Inside Philippine politics & beyond

I salute journalist-professor Chit Estella for her bravery and grace under fire

Beneath that gentle voice and face was steel. That steel was severely tested but did not break when Philippine President Joseph Estrada tried to cow a newspaper, Manila Times, into submission. Chit was the Times’ managing editor. She refused to compromise her principles. She resigned rather than compromise her principles. She went into teaching journalism […]

Marcos in brief

To those who still don’t get why Ferdinand Marcos is no hero, this one’s for you: Cliff Notes for fuggedabout it Filipinos By Alan Robles One so-called argument from Marcos loyalists or fuggedabout it Filipinos is that “Marcos was no worse than other presidents.” WRONG. Marcos was the WORST president the country ever had, for […]

Why postpone ARMM polls and why we in Metro Manila need to support this

By Raïssa Robles The idea of giving Filipino Muslims the right to govern themselves through the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has failed miserably. ARMM is the fruit of the 1996 peace pact with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) The only way to fix ARMM is to postpone elections of its officials this […]

Why not turn mothballed Bataan Nuclear Plant into giant theme park?

By Raïssa Robles A tourist official said today that the mothballed nuclear power plant will be turned into a tourist attraction, to teach tour groups about nuclear power. C’mon, don’t be shy. Turn the power plant into the most unique tourist spot in the world – a theme park complete with a hotel, a restaurant, […]

Can Justice Secretary Leila de Lima obtain an Ombudsman’s clearance to be candidate for Ombudsman?

By Raïssa Robles Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has just been nominated by a subordinate to become the new Ombudsman. But before she can even be considered for the post, she will need to get a “clearance” certificate from the Office of the Ombudsman that she has no pending cases. Problem is, some individuals recently […]

Stupendous requirements for new Ombudsman in such a short time could turn away candidates

My Exclusive By Raïssa Robles To look for the new Ombudsman, why has the Judicial and Bar Council set a 10-day “non-extendible” deadline and imposed a stupendous amount of paperwork for all the applicants? Why is it doing this when the Constitution specifies such a vacancy can be filled in 90 days’ time? And why […]

Why I have mixed feelings about Manny Pacquiao getting elected President

By Raïssa Robles World boxing champ Manny Pacquiao has 12 years to reinvent and educate himself as a serious candidate for the Philippine presidency. Born December 17, 1978, he will only turn 40 years old in 2018 – which is too late to join the 2016 presidential polls. But this early, many are already speculating […]

Thank you, Boo, for airing my concern about our air traffic safety. Now I want to talk about NAIA’s toilets & bad food

By Raïssa Robles Today,  Philippine Star columnist Boo Chanco mentioned my exclusive report on how NAIA’s air traffic congestion is worsening. Boo takes an even more urgent note by entitling his column – Air tragedies waiting to happen Here’s that portion of Boo’s article: Air tragedies waiting to happen DEMAND AND SUPPLY By Boo Chanco (The […]

Can ABS-CBN, GMA-7 and ABC-5 please grill “all” wannabe Ombudsman?

By Raissa Robles Broadcasters  Ted Failon, Ces Drilon,  Mike Enriquez, Jessica Soho and Luchi Cruz-Valdez should subject all those interested in becoming Ombudsman to a grilling of their lives, in the same way that major news networks grilled the presidential candidates last year. Filipinos need not leave it to the Judicial Bar Council to shortlist […]

NAIA’s air traffic congestion worsening

My exclusive By Raissa Robles The takeoff and landing of planes at the runways of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport complex is now “going beyond safe limits” at times,  a high government official casually told me during an  interview on another topic. I was shocked when the official said that. But at that time last […]