The Band-Aid Administration: 525,600 Minutes Under the PNOY Administration

The first year of President Aquino III’s administration is a struggle of some sorts. On one hand, the government that they would take over is predictable and consistent – if you talking about corruption and public anomalies. On the other hand, it is mandated to govern a mix of people who have lost faith in government, who wanted to go against the thieving government officials, or who simply wants to have a better life. Essentially, this dynamics created a ‘Band-Aid Administration’ out of a government trying to put a sense of closure to the entire decades of looting public coffers and twisting realities.

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?

Ang Daang Matuwid: Under (de)Construction

A year ago, I published “Beyond the Amber Ribbons”, a blog article that tackled my own set of personal observations and concerns over the whirlwind candidacy of then Senator Noynoy Aquino. During the time when emotions seemed to undermine reason, I posed serious questions on his candidacy. I have done so amidst allegations that I’m a paid hack of other candidates.

We already know what happened after May 2010. Noynoy won with a significant margin over the second placer Estrada. With the way things turned out in the campaigns and in the administration, a serious query was posed on the Philippine Political Situationer. What happened a year after? Do the questions posed to the then-presidential-candidate Aquino remain relevant and valid now that he is the sitting president? Here is a look on what have happened a year after.

The House of Representatives’ Version of Constitutional Adventurism

On September 28, on a meeting initiated to define the future actions of the House of Representatives was called to order. The meeting was held to discuss the house consideration of the Status Quo Ante Order of the Supreme Court (dated September 14, 2009) and other issues that pertain to SC Order, which includes the reply to the SC order, representation of HoR in the Courts, and the possible action of the Committee with the pending status quo ante order. By lunch time, the Committee decided (with vote of 33 representatives) to set aside the status quo ante order and move on with the impeachment complaint. This article would delve into the implications of such move by the Philippine Legislative Body.

GMA’s Queen Gambit

During the past few weeks leading to 2010 Elections, an ordinary newspaper reader would probably see the continuous line of news pointing to the alleged “defection” of a number of candidates from LAKAS-KAMPI-CMD to Liberal Party. Some claimed that over 100 administration executives and legislators have taken their oath as Liberals, including prominent administration names like Sonny Belmonte, Herbert Bautista, Vilma Santos, Ralph Recto, Jonjon Mendoza, Cesar Montano, Jerry Treñas, Hernani Braganza and others. The alleged exodus also spanned the entire country, focusing on key voter’s areas, like Pangasinan, Bulacan, Cebu, Iloilo and others.  All of these signs seem to point to something: that LAKAS-KAMPI-CMD is losing steam and LP is emerging as the major political party this 2010. Or is it?

Opening Malacañang’s Pandora’s Box

The recent news of GMA filing Certificate of Candidacy to run as Representative of Pampanga in 2010 Election has catalyzed so much uproar from anti-administration Filipinos. The move has been seen as an attempt of the sitting President to hold on to power, finding her way through the legislative loophole provided by the 1987 Constitution.  While it is true that doing so gives Arroyo a chance to put the Putin Formula at work, this explanation is too obvious. Given the way the Malacañang work, this issue looks more like a smokescreen to hide vulnerability and to hype impunity. This paper presents an alternative theory on why the Chief Executive decided to leave all pretenses and filed her certificate of candidacy to run as a legislative representative in Pampanga.

VP: The Easiest Road to Presidency

If there’s a position less preferred in the executive department, it would be the Vice President. The Vice is seen more as a jumping ledge not only for presidency, but even to the top local executive positions like mayoralty and gubernatorial ones. It is seen more as a support position than a full-fledged executive one. The provisions of the 1987 Constitution as well as the 1991 Local Government Code could further attest to the over-arching power of the Chief Executive over the affairs falling under his area of responsibility.

Beyond the Amber Ribbons: A NO for Noynoy in 2010 Elections

It has been a while before I wrote this article, and quite a while before I got this posted. I have done so intentionally so as to prevent the Cory fever from making rabid dogs out of otherwise perceptive people. I used simple reasoning in advancing my proposition: that Noynoy doesn’t deserve the level of trust many Filipinos deliberately or unwittingly gave him.