Politics
Drilon: Manifestation regarding GOCC allowances
Sep 1st
(Addressing the Honorable Juan Ponce Enrile, Senate President)
Mr. President, as the chamber is aware, the committee on finance has been conducting hearings on the compensation of GOCCs and the reason why I’m standing up today is to urgently request the President to suspend the allowances of the board of directors of the GOCCs because as we talk now, as we are talking today, these abuses continue unabated and unless the President immediately orders the suspension of these obscene allowances, public interest will continue to suffer. I am therefore proposing Mr. President that the Senate passes a resolution, subject to style, More >
Celebrating Generations of Filipino Liberal Struggle for Freedom and Democracy: The Life and Times of Jovito R. Salonga
Jul 1st
(A TRIBUTE TO A FILIPINO LIBERAL: Delivered on June 28, 2010 at the Dusit Hotel, Makati during at tribute to Former Senate President and Liberal Party leader Jovito Salonga given by the Liberals in the Philippines on the occasion of his 90th birthday)
I would like to extend my warm welcome to all of you most especially to our international visitors from the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats, the Liberal International and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation.
You come here during a most historic occasion. After more than a half a century, we will be inaugurating, two days from now, the next More >
Ampatuan endorsement? No thanks, also.
Apr 21st
I received reports that the principal suspect in the Maguindanao massacre, Andal Ampatuan, Jr., had endorsed me as a senatorial candidate. I did not ask for this endorsement, and I will never accept any endorsement from anyone involved in the gruesome murders of 57 innocent lives.
Andal Ampatuan Jr. must be losing his mind; one day saying that (Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Manny) Villar was his candidate, together with (senatorial candidates) Bong Revilla, Gilbert Remulla and Jinggoy Estrada, and then the next day, he endorses me and Noynoy. It looks like Andal Jr. is being haunted by the ghosts of the 57 More >
Is NP-NPC “coalition” truly representative?
Apr 21st
Appointing the Nacionalista Party (NP) and its questionable coalition with the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) as the “Dominant Minority Party” in the coming elections was like designating a “company-sponsored union” to look after the interest of workers during negotiations for a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with management.
Given the unholy alliance between the Villars and the Arroyos, the forthcoming decision of the Comelec to appoint the NP-NPC coalition as the Dominant Minority Party is like naming a company-sponsored union to represent the interest of employees in the workplace.
I welcome the Supreme Court order on Tuesday stopping Comelec from enforcing its resolution More >
Why overrule Devanadera’s verdict?
Apr 18th
Acting Justice Secretary Alberto Agra’s order dropping the charges against Zaldy Ampatuan, the suspended governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and his cousin Akmad Ampatuan, the former acting vice governor of Maguindanao Province, was uncalled for and only reinforces the prevailing fears of a possible whitewash of the case in the minds of the families of the massacre victims.
Given the sensitivity of the case, Secretary Agra should have allowed the private prosecutors to present the evidence in court and let the judge decide whether the murder charges against Zaldy and Akmad Ampatuan would be dropped or not.
The More >
We should amend election laws
Mar 16th
We need to amend election laws to effectively regulate campaign expenses of candidates seeking public office.
I have been involved in seven national elections and this year’s election campaign is the most expensive that I have ever witnessed. It is deplorable how rich candidates achieve greater media mileage with loads of TV infomercials and political advertisements shown prior to the official campaign period, placing the poorer candidates at a great disadvantage when the official campaign period starts.
If elected back to the Senate, he would propose the amendment of existing election laws to cover the loopholes that are being gravely abused by More >
NP-NPC coalition bogus
Mar 2nd
The LP has filed an opposition to a pending application with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) seeking to establish a coalition between the Nacionalista Party (NP) and the National People’s Coalition (NPC) in the May elections.
The August 17, 2009 Comelec deadline for filing certificates of coalitions has already lapsed with only the LP as having submitted a petition for coalition with the Kapayapaan, Katarungan, Kaunlaran (KKK) political party of Manila.
There is no such party as the NP-NPC Coalition. That is a bogus coalition. As per COMELEC approval, only the LP was granted a Certificate of Coalition as the party was More >
SC row not about Carpio or Corona
Mar 2nd
I hope the raging controversy on whether President Arroyo can appoint the next Supreme Court Chief Justice would not deteriorate into a clash of personalities between SC Associate Justices Antonio Carpio and Renato Corona.
I hope that we can bring back the debate, not on the personalities of these two senior justices, but of the concept and legal issues of whether or not the President violates the Constitution if she appoints the next chief justices despite the constitutional ban against midnight appointments.
While Carpio and Corona were the top contenders to succeed incumbent Chief Justice Reynato Puno who retires on May 17, More >
Greed, corruption nullified gains of EDSA I
Feb 23rd
The culture of corruption and greed that has prevailed over the government with impunity is the main reason why the promise of the 1986 EDSA Revolution has remained unfulfilled.
The spirit of the People Power Revolution that deposed a dictator and brought back democracy to the country was nullified because of the culture of corruption and greed that prevailed over the country with impunity during the Arroyo administration.
Worse, public cynicism and disdain for the country’s political leaders had reversed the gains of EDSA I due to persistent allegations of corruption that have reached scandalous proportions and mind-boggling figures.
These cases of widespread More >
No need to reconcile with GMA
Feb 21st
Our conflict with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was never personal. We just differed vastly in our definitions of good governance.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita had said the President was open to reconciling with her political detractors before she leaves office on June 30. Ermita made the statement after former House Speaker Jose de Venecia was seen shaking hands with the President in a public event, a gesture that indicated that the two political figures might have buried the hatchet.
To this I say there is no need for me or the members of the Liberal Party (LP) to reconcile with the President. Our More >
