The power of example -- that is the fundamental appeal of the Galing Pook Awards. The most inspiring of this year’s winners is the work of PALMA Alliance: Five town mayors in North Cotabato built 280 kilometers of farm-to-market roads by pooling together their limited resources.
Perhaps the surest sign of panic was the "solidarity walk" the Cabinet took with President Arroyo. Meant to emphasize unity, the stage-managed walk in the Palace grounds conspicuously placed the two Cabinet members most affected by rumors of defection close to the President.
Romulo Neri must carefully consider whether or not the Palace will feed him to the sharks, too, like Benjamin Abalos and Jose de Venecia Jr. It’s almost a certainty; it’s only a question of timing. In maintaining his silence, Neri is only postponing the inevitable.
Ferdinand Marcos brought the end of Diosdado Macapagal’s presidency with “Alis d’yan!” and Corazon Aquino brought the end of Marcos’ with “Tama na, sobra na, palitan na!” Now Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is the target of civil society with “Tama na, sobra na, kumilos na!” Is history repeating itself?
MANILA, Philippines - Whistle-blower and witness Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada Jr. has famously described the government’s procurement system as “dysfunctional.” Our sense is that the public understands this description, by and large, as code for corrupt.
WHEN PRESIDENT MACAPAGAL-ARROYO went before the Manila Overseas Press Club (MOPC) and Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (Focap) last Friday, she said early on in her speech: “We take the ZTE issue very seriously.” This is what the media seized on as the quotable quote for the day.
In the face of lies, someone has to insist on the truth. In the face of a growing conspiracy to use our institutions to isolate the citizenry and keep each Filipino feeling powerless, it is incumbent on every Filipino to declare, “Bring it on!”
The Catholic bishops seem to have jettisoned their moral and pastoral duty. They’ve become spiritual and moral illiterates. They seem unable to read the signs of the times. Perhaps checkmated by their own prudence and discretion, they’re now inspired less by the Holy Spirit and more by moral stasis.
