The Philippines’ “loss” is US hate-mongers’ gain. But that shouldn’t be the reason for anyone to think the Duterte pardon of Pemberton is a calculated jeer at US society.
Losers and gainers
Category: Vantage Point
Legitimizing tyranny
HB 7137 is not just another attempt by Marcos idolaters to market an imagined past for mass consumption. Forgetting what really happened in history is the surest road to its repetition.
Deadly serious
The lawyers are right to be alarmed. As outlandish and as deceptive as it may be, like Marcos’ martial law, a so-called “revolutionary government” can devastate this country as well unless everyone takes it seriously enough to oppose it for what it is: a plot against the Republic, the Constitution, and the entire Filipino nation.
Health watch
The state of health of any candidate for President is not just a matter of idle curiosity. Because whoever wins that post will have power enough to lead the country to either fortune or perdition, his or her physical and mental capacity to govern is a valid public issue.
Government by improvisation
Planning for future contingencies has never been any administration’s strong suit, despite the constant threat of natural and man-made disasters against the people of this country. It is not uniquely characteristic of the Duterte regime.
Breakdowns
Filipino psychiatrists have not been remiss in alerting the public and the government to the looming if not already existing mental health problem and have reported a notable increase in the number of consultations during the pandemic. But neither the citizenry nor the Duterte regime seems to regard it with any sense of urgency.
The SONA and the fury
…[h]e presented no coherent plan of action to address them on the basis of a fact-based analysis of the last six months’ experience and the lessons learned from it. Neither did he say anything about addressing such major concerns of healthcare workers as the inadequacies of healthcare system equipment and facilities, the critical shortfall in the number of nurses, doctors, and other medical frontliners, and most hospitals’ being full to the rafters with COVID-19 patients.
Post-Lenten Calvary
As ardently observed as Christmas in these Catholic isles, Lent was all of four months ago, but ABS-CBN broadcaster and former Philippine Vice-President Noli De Castro recently described what his network is currently going through as a “calvary.” De Castro was responding to the most recent episode in the ABS-CBN Via Dolorosa: a plot being…
Dismantling the oligarchy
An oligarchy is governed by a few families and individuals. While wealth is indeed among its members’ more obvious attributes, wealth alone does not make an oligarch. The capacity to influence or control government and governance does. An oligarch is therefore someone who, by virtue of birth, wealth, religious affiliation, or control over the coercive…
Decline — and fall?
As in many other countries reeling from the impact of the COVID-19 contagion, a wave of pessimism, fear, and hopelessness is sweeping vast sectors of the population of the United States of America. With over three million afflicted and the death toll rising to some 136,000 during the week of July 8 to 15, the…
Philippine education in crisis
More than 9 million students in both private and public schools had enrolled online for schoolyear 2020-2021 as the month of June ended. The resumption of K-12 classes is scheduled for Aug. 24 this year, hence the Department of Education’s (DepEd) reserving the entire month of June for registration, and later extending it till July.…