Cebu is famous for its beaches and the annual Sinulog mardi gras. However, given the folly of some lewd tourists, many Filipinos have conveniently forgotten that Cebu, first and foremost, is the root of our pride as Southeast Asia’s only predominantly Catholic country.
“Merese” is part of the vocabulary of Mindanao gayspeak which translates to “Darn!” “Argh!” “Bloody hell!” “Merde!” Pardon my expletives. But my life is pretty dull for the past week. I’m a loser. Or is the blues?
The middle and lower ranks of the police and the military may have been confused by, and were in fact leery of, the Human Security Act (HSA). But that was before they were briefed by their superiors, who, taking their orders from their bosses who’re privy to the intent of that deliberately misnamed law, most likely assured them they had nothing to fear but fear itself from the Act’s so-called safeguards.
Since undeniably the Mindanao problem is rooted in the Bangsamoro aspiration for self-determination, the implementation of this fundamental right of peoples to determine their political status will certainly open the window of opportunity to resolve the long-drawn conflict peacefully. As signatory to United Nations instruments on right to self-determination, the Philippines has the obligation to uphold, respect and promote this right.
Advertising is the main way that Nestle and other corporations convince mothers who can breast feed that the bottle is best. It became so effective that breast-feeding dropped and mortality rates for children one to two years old vastly increased. In response the World Health Organization brought out a code of advertising conduct many years ago for these corporations to follow.
Congress remains the stronghold of traditional politics, now shored up by the increasing presence of certain elitist party-list groups. This is a long way off the charter-based principle of guaranteeing the marginal sectors’ representation in the lawmaking body.
Bitter, indeed, was this recent trip to the homeland; shocking, indeed, to find it still in the grip of such poverty that tyranny had become a necessary component of the social order. A slow balkanization of the archipelago is underway, as more and more Filipinos leave for work overseas and more and more “foreigners” enter: a hundred thousand Koreans are in the school system; thousands more of Taiwanese; Mindanao has become the land of banana plantations edging out poor communities; educational tourism, medical tourism, sex tourism, military tourism (which is what the Balikatan exercises are), tourism everywhere…
ABC-5’s Jove Francisco was an eyewitness to Quentin Tarantino’s pedicab adventure yesterday. He writes: “The cabbie was making a sharp turn when I saw from my window two guys in barong tagalong and a woman in black floral terno with a huge flower in one side of her head. “Interesting sight” I told myself. Until I recognized the guy with the darker complexion: It’s Tikoy Aguiluz, the film director who I’ve interviewed in the past regarding Cinemanila. And when the word Cinemanila came into mind…. “Manong, si Quentin Tarantino iyun ahhh!?” Cabbie: “Sino?” 
Read Jove’s account
The Philippines is in the news again, this time playing a role in the manufacture of defective computer touch screens that are used for voting in the United States. Veteran journalist Dan Rather, in a report on HDNet titled “The Trouble with Touch Screens”, presents new information on this story. “From scientists involved in testing the equipment, to manufacturers in third world countries who shipped these defective voting machines to the United States, Dan Rather Reports will present new information showing that these defective machines may have altered the outcome of multiple elections,” HDNet said. Watch the report here.
Newsbreak: Tactical errors, lapses—these are now commonly used words in the Armed Forces of the Philippines—and they appear to be the most convenient excuses for the recent setbacks in Sulu and Basilan. But our findings show that poor planning and tired troops are key factors in the military debacle. Read the story
Is the HSA really necessary in curbing what it defines as “terrorism”? A lawyer who represented petitioners against the said law before the High Tribunal views the HSA as not only unnecessary but also dangerous.
Balikbayan Dr. Annalisa Vicente Enrile was on her way back to the U.S. on Aug. 5 after a month’s stay in the Philippines. However, as she proceeded to the Immigration booth to have her passport exit-stamped, she was told that she could not get on the plane because she was on the “watchlist.”
Security, economics, the U.S. role in the Asia Pacific, Beijing-Washington relations, and the hard to define, but “know it when you see it,” concept of “soft power” were the major topics of discussion at the just concluded at the East-West Center’s eighth Senior Policy Seminar. The gathering of twenty-eight serving or retired officials, academics, sector experts, and business leaders from around the Asia Pacific region held frank and open discussions on the myriad of topics that will affect the region in both the short and long-term.
Consistent with its policies of deregulation and privatization, and limiting government spending, the Arroyo administration has been reducing its budget for education, leading to the deterioration of the educational system and the decreasing access of the poor to education. And yet it is wondering why more and more people, including college graduates are not able to get jobs?
In a speech on Monday, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said “urgent talks with the MILF under the Malaysian auspices” is needed in order to “to contain and resolve the Basilan/Sulu situation, making it clear that the government has to secure its forces and areas as part of peace efforts and law enforcement, but will not overrun MILF areas.”
It will now be a lot harder for tax evaders to cheat on their taxable income following the formal launching today of the Revenue Watch Dashboard (RWD) and the Local Government Unit-Revenue Assurance System (LGU-RAS) of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered today military troops pursuing Abu Sayyaf terrorists and renegade members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Basilan and Sulu to minimize collateral damage on the civilian population, even as she sought heightened initiatives for a peaceful end to the Mindanao conflict.
More Civilian Suffering Feared in Mindanao Presence of US Troops in Mindanao Faces Probe Looking Forward in Mindanao Arroyo Dissolves Gov’t Peace Panel Major US Gov’t Report Concludes Tobacco’s Media Promotion Leads to Smoking Manila’s Censorship Law Rears Its Ugly Head The New Settlers: Mindanao Muslims Head North Waiting Game for North Cotabato Refugees Lanao del Norte Atrocities Exposed MILF’s Weakness The MOA, the Cha-Cha, and the US Ambassador Green Group Denounces ANZ for OceanaGold Denial Growth of Software Development Outsourcing to Drive Related Industries Record 6,533 to Take Philippine Bar Exams NGOs Urge Transparency in IRR Crafting of Cheaper Medicines Law US Anti-Tobacco Group Hails Philip Morris’s Withdrawal from Eraserheads Concert 
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