This is what he said last Tuesday:
“The Cabinet is very hardworking, they’re very dedicated. You can’t ask anything more of them and perhaps I should learn to give them a little bit more breathing room. Baka naman ma-burn out lahat itong mga kasamahan natin sa gobyerno who actually do everything out of love of country. “
Burnout?
MVP’s remark intrigued other guests who asked each other, “Why, is he resigning?”
(Del Rosario’s statement on this article released in Malacañang: “In my talks with my trusted friend Manny Pangilinan, in December, he is fully supportive of my decision to continue in public service for as long as the President wishes for me to do so.”)
Actually, del Rosario had resigned twice in his almost three years as foreign secretary. (He served as ambassador to the United States during the time of Gloria Arroyo.) The first was in June 2012 after the standoff with China at Scarborough Shoal (also known as Bajo de Masinloc or Panatag shoal) which brought into the picture, much to the resentment of del Rosario, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV.
There’s a compelling reason for President Aquino to make sure that that he would be able to influence the people’s choice of his successor otherwise he would suffer the same fate that befell the two presidents before him.
His predecessor, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, is in jail – hospital arrest, actually- facing plunder and electoral sabotage charges.
Arroyo’s predecessor, Joseph Estrada, spent six years in detention- much of it under house arrest – for plunder. Convicted, he was later pardoned. He nearly made a comeback as president in 2010, placing second to Aquino. He is now mayor of the city of Manila.
Surely, Aquino knows that in his position, it’s not a matter of good intentions as his “Tuwid na Daan” slogan trumpets. As president, he makes decisions, sometimes resorting to legal brinkmanship. Example is the Disbursement Acceleration Program, the legality of which is being questioned in the Supreme Court.
Yolanda was very much in our mind as we bid goodbye to 2013 and welcomed 2014.
Our place in Guisijan, Laua-an, Antique was one of those hit by Yolanda. Not as bad as Leyte and Samar but there was still a lot of repairing and fixing to do.
As we celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ in the midst of trials and challenges, let’s take the examples shown by these children of supporting each other when they only have themselves to turn to:
The accident compelled the peripatetic JDV to forgo attendance in the meeting of the standing committee of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties in Ankara, Turkey last Nov. 21 and 22.
JDV co-founded ICAPP, a forum of political parties of various ideologies among countries in Asia-Oceania to promote exchanges and cooperation; enhance understanding, and create an environment for sustained peace and shared prosperity in the region.
When the Jetstar plane I took from Singapore touched down at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport about 10 in the morning yesterday, I realized I haven’t filled up the Immigration and Customs Declaration forms that are usually distributed on the plane. I asked fellow passengers if the flight stewardess had distributed the forms while many of us were asleep and they replied, “None.”
When we got to the area before the Immigration Counter, we were told the forms were on the stands on both side of the room occupied by passengers dutifully filling up the form.
Kawawa naman itong si Manny Pacquiao.
Kapag hindi niya malusutaan itong problema niya sa buwis, hindi lamang sa Pilipinas kung di sa America rin, magre-retire pa lang siyang libing sa utang.
Sa dami ng bugbug na natamo niya, utang lang ang bagsak niya. Kawawa naman.
As ugly as the Juan Ponce-Enrile-Miriam Defensor-Santiago battle.
At the hearing of the congressional oversight committee on the Philippine Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010 last Monday, a tearful Romualdez related how, he claimed, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas tried to marginalize him in the relief and recovery efforts for the Yolanda-devastated city.
He said Roxas asked him for an ordinance allowing the national government to undertake relief and rescue operations in Tacloban to “legalize everything” or a letter stating that he could no longer function as mayor.
Shen Dingli, speaking to reporters after his speech in a forum “What is to be done?: Resolving Maritime Disputes in Southeast Asia” organized by the Angara Centre for Law and Economics at Marriott Hotel last Thursday, said it was a mistake for China to have joined the 1982 UNCLOS, “an international treaty that provides a regulatory framework for the use of the world’s seas and oceans to ensure the conservation and equitable usage of resources and the marine environment and to ensure the protection and preservation of the living resources of the sea.”
UNCLOS also addresses such other matters as sovereignty, rights of usage in maritime zones, and navigational rights, the UN website states.
“We should not have joined UNCLOS,” Shen said.