ACCORDING to a statement from Malacañang, the government will soon impose a price ceiling on the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), which is welcome news but leads to an inevitable question: What took so long? Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. made the disclosure on Thursday, saying that […]
When media suppresses press freedom, and government is the victim
First word NORMAL-LY, in the world that we thought we knew, whenever there is a serious case of suppression of press freedom or free speech, it is government that is the bully and the oppressor, and the media and press freedom are the victims. Today, in the bizarre and unpredictable world of US politics and […]
Wise choice of Guevarra as watchdog
PRESIDENT Rodrigo “Di-gong” Duterte made a very wise decision when he named Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra to head the “mega task force” to investigate all graft-ridden government agencies. The choice of Guevarra to head the ad hoc anti-corruption body means that Digong is earnestly seeking to end corruption in the bureaucracy less than two years […]
Red-tagging and propaganda branding
THIS government is in the habit of imaging freedom of expression in a warped way. Its functionaries bluntly tell us that they have every right to put up tarpaulins accusing individuals of being communists and terrorists because they have a right to such freedom. And yet, when an ordinary citizen openly calls them fascists, they […]
Climate refugees: A global problem
CLIMATE refugees are people who have been forcibly displaced as a result of environmental factors caused by climate change and natural disasters. Every year since 2008, 26.4 million people have been forced to leave their countries due to extraordinary weather events such as typhoons, tsunamis, flooding and natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, etc. […]
Can’t the Philippines be a third elephant?
THE Kamuning Bakery Café Pandesal Forum went online last Thursday, and I was invited to participate by perennial host Wilson Lee Flores. But as I am an ignoramus in the high tech operations of online conferencing, I shortly became uncomfortable with the proceedings: me having to continuously turn on-off my connection, switching it on only when I […]
Challenges to neocolonialism
IN 1996, 50 years after the Americans gave back Philippine independence, a televised reenactment of the ceremonies played out at the Luneta. But during the solemn moment of the raising of the Philippine flag and the lowering of the American flag, the Stars and Stripes got entangled with the Three Stars and the Sun for a […]
Drilling down Manila’s quality of life index
I DISCUSSED in last week’s column the annual research paper published by Deutsche Bank relative to its mapping of world prices. The Quality of Life (QoL) index is part of the paper’s table of exhibits. The index lists the ranking of major cities in the world arranged from that with the highest quality of life […]
Inflation change unlikely in Oct
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said on Friday that the country’s headline inflation likely remained steady at 2.3 percent on higher power, oil and food prices. This Oct. 6, 2020 file photo shows a vendor arranging her vegetables at her stall inside the Sampaloc Public Market in Manila. The Bangko Sentralng Pilipinas on October […]
‘Household spending to bounce back in 2021’
Consumer spending in the Philippines is seen to recover in 2021 after posting subdued growth this year, according to a Fitch Group unit. In a report on Friday, Fitch Solutions said it expected household spending to start rebounding next year by rising by 5.7 percent year-on-year, a big improvement from the 8-percent contraction it forecast […]