THE AQUINO administration has exploded with jubilation over the 7.1-percent economic growth for the third quarter that exceeded expectations. It prompted Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan to be exuberant when he briefed reporters: “We are well on our way to surpassing our growth target of 5 to 6 percent this year.” The unaccustomed GDP [...]
With a spokesperson like Edwin Lacierda, does President Aquino need enemies to cast his administration in a bad light?
From its earliest days, the administration of President Aquino has defined itself by how different it is from the administration it followed. In many ways, the Aquino administration appears to make that a guiding principle in its actions—replacing Arroyo-appointed officials, as well as reversing Arroyo-directed programs and policies. Some even see the ongoing impeachment trial of Arroyo-appointed Chief Justice Renato Corona as proof that Mr. Aquino is determined to erase all stains left by the president who preceded him.
Human Rights Watch, an internationally respected NGO based in New York and with a Manila field office, has reported that in the Cordilleras, the Philippine military has used school campuses as camps for their soldiers. From what I’ve read, the military presence seems largely benign, the soldiers generally well-behaved and even performing community work. That [...]
Libya’s interim government has bowed to international pressure to investigate the circumstances of the death of the ousted dictator Col. Moammar Gadhafi after the discovery of 53 decomposing bodies in a hotel in Sirte, hometown of the fallen leader and his last stronghold. The pressure mounted after the New York-based Human Rights Watch demanded an [...]
Presidents Benigno Aquino III and Barack Obama each entered office with promises to end abuses by their respective country’s security forces. While the abuses, abusers and responses differ, the Aquino and Obama administrations share a common failure. Although the United States has a much better track record than the Philippines for investigating and prosecuting military [...]
