KONTING PANANAW
by Lito Banayo
from ABANTE  

            Awang-awa ako sa kaibigang si Gilbert Teodoro.  Bukod sa matalino at sadyang may kakayahan, kahuntahan ko itong si Gibo sa paksa ng pagkain, pareho kasi kaming mahilig magluto at mahilig sa iba’t ibang pagkaing Pilipino.  Ngunit,  hindi umusad-usad ang kanyang kampanya.  Sa isang lecture sa harap ng mga manunulat ng Western Visayas noong Biyernes na nagdaan, tinanong ako kung sa palagay ko ay ano ang magiging boto ni Gilbert sa dulo.
            Ang aking tugon:  Nagiging dalawahan na lang ang laban—si Noynoy kontra Villar.  Kung umatras …

The unloved
By Randy David
Philippine Daily Inquirer
02/14/2009
Among the many presidents we have had, Ramon Magsaysay is consistently singled out as the most loved. For a long time, Ferdinand Marcos held the dubious distinction of being the most despised. Magsaysay continues to be remembered as the most beloved of all our presidents, but Marcos has been dislodged from his ignoble perch by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA). Marcos was despised and feared, yet he had many admirers. GMA now outranks every president as an object of public contempt. The public sentiment about her is …

COMMENTARY BY PERRY DIAZ
             If there’s anything that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo would pay for $1 billion, it would be a photo opportunity with President Barack Obama.   Just imagine a picture of the two presidents side by side with the flags of their respective countries in the background.  That would be awesome!  It would be worth billions of dollars in extreme makeover for Gloria.  
           It could change her image from an international pariah to a “partner” in the war against global recession and terror.  And perhaps — cross your fingers – it could even …

Usapang Kapamilya
ABS-CBN News
GLORIA ARROYO’S WORLD RECORDS 2001 – Present
A corrupted country-Arroyo’s sleazy legacy
We have become the most corrupt nation. No more can we tell ourselves that Filipino corruption scandals are by far qualitatively different from those of countries ruled by military juntas or dictators, or that the scams that shake Mrs. Arroyo’s administration were only peccadilloes that would barely make the world’s newspapers.
In her December 30, 2003 anniversary speech of the martyrdom of national hero Dr. José Rizal, gave her move more resonance, Mrs. Arroyo announced that she would not …

The Pantsuits Summit Conference
By Manuel Buencamino
“Keep a knockin’ but you can’t come in
Keep a knockin’ but you can’t come in
Come back tomorrow night and try it again.” – Little Richard “Keep on Knocking”
Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s third attempt to meet and greet, however fleet, US President Barack Obama was not a complete waste of time and public monies. She got things done:
She slept at the Four Seasons Hotel, breakfasted at the Hilton, and prayed beside Nancy Pelosi, the first female Speaker of the US House of Representatives. She met Steve Austria, …

Planning the ‘Un-plannable’
AS I WRECK THIS CHAIR
By William M. Esposo
Philstar: February 12, 2009
In the US, Reuters reported that over 525,000 Americans lost their jobs in the month of January 2009 alone — the biggest US job loss since World War II.
In China, the BBC reported that over 20 million Chinese migrant workers have already lost their jobs and that unless remedied — this could result in serious social problems.
In the Philippines, thousands of workers of big foreign firms like Intel, Amkor and FedEx have lost their jobs over the last two …

RP NO LONGER DEMOCRACY’S SHOWCASE
By MANUEL F. ALMARIO
To Filipinos who still believe that the Philippines is a “show window” of democracy in Asia, it may come as a shock to know that the world doesn’t seem to think so anymore. This is reflected in the article of Larry Diamond, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and the Freeman Spogli Institute at Stanford University, USA, in influential Newsweek’s Special Edition 2009 (December 2008 to February 2009).
“In Nigeria, the Philippines and once again in Pakistan, democracy is floundering amid massive corruption, …

Snubbed Again
By Antonio C. Abaya
Written on Feb. 09, 2009
  
She chased him last June when he was still Presidential Candidate Barack Obama.
 
She chased him again last November when he had become President-elect Barack Obama.
 
And she chased him again last week now that he was President Barack Obama.
 
If this isn’t true love, I don’t know what is.
 
But in all three instances, he did not even give her the time of day.
 
He, as head-of-state and head-of government of his country, did not even acknowledge her presence as a visiting head-of-state and head-of-government in …

COMMENTARY BY PERRY DIAZ
Ever since Gloria Arroyo became president in 2001, I don’t remember her going on a junket abroad without her husband, Mike.  Why not?  After all, it’s free — paid for by Juan de la Cruz.
However, ever since Joc-joc Bolante was deported by the US, Mike had been avoiding going to the US.  He even missed the Pacquiao-De la Hoya boxing bout — a “no miss” event for an aficionado like Mike.  Makes me wonder if Joc-joc had spilled the beans on his pal Mike to the US authorities. 
The rumor that has …

COMMENTARY BY PERRY DIAZ
As expected, President Gloria Arroyo failed to meet with President Barack Obama during the National Breakfast Prayer in Washington, DC.  Arroyo should know by now that Obama had been avoiding her for obvious reasons — she’s ‘bad news.’  Once again, Arroyo’s unscheduled ’spur of the moment’ junket to the US manifests her desperate attempt to connect with Obama at all cost.
With the scandal involving fraud and corruption in the bidding of construction projects funded by the World Bank, there are reasons why Obama shouldn’t touch Arroyo with a ten-foot …