PinoyPundit

Current affairs in the Philippines and overseas.

Unlike father, unlike son

Posted on March 15, 2008 - Filed Under Governance, Pinoys Extraordinaire

Manila’s Mayor Alfredo Lim has a well-deserved reputation for fairness in enforcing laws . . . albeit sometimes unconventionally.

The mayor had an unusual opportunity to prove this once again yesterday when he was informed of his son’s arrest by Read more

Buenos Diaz, Chiz!

Posted on March 14, 2008 - Filed Under Pinoys Extraordinaire

Two exceptionally super-achieving young Pinoys . . . Illiac Diaz and Sen. Chiz Escudero . . . have something in common with the Queen of Morocco, the King of Bhutan, CNN’s Anderson Cooper and Leonardo di Caprio.

All of the above are no more than 40 years old but, more importantly, they’re Read more

What do you call female attack dogs?

Posted on March 13, 2008 - Filed Under Politics, Governance

ABS-CBN News reports that a women’s group has filed charges of illegal procurement and nepotism against Senate star witness and former PhilForest boss Rodolfo Lozada Jr.

Babae Para sa Kaunlaran (BABAE KA) has accused Lozada of entering into several irregular transactions including Read more

History repeats herself

Posted on March 13, 2008 - Filed Under Politics

Geraldine Ferraro could not have done worse damage to Hillary Clinton’s campaign when she declared on March 7th:

“I think what America feels about a woman becoming president takes a very secondary place to Obama’s campaign - to a kind of campaign that it would be hard for anyone to run against,” she said. “For one thing, you have the press, which has been uniquely hard on her. It’s been a very sexist media. Some just don’t like her. The others have gotten caught up in the Obama campaign.”

“If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position, Read more

The high and the Almighty

Posted on March 7, 2008 - Filed Under Religion

At my age, it’s difficult to remember exactly when I raised an eyebrow in catechism class at what appeared to be a redundancy in the Ten Commandments. After all, since God already makes it abundantly clear in the 7th that adultery is a no-no . . . even if you’re a congressman, I suppose . . . is it necessary to have a 10th that says, “Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s wife.”?

Now it appears that my youthful skepticism was not exactly on shaky ground. In fact, someone has cast serious doubts on whether God really

Read more

No noose is good news

Posted on March 5, 2008 - Filed Under Governance

Antipolo Bishop Francis de Leon is one clergyman who does not mince words.

In a commentary over Radio Veritas yesterday, Bishop de Leon said, “Binigyan sila ng lubid (clearly referring to Malacañang and its limited options in relation to CBCP’s stand on Executive Order 464).

“Itong lubid na ito ay yung oportunidad na magbago. So, pwede silang gumamit ng lubid na ito to climb out of the way at para umalis sila sa kinalalagyan ngayon. Kung hindi nila gawin yun, ang lubid na ito ay magsisilbi Read more

Ill-starred general

Posted on March 5, 2008 - Filed Under Governance

In all probability, the 2-star general must have thought that he could get away with his own version of ‘S.O.P.’: Extort money in amounts ranging from P25,000 to P30,000 that would guarantee

Read more

Sneer, and yet so far

Posted on February 24, 2008 - Filed Under Governance

It’s becoming quite clear that Pres. Arroyo is not inclined to step down any time soon . . . and appears steadfast in her determination to serve out her term until 2010.

In a radio interview Saturday, she effectively sneered at her detractors by announcing unequivocably that “Nothing can make me

Read more

This biofuel is ready for takeoff

Posted on February 24, 2008 - Filed Under Planet-friendly Ideas

Sir Richard Branson, the colorful British adventurer who’s president of Virgin Atlantic is reportedly set to mark a planet-friendly breakthrough in commercial aviation today, February 24th.

In tandem with Boeing and GE Aviation, Sir Richard’s airline will conduct the first commercial aviation flight using a sustainable fuel consisting of

Read more

Neri has no cojones

Posted on February 12, 2008 - Filed Under Governance

Jun Lozada, the star witness for the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee probe on the NBN-ZTE kickbacks scandal has gone one step further by writing the following piece . . . being circulated by the Black and White Movement . . . that provides quite a few clues why saying “Magpakalalaki ka!” to Romulo Neri could only fall on deaf ears:

Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr.: What is Neri afraid to say and why?

