Ten years ago this month, US military personnel began arriving in the southwestern Philippines ostensibly to help hunt down “al-Qaeda-linked” Abu Sayyaf fighters in what commentators and US officials billed the “second front” of the “war on terror.” It was the largest deployment of US troops since the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and before the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Throughout the four days of trial last week, the only explosive testimony actually relevant to Article 2 in the impeachment complaint was that the Chief Justice closed three bank accounts on the day he was impeached. The rest were the nitty-gritty of authenticating documents (easily done in pretrial).
I was one of two plenary speakers at the 2nd Philippine Conference Workshop on Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTBMLE) in Iloilo City which started last Feb. 16 and ends today. The other speaker was the esteemed Dr. Kimmo Kosonen of Payap University, whose incisive thoughts on education I will comment on later.
The impeachment defense has done everything but argue its case on the merits. Now belatedly asking the Supreme Court to stop the trial, the defense signals that it never intends to. The defense cannot shoot the ball, so it shoots the referee instead.
East Asia’s cities are growing—fast. China announced in January that its population is now more than half urban, and other countries are following a similar path. Urbanization has no doubt supported the region’s dynamic economic growth, contributing to an overall reduction in poverty.
Week 4 of Chief Justice Renato Corona’s impeachment trial featured the testimonies of Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares on income tax returns (this time, of Corona family members) and of several bank officials on the Corona spouses’ bank accounts.
Three years ago former US President Bill Clinton wrote an article in Time Magazine (June 24, 2009) advising newly elected President Barack Obama to follow the priorities of America’s Depression era President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Whether Obama followed the advice or not, the readers can judge for themselves. May I suggest that the advice Clinton offered Obama may also be of use to President Aquino.
When the invitation to speak at a two-day Thailand conference on reading in Bangkok early last year came, I must confess that I was ready to dismiss it as a scam. I have been to several reading conferences before in the United States and in Europe and was familiar with the lead organizers for such events on literacy, the International Reading Association and the American Library Association.
Several days ago, Education Secretary Armin Luistro was reported to have announced that Science would be dropped from the subjects being taught at the Grade 1 level. This decision of the Department of Education is based on the design of the K+12 curriculum and the department’s efforts to decongest the Basic Education curriculum. Instead of Science, the Grade 1 curriculum will focus on “oral fluency” and include learning areas on the Mother Tongue, Filipino, Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao, Mapeh (Music, Art, Physical Education and Health), Mathematics, Araling Panlipunan (Social Studies) and English. Science will be introduced as a subject only at Grade 3.
Department Order No. 74, issued in 2009, institutionalized mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTBMLE) as a fundamental policy in our formal and non-formal education.
Last week I went to the wake of a young man and later to Cagayan de Oro where 1,000 people are dead. There are bitter lessons in both tragedies. However, whether it is one or a thousand, death is more sorrowful among the poor.
A month after Tropical Storm “Sendong” struck on Dec. 16-17, Cagayan de Oro City is slowly getting back on its feet. Nearly a third of the city’s population was severely affected by the floodwaters. More than 10,000 families sought refuge in evacuation centers put up in public schools, barangay covered courts and churches. Others stayed with relatives or friends.
