What’s your agenda? DAGUPAN Mayor Benjie Lim is the epitome of the kind of politics that has dismayed young, experienced and principled government leaders like Alaminos Mayor Hernani Braganza. After reneging on his statement that he will announce his candidacy plans – whether to run for re-election or challenge House…

A Right and a Responsibility With only about three months left to voting day, election fever is on the rise. There is no escaping it. Telltale signs are everywhere. Television ads by official candidates and posturing wannabes, feigning as advocacy drives, are filling up the airwaves. Campaign posters-cum-calendar have started…

Virus alert HEALTH officials at the national and local levels have had their hands full over the last couple of weeks with the rash of illnesses affecting whole barangays in different parts of the country. The most prominent has been diarrhea – worsening even to dysentery level – in Bohol…

Soul-searching season So far, at least four names – Vice Governor Oscar Lambino; Dr. Jamie Eloise Manzano-Agbayani, wife of Governor Victor Agbayani; 2nd District Rep. Amado Espino, Jr.; and most recently, “Spice Boys” member and Alaminos Mayor Hernani Braganza – have been floating around as very likely aspirants to become…

Good news? The Office of the Ombudsman — defined in the 1987 Constitution and empowered through Republic Act No. 6770, which is also known as the Ombudsman Act of 1989 — is supposed to stand as one of the most important institutional marks of Philippine democracy. With its fundamental role…

Police leadership at its best Up until last year, some towns and cities in the region referred to their police as “the finest” without fully understanding what it meant, if it meant anything at all. For some, reading the phrase painted on police cars only brought cynicism and sarcasm to…

Reviving the People’s Initiative (a.k.a. No-El) Just when we thought the country can finally move on after the Supreme Court decided against the People’s Initiative, and after the people resoundingly rejected the conspiracy in the House of Representatives to convene a Constituent Assembly minus the Senate, now comes the motley group…

Christmas Message “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out.” (John 1:5)   This is a signal truth forwarded by the gospel reading during this Christmas day. It is an inspiring reminder for us during these dark and still darkening times in our dear…

When PGMA deserted SJDV Speaker Jose de Venecia went on national TV last Wednesday to do again another gesture that he never thought nor dreamed of doing. The first time was to concede defeat in the presidential polls to actor Joseph Estrada. This time, his was the difficult and embarrassing…