Thanks to Madame Chiang for pointing this out: Someone at The Philippine Star has a sense of humour…. she says. The past few days have produced some interesting developments. Most interesting of all: the return of the President’s husband, to bury his half-sister. Ordinarily, private grief should not be a cause for public notice, but [...]

The map on the left is from Wikipedia and shows the general results of the election. The map on the right is from Inq7.net, and appeared in the Inquirer’s front page today. Green marks provinces with governors supporting the President; Red are provinces for the President’s resignation; yellow marks provinces that are neutral. Both maps [...]

My column yesterday was The Sixth Republic, in which I argue that of the proposals made by former president Ramos and Speaker de Venecia, the least controversial and thus, most popular, is Federalism. My main purpose in the column was to begin pointing out that what Ramos proposed as a three-in-one package, are in fact, [...]

An interesting dinner with colleagues in media, upon the invitation of a foreign visitor affiliated with an overseas investment analysis firm. Random notes from the freewheeling discussion: 1. The impeachment timeline 60 session days for the impeachment complaint to be resolved and then decided in plenary, equals 15 weeks. So that means the impeachment complaint [...]

Image looted from Hotmanila. I missed the President’s first interaction with the press since June, but it was, thankfully, covered by Punzi and of course, by Jove Francisco, who describes it as a messy product launch (The product? The President, of course, as he previously explained). Inq7.net reports the press conference as “manipulated,” which has [...]

The dissection of the President’s State of the Nation address is well underway. The biggest thing about the President’s speech is that it marked the end of the Arroyo presidency as it once wanted to be; it marks the end of an effort to provide ideological underpinnings to her administration. The dream of a Strong [...]

The President mounted the rostrum to a great volley of cheering from the throng. Speaker clapping madly; Senate President standing quietly. President looks tired but relaxed and confident. President broke protocol by recognizing former President Ramos ahead of the Senate President. “Ours is a country divided. The story of our nation is a tale of [...]

Cheering as the President enters the Session Hall. “Mabuhay” being played. Throng clapping along as she’s mobbed on her way to rostrum. Cheering as President reaches the rostrum. Senate President and Speaker declare joint session open; national anthem being sung, 4pm.

At Commonwealth Avenue, the Philippine National Police have massed ranks of riot police, then barbed wire fences, then container vans blocking the lanes, and fire trucks behind the vans. Negotiations continuously taking place between the police and protesters. The pro-President rally group is apparently being ignored by media. The Speaker has entered the Session Hall [...]

Dressed in a kind of Maria Clara, the President has arrived in the Batasan Pambansa, and is proceeding to the office of her legislative laison at the House of Representatives. For the first time, she isn’t dressed in a terno. It’s incredible how frumpy and dowdy so many of the ladies in the House look. [...]