EVERY time a typhoon hits the country, the media never fails to report on the extent of damage to the agriculture sector. In Pangasinan, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) reported PP24.6 million in damages but such a report only points to the value of agri products…

“THE test of the pudding is in the eating,” is how the world usually responds to issues whose end is doubtful, and difficult to judge. Such was the case with the implementation of the elevation of streets and drainage system in perennially flooded Dagupan City’s major streets. Well, Typhoon Carina…

FOR most Filipinos, the traditional State of the Nation address by the President is mostly about his administration’s achievements and giving himself a pat on the back for a “job-well-done” and to assure his constituents that all’s well, and the future economic and social plans are in place for their…

LAST week, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines issued an official statement affirming that “it stands with the Filipino fishermen who are only exercising their right to a livelihood inside our own Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). And, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines also supports the legitimate stand of the…

THE Department of Foreign Affairs’ announcement last week that it will finally initiate talks with China is just what our desperate fishermen in Infanta have been praying for – a chance to restore their livelihood in the West Philippine Sea. For too long, their prayers for peace in the region…

AFTER four decades of seeing our elected presidents and vice presidents trying to knock each other out, pointing accusing fingers, discrediting each other’s efforts in national programs all for purely political reasons, we can no longer ignore the fact that ours is a system failure. The resignation of Vice President…

THE nationwide celebration of the 126th Independence Day last week seemed hollow to many amid the tension in the West Philippine Sea. It was an oxymoron from the day Philippines turned its back on its independent foreign policy – friend to all, enemy to no one. Consequently today, we see…

THE Guico provincial administration has unabashedly established an unprecedented ‘incentive program’ for its officials, from members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan to department heads, in return for their productive work and loyalty – to travel overseas for 7-10 days for free (from airfare to hotel accommodations, plus shopping allowance.) Such an…

THE discussion on the House of Representatives’ approved bill on divorce as an option for married couples and outcome of the Senate’s debate on the issue is becoming a very heated and emotional in many communities. As expected, the center of disagreements is the Catholic doctrine about marriage. Curiously, the…