by Rey O. Arcilla from MALAYA ‘Noy-noy’s smile that provoked adverse reaction and harsh criticism.’ HONG KONG is not a country, not a nation-state. It is a special administrative region, a euphemism for an autonomous province, of China. It is self-governing but it is Beijing that handles its defense and foreign affairs. Its chief executive, [...]
GLIMPSES by Jose Ma. Montelibano I remember most vividly the Corazon Aquino’s presidency had early problems about Cabinet members hiding behind the president when the going got tough instead of them shielding her from danger. The hostage fiasco triggered this memory recall as it seems that P-Noy has been taking the flak directly without his [...]
by Ellen Tordesillas from MALAYA Visiting Italian Lawyer Gabriella Citroni, in a forum marking the International Day of the Disappeared (which was actually last Monday) at the University of the Philippines, said a person disappearing does not follow logic. “People are born, they live and they die. They don’t disappear,” she said. But it happens. [...]
by Fr. Shay Cullen from PREDA Foundation Weeks have now passed since the shocking August 23 hostage taking and siege by a police of a tourist bus in Manila but the shame, disgust and recriminations remain and grow more intense instead of waning. Eight of the 22 tourists from Hong Kong were killed by the [...]
AS I WRECK THIS CHAIR by William M. Esposo from The Philippine Star A culture of corruption is established when a society freely accepts, adopts and practices the mindset that IF WE CAN GET AWAY WITH IT, THEN DO IT. In our culture, we call this patinikan which promotes the WIN AT ALL COSTS mentality. [...]
by Dr. Eustaquio Abay II Just as we hoped for a new beginning with President Noynoy Aquino with a new mandate, a desperate Filipino ex-policeman holds a busload of Hong Kong tourists in the Philippines hostage, killing eight. The ripples of lack of safety and security in our country has alarmed the international world, further [...]
Telltale Signs by Rodel Rodis A Filipina friend from Israel emailed me that when she was in Hongkong a few years ago, she visited a non-Filipino colleague at his condo unit. As she was leaving, he warned her that she might get challenged for using the elevator because Filipino domestic employees, he said, are restricted [...]
by Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS Chairman Filipino United Network – USA After attending the inauguration of President Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Cojuangco III on June 30, 2010, the US Pinoys for Noynoy, which has been renamed US Pinoys for Good Governance, and together with non-US based leaders of the Overseas Filipino Nation, has embarked [...]
AS I WRECK THIS CHAIR by William M. Esposo from The Philippine Star The Captain Rolando Mendoza Hostage Tragedy exposed the Filipino tendency to be the country’s greatest national security risk. This flaw in the national character is promoted by irresponsible media which also manifest signs of idiocy — not knowing the truth. The fact [...]
ON DISTANT SHORE By Val G. Abelgas It is tempting to comment on the botched hostage rescue operations last Aug. 23 when SWAT teams stormed a tourist bus where a dismissed police officer was holding hostage tourists from Hong Kong, resulting in the death of eight hostages and the hostage-taker. But with the joint investigation [...]
