act of 2020 cannot cure the “horribly repressive” law that will be enforced by a “horribly repressive’’ council, lawyer Neri Colmenares said on Wednesday. Colmenares, who presented oral arguments against the law at the high court as counsel for the militant group Bayan Muna, said...
Post
Ninoy Aquino’s speeches are now available online
“We are called upon to show now responsibility to duty, fidelity to our mandate despite our political diversity. I know that for the majority this may be hard, for what is demanded of us is to place country over party, sanity over the twisted logic of our baser political instincts.” This is an excerpt from...
Post
A challenge to winning showbiz people in the barangay and youth elections
It’s back to business among showbiz personalities who ran and won in the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections last Oct. 30. After all is said and done, quo vadis, poll winners who are now barangay captains, youth chairs, and council members? What are we expecting in terms of better lives for ourselves or in behalf of...
Post
‘You, France’: In historic move, lawmaker takes Duterte to court
ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro was grieving over the death of her father early this month when she was jarred by a video of former president Rodrigo Duterte seemingly threatening to kill her and other “communists” during his weekly television program in Davao City. Castro was in a funeral home in Quezon City on Oct....
Post
Music piracy rampant in barangay election campaign
If the Intellectual Property Office and individual recording artists or companies decide to go after those using original music in campaign jingles during the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE), the courts would be swamped with lawsuits. Thieves and pirates are brazenly making their pitch on originals and musical adaptations of popular songs. I’ve been...
Post
Why you should vote in the Oct. 30 barangay elections
The barangay is the smallest political unit in the Philippines. But for Filipinos, the barangay represents more than just a government identity. It is also the smallest territorial unit that embodies a community. These two “faces” of the barangay—being both a local government and a community—give it a distinct significance in Philippine democracy, said Michael...