Analysis
A generation of Young Turks enters Senate
By Amando DoronilaThe results of the May 13 elections gave President Aquino a mandate to consolidate his control of both houses of Congress in the midterm of his office.
The results of the May 13 elections gave President Aquino a mandate to consolidate his control of both houses of Congress in the midterm of his office.
But of course Grace Poe topping the senatorial race is the one dramatic, phenomenal, game-changing feature of the last elections.
When the newly elected senators assume office on June 30, there will be six women senators—Grace Poe, Loren Legarda, Nancy Binay and Cynthia Villar, plus the two holdovers, Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Pia Cayetano. At least three new opposition senators—Binay, JV Ejercito and Gringo Honasan—will be added to the opposition ranks in the Senate.
I am not saying that I can name specific foreign investors who are ready to pull out. But there must be a good number of them. This I surmise from a joint letter to Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima from the heads of various foreign chambers of commerce in the Philippines.
“WHY WOULD someone with the name Asuncion [a great feast of Mary] find time to pass judgement on the Catholic Church?” (reaction to “Spiritual but not religious,” Inquirer, 4/27/13). Once in a while I do get such rebukes, friendly and not so. A prelate once commended me for a column but remarked that “the institution can’t be destroyed; many have tried but failed.” But he got me right; it’s the institution that I twit, not the wonderful works of the people of God. Probably for my ears, a priest said that the Church “is like an elephant”—that is, big and indestructible.
On the last day of my visit to the United States last month, I dropped by Barnes & Noble in San Francisco to check out what I could read on the long flight home the next morning. What quickly caught my attention among the new releases was “Proof of Heaven” (2012), No. 1 on the New York Times’ list of bestsellers. The intriguing title plus the professional credentials of the author got me sold on the book in no time.
We are all brought up to recycle paper to save trees. We get countless e-mail admonitions: “Please consider the environment before printing.” Indeed, environmentalism was born with a call to preserve the forests.
The Commission on Elections decided to suspend the canvassing of party-list votes late afternoon of May 14, purportedly because of “issues” arising from the inclusion of disqualified party-list groups in the ballot.
A relevant question was raised by Inquirer columnist Winnie Monsod in her regular TV appearance at “Unang Hirit” (GMA7, 4/9/13). Commenting on the White Vote Movement, Monsod asked, “Why call it the Catholic vote?”
This refers to Jocelyn Uy’s article titled “What happened to Catholic vote?” (Inquirer, 5/15/13) which quoted Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles’ text message to her: “I am not happy (with the outcome of elections),” adding he was resigned to the idea that the country “is not yet ready for better things.”
Before the elections, a couple of newspaper articles gave the impression that the Focolare Movement was supportive of certain senatorial candidates in the upcoming May 13 elections.
With the K to 12 Enhanced Basic Education Act now a law, it’s time to focus on action. No more excuses. As the so-called centerpiece of President Aquino’s administration, K to 12 must now live up to its promise of reforming basic education from the ground up.
