By Satur C. Ocampo At Ground Level | The Philippine Star Last April 20 and 27, I wrote about how Pryce Plans, Inc. and its president, Salvador P. Escano, treated me over the lump-sum payment of my modest (P300,000) pension plan that the company was obligated to hand over to me in 2008. After a…
Category: Commentary
Rallies and timezones
QUESTION EVERYTHING Mong Palatino Bulatlat.com Because of varying time zones, it is almost impossible to organize synchronized global protests. Realtime uprisings in the global village are actually done in a continuum. Let us assume for example that today is the Global Day of Action Against Evil. It is 12 noon in Manila and 1pm in…
Two issues, two disappointments
By BENJIE OLIVEROS Analysis Two issues present major challenges to the Aquino administration, which is now on the second half of its term. The first issue involves 97 mayors, five senators and 23 representatives of the Lower House, as of the last count. The P10 billion ($232 million) pork barrel scam could have provided the…
Corruption
By LUIS V. TEODORO Vantage Point | BusinessWorld Campaigning in 2010, Benigno Aquino III identified corruption as the cause of Philippine poverty, and promised to put an end to it once he was elected President. It hasn’t been as easy as he seems to have thought. As the network of corruption of which the 10-billion…
Aquino and the ‘pork barrel’
By Carol Pagaduan-Araullo Streetwise | BusinessWorld The expose by whistleblowers on the Napoles P10 billion ”pork barrel” scam for ghost projects involving members of Congress, executive agencies, local government units, fake NGOS and a big-time syndicate of influence peddlers and high-flying hustlers could be explosive enough to cause a major shake-up in the way patronage…
P-Noy mum on human rights, GPH-NDFP peace talks
By Satur C. Ocampo At Ground Level | The Philippine Star Last August 2, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process issued a quaint statement through its website. It’s titled, “Goodwill, sincerity will move GPH-CPP/NPA/NDF peace process forward.” It quotes remarks by Alexander Padilla, head of the government panel in the GPH-NDFP…
Problems and solutions
By BENJIE OLIVEROS Analysis The seemingly bold solutions that the national government has been implementing to solve the traffic problem have not only failed, it even gave rise to more, bigger problems. On the surface, it seems as an effective solution: reduce the number of vehicles using the streets through an enhanced number coding scheme…
Beyond internet activism
QUESTION EVERYTHING Mong Palatino Bulatlat.com The opposite of internet activism is not street activism but no-activism. Online petitions and political hashtags are indispensable in the campaign for change while non-action is a convenient option that only serves the interest of status quo. Internet activism is sometimes equated with impotence but at least it exists. There…
How far can Pope Francis shake up the Catholic Church?
By Satur C. Ocampo At Ground Level | The Philippine Star By his humble demeanor and simple lifestyle and his public pronouncements since his election as Pontiff in March, Pope Francis (the former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina) appears bent on shaking up the Roman Catholic Church. He has shunned staying at the Pope’s official…
Looking for a champion
By LUIS V. TEODORO Vantage Point | BusinessWorld Manny Pacquiao has every right to aspire for the Presidency, for which post he could run by 2022 when he turns 43. Currently 34 years old, Pacquiao will qualify as a candidate for the post in 2019, when, according to the most sanguine predictions (or most pessimistic,…
SONA — a reality check
By Carol Pagaduan-Araullo Streetwise | BusinessWorld There we go again. SONA (State of the Nation Address) day and activists and ordinary citizens were once more out in the streets for the annual exercise of their right to rain on the ruling regime’s SONA parade by presenting their own version of the national situation. It seemed…