By BENJIE OLIVEROS Analysis Bulatlat.com There is nothing much that is happening now. Outgoing president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is supposed to be wrapping things up while incoming president Noynoy Aquino is busy preparing for his inauguration and is in the process of finalizing his line-up for his Cabinet. Now is the period of anticipation. The Filipino…
Category: Commentary
Carol Pagaduan-Araullo | Arrest Arroyo; Free Political Prisoners!
By CAROL PAGADUAN-ARAULLO Streetwise/Business World Posted by Bulatlat.com Soon-to-be Philippine President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III asks for understanding that he is no “superman” and should be given at least three years to make good on his campaign promises. Some of those promises will soon come up against the reality that nothing short of a systems…
Benjie Oliveros | One Economy, Different Views
By BENJIE OLIVEROS Analysis Bulatlat.com The Arroyo government is once again gloating over the 7.3 percent GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth for the 1st quarter of 2010. The National Statistical Coordination Board called it a “glorious ending” for the Arroyo administration. The last time it registered a 7 percent GDP growth was in 2007: 7.5…
Benjie Oliveros | The Second Aquino Administration
By BENJIE OLIVEROS Bulatlat.com The race for the top position in the land has finally ended: Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino was proclaimed on June 9 as the 15th president of the Republic of the Philippines. Sen. Aquino, son of former president Cory Aquino, is succeeding Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, daughter of former president Diosdado Macapagal. Aquino was…
Carol Pagaduan-Araullo | More than meets the eye
By CAROL PAGADUAN-ARAULLO Streetwise/Business World Posted by Bulatlat.com The story could have come right out of an American-made suspense thriller with the mysterious death of a nondescript fellow followed by a suspicious cover-up by government officials and the murder of a likely whistleblower. It has the makings of a classic whodunit except that this time…
Benjie Oliveros | Justice Should be the First Order of Business of the Next Administration
By BENJIE OLIVEROS Bulatlat.com It is now only less than a month before Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo leaves Malacañang and the Filipino people could not wait to get it over with. Despite the flak that the Commission on Elections and Smartmatic are getting for bungling the automated elections, and even if the old problems of vote-buying –…
Critical Criminology Meets The 2010 Philippine Elections
By GILL H. BOEHRINGER Bulatlat.com For many millions of Filipinos May 10 was a historic watershed. They voted for Noynoy Aquino, and the Aquino legacy as they understood it. Believing that corruption is the major problem that needs to be tackled by their next president, they turned to Noynoy, the clean-and-good, to deliver them from…
Benjie Oliveros | Comelec, Smartmatic Should Be Held Accountable
By BENJIE OLIVEROS Bulatlat.com The faint smile on Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Jose Melo during the evening of May 10 indicated feelings of relief and pride that they were able to push through with the automated elections. A lot of people were bedazzled by the speed by which the election returns were tabulated. Soon,…
Carol Pagaduan-Araullo | AES – a Lemon?
By CAROL PAGADUAN-ARAULLO Streetwise/Business World Posted by Bulatlat.com Technology has always been a double-bladed tool. In the right hands and wielded properly, it is like a magic wand that can make everyday living easier, work lighter, production faster and more efficient, etc. Used improperly and in the wrong hands, it could cut a swathe of…
Una Bilang Trahedya, Ikalawa Bilang Katatawanan
Ni ROLAND TOLENTINO Bulatlat.com Sina Marx at Engels ang unang nagsinop ng obserbasyon ni Hegel na ang pangyayari at personahe ay dalawang beses umuulit. Pero para sa dynamic duo, ang unang pagkakataon ay bilang trahedya, at ang ikalawa ay bilang katatawanan (farce). Trahedya nang unang madanas ang conjugal dictatorship ng Marcoses, pati na ang karanasan…
Carol Pagaduan-Araullo | Wistful Thinking
By CAROL PAGADUAN-ARAULLO Streetwise/Business World Posted by Bulatlat.com AFP Chief Gen. Delfin Bangit’s admission that the AFP will not be able to meet de facto President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s 2010 deadline to defeat the New People’s Army (NPA) comes as no surprise. The military claims of success in its counterinsurgency campaigns have been belied by…