echoes from

Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2019 16:15:49 +0000

  THE damage inflicted on the Philippine National Police follow­ing the involvement of some of its officials in high-profile cases have directly hit the heart and integrity of the agency. Already reeling from controver­sies, the institution has further been deeply demoralized. The latest re­mark of President Rodrigo Duterte declaring his exasperation over the ‘ninja cops’ […]

Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Thu, 24 Oct 2019 16:30:50 +0000

  THE annual budget debate that predictably gives rise again to animosity between the Senate and the House is sure to fire up when Congress returns after its break. Still, like in the past, the hottest items that are expected to stir the hornet’s nest are the issues on realignment and insertions. For instance, the […]

Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Thu, 17 Oct 2019 16:15:53 +0000

  IT’S a pity that the person who represents the police and its campaign against illegal drugs, as exposed in the Senate hearings, acted as intervenor for the ‘ninja cops’ in a 2013 drug case. It’s a haunting issue that raised questions on the integrity of the Philippine National Police chief Gen. Oscar D. Albayalde. […]

Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Thu, 10 Oct 2019 16:15:34 +0000

  IT all started when Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, a former CIDG chief, spilled the beans in the Senate about the Bilibid drug trade. To limit the impact of his disclosure, he asked for an executive session where detailof illegal transactions in the national penitentiary were revealed. Right after the closed-door session, snippets of […]

Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Thu, 03 Oct 2019 16:30:37 +0000

  THROUGHOUT its entire exis­tence, the Duterte administra­tion has mastered, consciously or otherwise, the art of self-infliction, hurting itself when there was no need really to embrace policies that destabilize the status quo. The first self-inflicted wound was when the President declared a change of foreign policy, bragging the country would veer towards China and […]

Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Thu, 26 Sep 2019 17:00:36 +0000

  THERE are many encouraging legislative initiatives in Congress that promise to generate substan­tive and meaningful development for our country. Among them are the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Ratio­nalization Act (CITIRA) approved recently by the House, that could leave positive footprints in various sectors, and two education bills designed to raise Philippine basic education […]

Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Thu, 19 Sep 2019 16:30:21 +0000

  IN recent weeks, the touchy is­sue of releasing inmates from penitentiaries under the GCTA (good conduct time allowance) law (RA 10592) has created a maelstrom. Overnight, agencies and individu­als involved in the chaos suddenly become legal experts and criticized each other’s arguments and posi­tions. Tragically, many substantive ques­tions that have shrouded the inter­pretation of […]

Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Thu, 12 Sep 2019 16:30:11 +0000

  ALBAY Rep. Joey Salceda obvi­ously got irritated by policy disagreements among Cabinet officials on the Corporate Income Tax and Incentive Rationalization Act (CITIRA) during its recent de­liberations at the House Ways and Means Committee which he chairs, and criticized them in no uncertain terms. “I concede you have honest dis­agreements but please don’t use […]

Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Thu, 05 Sep 2019 17:00:26 +0000

  JOURNALISTS have creatively given the monstrous traffic chaos in Manila as “Carmageddon.” The chaos has earned Manila the ignominious honor of being called as ‘home of the world’s worst traf­fic mess.’ The Japan International Coopera­tion Agency (JICA) reckons Manila traffic problem translates to some P3.5 billion in economic losses. Worse, if traffic further worsens, […]

Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Thu, 29 Aug 2019 16:30:40 +0000

  WHAT was deemed as a ‘negli­gible’ sea accident, the Recto Bank fiasco, which transpired in the West Philippine Sea within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), has turned out to be the wick that has forced Malacañang to adopt a tougher stance against the high­handed incursions of China inside Philippine territory. At first the […]