Media Release
from IBON Foundation
 The United States (US) government and US corporations have been at the forefront of repeated efforts to remove nationalist and other progressive economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution, now more so with the US economy under recession.
Foreign capital has been aggressive in seeking profitable opportunities for itself, including pushing for Charter change (Cha-cha) since the 1990s. For instance, the latest report on Foreign Trade Barriers of March 2009 on the Philippines by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) explicitly states the “[aim to reduce or eliminate] the …

STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVE
by René B. Azurin 
Obscene is the word that best describes what the public saw. But it wasn’t a “gang rape” as some thought to describe it. What we saw were 174 whores spreading their legs or bending over in unison in exchange for stolen loot. What politicos will do to obtain releases of their pork barrel is obviously without boundaries. Unlike honest prostitutes just trying to make it out of poverty, these political whores will not only sell their bodies, they will hock their unprincipled souls. Mephisto must have …

AS I WRECK THIS CHAIR
by William M. Esposo
from Philstar
The political options of Madame Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) to remain in power beyond 2010 have been the cause of sleepless nights for many Filipinos. Over 60% of Filipinos have consistently registered in the SWS and Pulse Asia periodic surveys as seeking regime change.
Three political options have been considered as her likely means for staying in power beyond 2010. There is the Charter change (Cha cha) option where we shift to a Parliamentary form of government and she then reinvents herself as …

by Reginald Tamayo

Where is the sense of respect and of common decency of congressmen and congresswomen who signed House resolution calling for a constituent assembly purposely to amend the constitution sans the participation of the Senate? I am tempted to say that the House of Representatives is a House of Lawbreakers since there are some members thereof who wantonly violate the constitution just to suit their political convenience and perpetuate themselves in power.
Do our people really demand the amending of the constitution? Have there been calls from various sectors for …

by Perry Diaz

In 1986, twenty three years ago, a new republic was born from the womb of Edsa, fathered by the spirit of People Power. A new generation of Filipinos sprang that she hoped would lead the nation out of the morass of corruption and poverty bred during the dictatorial reign of Ferdinand Marcos. Finally, the people were free once again.
Edsa became the symbol of a nation that aspired to be great. A shrine was built for her to remind the people that freedom lost could take a lifetime to …

To all Overseas Filipinos, their families and friends:
You can do your part to stop this travesty by sharing this letter to Filipinos who care for our country; send this to your representative to Congress who may have voted in favor of House Resolution 1109-
                            Have you no shame?
To the Members of the House who sponsored HR 1109:
We write this letter in the knowledge that within our inalienable right to free speech, we have the right to condemn, to dissent, and to express.  We believe that dissent and disagreement – as …

by Ellen Tordesillas

Got this image is from Dennis Garcia’s Facebook wall
No doubt about it. The abominable House Resolution 1109 that trampled on the basic law of the land was passed by the House of Representatives because Gloria Arroyo ordered it.
Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo noticed towards midnight last Tuesday, when the voting was about to take place that administration congressmen were marching into the plenary hall.
Ocampo said those congressmen couldn’t be made to return to the Batasan at that late hour by House Speaker Prospero Nograles. “It had to be …

 
PerryScope
by Perry Diaz 
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s long-time dream of creating the largest political party since the time of Marcos was realized last May 28, 2009 with the merger of Lakas-CMD and Kampi under the new name of Lakas-Kampi CMD. The merger of Lakas-CMD, founded by former President Fidel V. Ramos and former Speaker Joe de Venecia, and Kampi, founded by Gloria, would indeed be a formidable political force that could dominate the 2010 elections; that is, if it doesn’t break apart by its sheer weight.
This reminds me of Howard Hughes …

by Antonio C. Abaya
from Standard Today  
 
Unless there is a popular uprising and/or a military revolt, chances are high that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will remain in power even after her non-extendable presidential term ends in June 2010.
 
She will remain in power as prime minister. She is following the example of President Vladimir Putin of Russia, as I had predicted as early as September 2007.
 
President Arroyo is quite predictable. On December30, 2002, she had made her famous pledge that she would not run in the 2004 presidential elections on the grounds that …

by Ellen Tordesillas
If the real purpose in the charter change resolutions pending in the Malacañang -controlled House of Representatives is not to prolong the hold on power of Gloria Arroyo, why are her minions desperately pushing for charter change less than a year away from the 2010 elections when they know very well that two out of three Filipinos do not want charter change now?
No amount of public assurance by House Speaker Prospero Nograles and Camarines Sur Luis Villafuerte, authors of separate resolutions calling for amendments to the Constitution, will …