Filipino Voices

Presidential spokesperson Ed Lacierda is at it again. He says that government does not favor a wage adjustment because, from his understanding of labor laws, regional tripartite wage boards are only allowed to suggest a wage increase, once every year. Wrong. According to the law, if there are supervening events, like a sudden spike in [...]

That police mishandling of the Rizal Park hostage taking bloodbath snafu will never be lived down by the Philippine National Police. The PNP Director General is absolutely wrong to declare that he is now restoring command responsibility to stem that string of incidents that saw rogue cops being involved in acts of kidnapping with homicide. [...]

So it is now the time to bite the bullet until and unless some kind of anesthetic is found for the string of higher scots for our expressways and public transport modes. The Aquino administration surely knows these higher rates exact a political cost. It can, of course, be argued by P-Noy’s communications team that [...]

Sixty years ago, China was in great turmoil. The Socialists have just taken over the country, and the elites as well as millions of Chinese immigrated to Taiwan and even in the Philippines. Chairman Mao Tsetung has just taken the reins of power, and his Communist Party of China became the dominant political party in [...]

21011 promises to be a more exciting year than 2010. For one, President Benigno Aquino III vows to rid his official family of incompetents, first off, his Executive Secretary whom many say will be transferred to another post and replaced by no less than former Senator Mar Roxas III. Paquito Ochoa, several sources say, is [...]

Most Filipinos of today’s i-generation probably do not really know who Jose Protacio Rizal is. Oh sure, he’s that spiffily-dressed pogi in funy looking hat with a book in his right hand whose monument dots our town plazas and has his face on our 1-Peso coins. But it behooves us to take a hard look at Lolo [...]

Only those who speak ill about the church can be the suspects behind  the bombing of one of its chapels in Jolo on christmas day.  But rather than weakening the church, the blast fortifies it because it draws into focus its ability now to win a civilized debate on any issue as against its adversaries [...]

There’s a disconnect in the Philippine National Police widely grinning that the number of “reported crimes has gone down by 40%.” Make no mistake, dear sirs. The stat does not mean our crime-ridden streets are safer or that Filipinos no longer dread walking our avenues, nor arevthey, for that matter, secure in the safety of their homes. [...]

During the first Aquino presidency the government entered into a well-intentioned public-private partnership (PPP) that should have defined the Aquino legacy for its endeavors to engage the private sector in public infrastructure. Beyond its economic benefits, the 1992 Smokey Mountain Development and Reclamation Project (SMDRP) would have been a centerpiece welfare program for its laudable impact on [...]