(Below: the Mabini Gate of the Palace barricaded with GI sheets; from Jove Francisco’s blog; this was the gate attacked most violently on May 1, 2001) In his blog, Jove Francisco reports that ironically, the Presidential Security Group has returned to normal duty (shedding their battle fatigues), just as they have come under suspicion. Jove [...]
Since everyone is basically on vacation until around Tuesday, here’s an article I wrote for Araw Magazine some years back. It’s in keeping with the Feasts of All Saints and All Souls. Paranormal and Historical: A quest for meaning in the North Cemetery by Manuel L. Quezon III AS a young boy, my father began [...]
(Right: Official OPS photo) A fire has broken out in one of the Department of Budget and Management’s buildings. This comes at the heels of reports of former Budget chief Emilia Boncodin making a deposition about the release of fertilizer funds in time for the 2004 elections. This is going to be one of those [...]
For the first time since I joined the Inquirer, I missed out on writing a column for today, because of extreme jet lag. So sorry. So much has happened. A week is, indeed, a long time in politics. In the United States, it was fascinating watching how the rot in the Bush administration seems to [...]
At the forum I attended, I presented the following analysis of the situation: I. The collapse of Philippine Institutions In 1998, an electoral revolt against the established sectors resulted in the elite unleashing a period of reaction that began in 2000 and is culminating now. There is also a generational shift evident in many sectors. [...]
Pardon me, but your Freudian slip is showing. Compare the synopsis on the main page of the Manila Standard-Today with Emil Jurado’s real column: Short Version A: Former President President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is right. Malacañang and the police have nothing to apologize for when a motely group of three bishops known to be anti-GMA, [...]
As part of his mentoring me, Teddy Locsin once gave me a stack of books, including that famous work by Montesquieu known as The Spirit of the Laws. I was given the book in 1995, told to read it, and found it invaluable during the time of troubles of Joseph Estrada. The other day, spotting [...]
The real big news, of course, is the return to the blogging scene of the arch-blogger among political bloggers, Philippine Commentary. I, for one, and there are many others, am overjoyed over Dean Jorge Bocobo’s return to the blogosphere. One of his first entries (in this, the latest reincarnation of his blog), points out that [...]
(Right: Official Palace photo. Add your own caption.) As I’m writing this, the President is addressing the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industries, and giving a verbal spanking to those opposed to her -opposing is ok, she says, as long as the opposition is restricted to “fiscalizing.” Our word for the day is autogolpe, or [...]
My Arab News column for this week is Spying on the US Makes Manila Look Bad. Related reads are Jove’s recent reports from the USA, and a curious article in the Manila Times, concerning an American “mystery ship” off Mindanao. Spymania! The punditocracy offers up the following for our delectation today: the Inquirer editorial tackles [...]
