I am on a ferry boat from Cebu on its way to Hilongos, Leyte. It has been some time since I have taken this route to reach Maasin, Southern Leyte, which is my final destination for today. My age does not encourage me to do traveling like this anymore. After all, I had to wake [...]
Losing a friend as many and I have in William MacGregor Esposo, or Billy, despite our having accepted a long time ago that death was an active and constant threat to him, is always an emotional trauma. We who had been among Billy’s closest friends in the last two decades are not strangers to the dramas of life, not at our ages. And we have not been strangers to danger, excitement and radical change either – these had brought us together, kept us together, and made our friendships even stronger.
Politicians have become entertainers, and entertainers have become politicians. For as long as Filipinos seek entertainment more than good governance, then it will continue to be entertainers becoming politicians and politicians become entertainers. Entertainment tends to distract us from our daily worries, or the exhaustion from our daily routine. With the kind of extreme poverty [...]
For five days, the largest and most inspiring volunteer event in Philippines history, the Bayani Challenge, witnessed upwards of 70,000 participants daily. The Bayani Challenge is a joint event of Pilipinas Natin and Gawad Kalinga hosted in 37 sites in 33 provinces. It began on March 23 and ended, the other day, March 27.
It is time to review the program of subsidizing state universities and colleges. Like any government expense, school subsidies must have justification, their objectives clear and desirable, and their results measurable and proportionately beneficial to the common good. The massive support for public school system from grade school to high school is understandable and necessary. [...]
Twenty-seven years ago, the miracle of a peaceful revolution that removed a dictator from power unfolded in Edsa. Since then, much has happened that could never have been predicted at that time. Personal and political fortunes had serious ups and downs, heels became heroes and heroes became heels.
The campaign season for candidates aspiring for national positions has kicked off. There is little cause for me to be excited, though. The coming May 2013 elections are a far cry from the 2010 presidential elections when an air of change was so rife in the air, when Filipino citizens saw a good reason to volunteer – and did in massive numbers. The campaign that has just formally opened offer little to the imagination, devoid of great vision for an emerging nation and a most probable descent to politics rather than an impetus for continuing change.
If there is a moment in these last almost 500 years for the country and our people to finally take off, it is now. It is now actually a situation where the dream is so near, but we must not let it slip away. It used to be that we had to fight the [...]
Typhoon Pablo came like a raging bull and is now exiting the Philippine Area of Responsibility via Palawan. It spared the Visayas, especially Negros and Panay islands, after it pounded a few Mindanao provinces. A great effort to prepare for the worst in areas considered endangered actually rewarded those who cooperated. Hardly any deaths were [...]
My current US visit is now 20 days long where I have traveled to San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington DC, and Houston.
Yes, it has truly been an exciting week that has been tackling key issues that can change the course of our history. Three major concerns have been happening simultaneously that can set the tone of our immediate future and change the flavor of national life way beyond that.
The PRC is the Philippine Regulatory Commission. I believe it is tasked to regulate licenses of professionals like doctors, nurses, engineers, etc. I have never dealt with the PRC although I have been approached by interested parties asking for endorsements to become commissioners in this agency. Of course, I never got to accommodate any of these requests because I have no influence whatsoever with the appointing authorities.
