The national campaign for the 2013 elections has just started and the electoral coalitions are well on the way to disintegration and realignment. There are three manifestations already: first, the booting out of the so-called “common candidates” from the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA); second, the adoption by the UNA of the “Daang Maganda (Beautiful Road)” theme in opposition to the “Daang Matuwid (Straight Road)” theme of the Aquino administration; and third, the go-it-alone position of the ruling Liberal Party in the local levels.

Common candidates are never popular in the history of Philippine elections. The latter has always recognized two or three political parties or coalitions in opposition to each other. The common senatorial candidacies of Chiz Escudero, Loren Legarda, and Grace Poe run against this trend. In the end, they had to bow down to the inevitable when UNA—enraged at their reneging on the promise to join the UNA sorties—dropped them from its list of candidates. Of Read More »from Disintegrating coalitions

Rarely do we ordinary mortals get a glimpse of rarified institutions. However, times have changed. Not only have Malacañang infightings, Supreme Court follies and AFP generals’ retirement perks come to light.We get to glimpse priceless insights into the weavings of power.

Now, it is the Senate’s turn. Despite the pervasive media coverage of the Corona impeachment proceedings before the chamber, the Senate itself hides behind a veil of secrecy in its internal workings. The privilege speech of Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, Jr. last week on the savings of the Senate and its “addition” to the Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) of senators provides a glimpse behind the curtain.

 Related story: Old, personal issues surface amid Cayetano-Enrile rift

Two questions can be raised from his information. One, what is the logic of an MOOE addition at the end of fiscal year 2012? Two, can the Senate President add to specific items in the budget of the Senate (such as the MOOE) from savings Read More »from Et tu, senator?

The checkpoint interception in Atimonan, Quezon last January 6, 2013, which resulted to the death of 13 persons, has highlighted various angles that have political implication, especially in this election year. One angle that came out is the so-called “jueteng war.” Another is the role played by the various government agencies and units as well as politicians.

It is an open secret that elections and jueteng, the so-called “poor man’s lottery” go together. In his term, former president Joseph “Erap” Estrada has been accused of trying to control the nationwide jueteng network in his time. Former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband also have been accused of coddling major jueteng operators in Pampanga and elsewhere. Other politicians, both high and low, have been cited by various anti-gambling crusaders, including retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz, in relation to the illegal gambling game.

The attraction of jueteng for politicians, particularly those running for office, as funding

Read More »from Of jueteng and elections

A reconciled version of the Reproductive Health Bill (House Bill No. 4244 and Senate Bill No. 2378) has now been ratified by the two houses of Congress, only two days after it passed third reading. It is now certain to be signed into law having been certified as urgent by the popular president, Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

The RH bill achieved a landmark of sorts, comparable to the passage of the Rizal Law in 1956. Like the latter, it passed despite a bitter, all-out, and massive campaign by the conservative Roman Catholic hierarchy. Its difference is that, while the Rizal Law touched the nationalist nerve of Filipinos, the RH bill rode on human rights and women power. The latter have come of age in the Philippines, mainstreaming into the national consciousness.

Backround: RH bill awaits PNoy's signature after Congress' ratification

In both cases, the conservative Catholic hierarchy tried a wide variety of tactics, from using expert testimonies to more faith-based arguments, from

Read More »from Post-RH politics

Manny Pacquiao got knocked out in the sixth round of his fourth fight with Juan Manuel Marquez.

Speculations, of course, ensued on whether this was a clear sign of aging, or carelessness, or lack of training, or too much confidence or too many distraction. Even people close to him have opined that it was his change of religion that did it to him.

I suppose that what happened was that he walked into Marquez’s fist when he least expected it.

Related story: Pacquiao assures fans 'I'm fine, will be back'

However, it is also a factor that he fought at a time when he (and his family) is also preparing to run in the political race in his province of Sarangani.

The distractions of preparations for a political campaign certainly added to the problems of Pacquiao’s boxing career.

When you are engaging in a world-level competition, professional or amateur, it is a cardinal rule (or even a truism) that one has to concentrate on it—sometimes blocking all other unrelated activities.

Pacquiao, for the past Read More »from Knockout by politics

Opposite sides of the globe recently witnessed two unusual extreme weather events: Hurricane Sandy, which ravaged the US northern East Coast, including New York City, and Typhoon Pablo (international name: Bopha), which traversed southern Mindanao.

Both have paths that radically diverged from the well-known storm highways in the tropics. This prompted many scientists and even UN officials to say that “extreme weather” is now the new normal.

Climate change, in its current form of global warming, is now upon us. The arctic, antarctic, and glacier ice fields are melting while the global average temperature is rising faster than ever.

Related story: Cash row threatens Doha climate talks

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts a rise in mean sea level in 2100 anywhere from 8 inches to 6.6 feet.

There is the expectation that extreme weather—whether in the form of long-duration droughts, intense and/or flood-inducing hurricanes and typhoons, or brutal heat waves—is

Read More »from Gaia's wrath, Doha's climate debacle

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) recently released a list of 79 accredited party-list groups, in addition to seven previously announced.

These 86 organizations, plus several more who may still be accredited or those which may be allowed by the Supreme Court to participate, will run in the 2013 party-list elections.

The Comelec obviously tried its best to weed out groups who—for one reason or another—fail the criteria Comelec sets for them. The problem is that the criteria seems to be only one—that is, if a party-list group gets the majority’s vote, it passes. If not, it fails.

Related story: Despite Comelec purge, 2013 party-list race to be dominated by rich and influential

The Party-List Law (Republic Act 7941), and later the Supreme Court, in a June 2001 decision, put forward several criteria which the Comelec is now interpreting on its own.

This approach is fraught with unforeseen dangers. One, it almost guarantees motions for reconsideration and, eventually, appeal to the Supreme

Read More »from Hodgepodge party-list

An outcry in the media occurred recently over the fact that 72 people, according to the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), surnamed or middle-named Ampatuan are running for various offices in the province of Maguindanao.  This was in connection, of course, to the infamous Maguindanao massacre in which Governor Andal Ampatuan, Sr., sons and followers were charged of killing 58 persons, including 32 journalists.

Of the 72 (Rappler.com counted it at 74), PCIJ counted 34 running with the United National Alliance (UNA), a coalition between Vice-President Jejomar Binay’s Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Laban ng Pilipino (PDP-Laban) and former President Joseph Estrada’s Partido ng Masang Pilipino (PMP). Nine Ampatuans are running with the Liberal Party.

How come this thing happened? Or, as some observers said, how come this was “permitted” by the Aquino administration? The answer, I think, lies in the various factors that affected the Maguindanao politics of the

Read More »from Ampatuans in the 2013 elections