Clik here to view.
Same old, same old SONA
LISTEN once more to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo deliver her state of the nation address before Congress, this time with images taken by the PCIJ of the events in and outside the Batasang Pambansa last...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Misplaced government spending worsens woes
IN her State of the Nation Address last week, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo reported on the economic gains her administration chalked up in 2007. Her speech, however, ignored the bleak data that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Till debt do us part?
GENERATIONS of Filipinos have grown up amid rallies denouncing the country’s constantly ballooning foreign debt. In her eighth and latest State of the Nation Address, however, President Gloria...
View ArticleWhen will ‘turning point’ in labor migration come for RP?
THERE is no better time to celebrate family gatherings than during the holidays. In the Philippines, it is the most opportune occasion for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to come home and reunite with...
View ArticleNEDA finally moves to repeal Arroyo gov’t-private JVs edict
IT TOOK a while for them to take action but economic planners are finally moving to repeal the infamous guidelines on government-private sector joint ventures that exempted some of the former Arroyo...
View ArticleTax on PEACe bonds: Supreme Court TRO fails to restrain
Was it a case of much ado about nothing? At a press conference of its spokesman on Tuesday, the Supreme Court was said to have issued a temporary restraining order barring the Bureau of Treasury from...
View ArticleSenators’ pork: P5.78-B in 2 years
TAXPAYERS paid P1.86 million on average for every project that was supposedly implemented using the pork barrel or Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of 21 senators in the 15th Congress from...
View ArticlePhilippines and progress: Same old, same old?
by Cong B. Corrales HAVE YOU FELT IT? Are you better off today than in the past years? “Unsa man ni nga tuwid nga daan? Nga batsi man diay kaayo (What kind of a righteous path is this? It is so full of...
View ArticleDATA A DAY: With diploma, without a job
LOGIC WOULD TELL US that those with a college diploma should have the least problems landing a job. Guess again. In today’s Data a Day, we take a peek at data released by the National Statistics Office...
View ArticleQuick Quiz: Which state schools have most students, graduates?
ARE THEY well worth the taxpayers’ money that government allots them as subsidy? And do they deliver quality, not just quantity? Which state colleges and universities had the largest number of...
View ArticleTough love? MWSS, water firms clash over taxes, disallowed costs
WATER IS LIFE, indeed, but it is not cheap, not free. Water is a story that has hogged the headlines in recent weeks. And that is all because of a new petition to adjust water service fees, amid a new...
View Article‘Loaves, fishes, and dirty dishes’: Water woes in 2003 linger still
IN THE BEGINNING, there was water, a public service. In 1997, water service came under private control. S1xteen years hence, are we better off, with good and ample water supply, and service priced at...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Price, profit, and water tariffs: Ne’er the twain shall meet?
PRICE AND PROFIT. Or, price vs. profit? These are the two sides of the water equation that is at the heart of ongoing “rate rebasing” talks between the Metropolitan Water and Sewerage System (MWSS) and...
View ArticlePNoy reverses self: Pork gone for good or just a makeover?
THREE DAYS after mounting a vigorous, if effete, defense of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel, President Aquino today reversed his position and said in no uncertain terms...
View ArticleAn epidemic of protest vs. pork
THE MARCHERS HAVE YET to take their first step to the Luneta and rally sites in cities across the nation tomorrow. But already an epidemic of on ground and online protest against pork and budget scams...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Women empowerment key in anti-corruption fight
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES need to empower women more if they are to effectively fight graft and corruption and uphold the principles of accountability and transparency in government. This was the consensus...
View ArticleYolanda’s devastating numbers: A call for all to help, volunteer
THE STRONGEST thus far in the world’s recent history, super typhoon ‘Yolanda’ exacted horrendously tragic numbers of death and destruction across 36 provinces (39 cities, 343 towns, 1,741 barangays) –...
View ArticleCorruption Perceptions Index: PHL up by ‘insignificant’ 2 pts
THE PHILIPPINES rose by two points — scoring 36 out of 100 points, zero being least corrupt — in the 2013 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) that Transparency International (TI) released today, Dec.3,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dec. 9 is Int’l Anti-Corruption Day
RICH AND POOR, all countries across the globe face the universal scourge of corruption, “a serious crime that can undermine social and economic development in all societies.” But corruption is not a...
View ArticleAccess to info, free media pillars of development, 197 CSOs tell UN
“DEVELOPMENT” without access to information and independent media is “an absurdity.” If it is serious about its new sustainable development agenda for the world, the United Nations (UN) must protect...
View Article