Takeaways from Trump impeachment hearings
Having been glued to the television set for five days watching the public impeachment hearings against US President Donald Trump, live and in full color, I cannot resist sharing my three takeaways from the experience.
Let’s hear it for NKTI
The NKTI formula is quite straightforward: Good professional leadership, an excellent, committed staff, and no corruption.
Free Sen. Leila de Lima
I am again writing about the case described by Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio as “one of the grossest injustices ever perpetrated in recent memory in full view of the Filipino people and the whole world.”
Was there tampering and manipulation?
Is it possible that there was tampering in the 2019 elections and manipulation of the results? I asked a couple of IT experts. The answer was a resounding yes. It is possible. Whether it actually happened is another matter.
What have they done to deserve our vote?
The midterm elections are upon us, and my colleagues in the political sciences and in public administration say that the results will be an indication of how the country assesses the President, as he hits the middle of his administration.
Twilight of the rule of law
The MWSS decision constitutes a rape of the rule of law even if the concessionaires decided to hold their horses. If left to stand, it establishes a precedent that a guilty party can reap political pogi points by scapegoating a vulnerable party.
Duterte’s abuse of power
Get real Philippine Daily Inquirer, 16 February 2019 Last week’s column described how President Duterte unleashed, or caused to be unleashed, the full powers of government against one woman—Sen. Leila de Lima—which has resulted in her being incarcerated for two years now, while embroiled in legal battles (three, so far), fighting charges that can...
Implement, not further amend, the law
Reader, I’ve been doing more research into the issue of lowering the minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) to 12 years and one day of age.
Our mission: make sure the last bastion holds
What this is all leading to is that 2019 is going to be even more exciting than other years, because so many issues that will deeply affect our future as a country hang in the balance, and only we, the people, can resolve it, using the ballot box.
Carpenter versus plunderer
“Lo! unto us a child is born!” Not just any child but a child of a carpenter who would follow in his father’s footsteps (Mark 6:3). Carpentry creates value as it transforms plain wood into a beautiful cabinet. Honest hard work is carpentry’s signature. It is the exact opposite of plunder.
UN: De Lima’s detention a failure of government
The WGAD explicitly found that De Lima's detention “lacks legal basis” and, most importantly, resulted from her personal convictions and public statements regarding extrajudicial killings in the country and from the exercise of her right to take part in the government and the conduct of public affairs.
A hailstorm of fury
First things first: The Filipino people have been robbed of arguably one of the best chief justices we could have—Associate Justice Antonio Carpio.