Many speculations have been made as to what Neri knows about the ZTE-NBN most particularly the direct involvement of Pres. Gloria Arroyo in this abominable affair. After his damaging “Sec. May 200 ka dito” demolition of Abalos, the discredited former Comelec Chairman, many were left disappointed when Neri suddenly clamped up when the Senators started asking him about the nature of his conversation with Arroyo, no amount of coaxing, cajoling and threats was enough to break his Code of Omerta. The question on many people’s mind was, What was Neri trying to protect when he repeatedly Read more

An unlikely hero to like

Posted on February 12, 2008 - Filed Under Headliners, Governance

He resigned last week as president of state-owned Philippine Forest Corp. (Philforest) . . . no doubt to pre-empt being muzzled by the Palace . . . but ever since Rodolfo Noel ‘Jun’ Lozada Jr. decided to come out in the open to speak out with an insider’s perspective on the NBN/ZTE scandal he has become

Read more

Losing in winning

Posted on February 6, 2008 - Filed Under Governance

Joe de Venecia had definitely overstayed when he racked a record of being the only five-term Speaker of the House but the manner in which he was yanked out this week could have repercussions that Pres.Arroyo and her clan may have underestimated.

While the oust-JdV ringleaders . . . including Pres. Arroyo’s two solon sons . . . had a stated goal of restoring transparency in the disbursements of billions in House funds, it eventually became abundantly clear that

Read more

Giuliani to sunset in Sunshine State

Posted on January 29, 2008 - Filed Under Headliners

The winner-take-all Republican primary in Florida unfolds tomorrow and it looks like Rudy Giuliani, the man who had planned and expected to be the Sunshine State’s GOP bet would have to say ‘Adios’

Read more

PNP’s blast theory bombs

Posted on January 24, 2008 - Filed Under Headliners, Governance

Despite preliminary findings by government forensics investigators that mentioned the presence of traces of RDX at the Glorietta 2 shopping mall blast site, the Philippine National Police has issued a final report that lays the blame squarely on Read more

No-bell laureate?

Posted on January 16, 2008 - Filed Under Headliners, Planet-friendly Ideas

German biochemist Hartmut Michel visited Manila last week and attracted considerable media attention when he warned officials about the perils of plunging into mega-scale production of biofuels,

Read more

Prescription for common sense

Posted on December 18, 2007 - Filed Under Governance

It’s heartening to note that Congress has finally approved the Cheaper Medicines Bill on its third and final reading, according to an ABS-CBN News report that said 205 congressmen voted for the measure. None opposed it and nobody abstained . . . which is rather surprising in the wake of persistent attempts by Cebu solon Pablo Garcia to

Read more

Brighter tomorrows for Sumilao farmers

Posted on December 18, 2007 - Filed Under Governance

The 55 visibly exhausted farmers . . . all members of the Higaonon tribe . . . had walked some 1,700 kilometers in the past two months from Sumilao, Bukidnon to Malacañang Palace in what must have been a collective act of desperation. However, when they arrived at their destination last week, they found out to their great dismay that the one person they had hoped to see . . . Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo . . . was at the time traipsing all across France, Spain, and the United Kingdom accompanied by what was reported as

Read more

The man to beat is a woman

Posted on December 10, 2007 - Filed Under Headliners

It’s no surprise that Barack Obama’s rallies over the weekend attracted massive crowds . . . reportedly close to 30,000 in South Carolina and around 8,500 in New Hampshire . . . what with talk show host Oprah Winfrey as the other star attraction. (Some of my Republican friends would likely point out that it was the other way around.)

But a recent poll shows Hillary Clinton leading in South Carolina with 45 percent of likely Democratic primary voters, followed by Obama’s 31 percent . . . a snapshot that could be altered significantly by the time the state’s primary day comes around on January 29th. That’s if Oprah’s clout among women in general and black males in particular translates into

Read more

go backkeep looking