Of Fists and Fits: The Case of the Punching City Mayor

This is in reaction to Mr. Richard Dy’s ‘Why I’d Punch the Sheriff too’ as published in the Philippine Collegian on July 5, 2011.

The mythical Athenian hero Theseus once said that ‘there is no worse enemy than he who keeps the law on his own hands’. A tyrant finds it hateful when people reason with wisdom and live with a sense of justice because he fears they will shake his power. A tyrant leads with the force of fear, far from a system of legitimate power and institutions a democratic state enjoy.

For the democratic system to work, rule of law must exist and be preserved. For rule of law to be sustained, the law that the people has crafted must apply to all; be it to the poor (who should have more in law) or the ignorant (who knew nothing of the law).

Travel Advisories: The Unnecessary Addend of Unfounded Fears

Travel advisories are usually handled by the government in a not-so-controversial manner. Of course, the government personalities express some resentment over the issuance of such advisories. But most of the time, government would take the travel advisory in a stride, enforce most of the time temporary high-alert status on usual suspects and mitigate travel advisories by featuring neutralization of terrorist leaders or capture of terrorist camps and/or retrieval of the enemies war materiel.

However, when something that could have been passed off as a regular response to security threat situation was taken in an excessively belligerent manner, certain security concerns would be undermined. More specifically, partnerships against the growing war on terror are strained and the security administration capabilities of a country is undermined.  This article looks into the concerns that are uncovered when something as trivial as travel advisory become politically critical.

Back to 1989: The Implications of a Presidential Amnesty

On October 11, 2010, President Noynoy Aquino signed Proclamation No. 50. This proclamation grants amnesty to uniformed personnel and civilians implicated in the Oakwood Mutiny, the Marines Standoff, the Manila Peninsula Hotel Incident and other related events. However, would this act by the President result to the intended end-state? Would the move be consistent with the Daang Matuwid advocacy, or would it circumvent it?

The Day the Music Died in Manila: Part 2

Discussion of the various aspects of the  hostage-taking situation illustrated a number of problems emanating from the scenario. These includes some of the most critical errors that made a relatively manageable hostage-taking incident  turn from being under control into a raging drama that caught many, even non-Chinese  and non-Filipino, in a time lapse. Philippine Political Situationer observed that these grave errors were committed:

The Day the Music Died in Manila: Part 1

When a supposedly happy Chinese tour in the country turns into a deadly excursion with a deranged former police officer, things should be planned both on the operational and strategic level to ensure minimum loss to lives and property. The recent hostage taking did neither of the two. In the light of the mockery of every badge that hung on every police officer, this series would be comprised of two parts: one, an analysis of what happened and what went wrong, while the second part would be what should be done about it.