Blaming ourselves   LAST week, the country was reminded of the national tragedy that befell us – the onslaught of natural fury that megastorm Yolanda brought us to bear. On our TV screens and newspaper pages, images of unimaginable vast swathes of destruction of lives, homes, farmlands, stores, infrastructures, churches,…

The first time   OVER the past months, the Ombudsman has been busy indicting past local government officials who failed to liquidate cash advances for various purposes, whether for projects or charity. The sums cited as unliquidated and accountable ranged from a seeming paltry P250,000 to mind-boggling P20 million! In…

Indictment   WITHOUT a doubt, the decision of the Ombudsman to indict Pangasinan officials led by Gov. Amado Espino Jr. and Provincial Administrator Rafael Baraan, raised a lot of eyebrows not only among the named 15 defendants but Pangasinenses following the developments in the investigation of the controversial alleged black…

Spare the Bayambang pupils IF there is one Public Private Partnership project that has evidently gone awry, it is the project that involved the transfer of the Bayambang Central School to a new site. While the local government, the private partner and the Department of Education sort out their differences,…

Who’s reading? WHEN was the last you saw a student reading a book, a newspaper, or a magazine in his or her comfort zone outside of the school? In all probability, the chances of seeing one in a day today is practically nil. The fact is today’s generation of students…