Wenceslao: Campaign promises
I THOUGHT the rumor was interesting when I first heard it. Rep. Tomas Osmeña was losing the support of many sectors and that Mayor Michael Rama is gaining the support of many Cebu City constituents. Osmeña and Rama are on a collision course for the post of city mayor in next year’s elections....
Wenceslao: Jessica Sanchez’s run
AMERICAN Idol (AI) is one of the singing competitions that I and my wife enjoy watching together. We got really hooked to it in Season 3 in 2004 when Filipino-American by way of Hawaii Jasmine Trias went really deep in the competition, eventually reaching as far as Top 3. Since then, we eagerly...
Wenceslao: Pacman’s same-sex marriage view
THOSE who think that boxing’s pound-for-pound king and Rep. Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao’s renewed interest in the bible is mostly doing him good should think again. The Filipino boxing icon, who is training for his June bout with undefeated Timothy Bradley, has recently been caught in the swirl...
Wenceslao: Will Corona really testify?
I THOUGHT the camp of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona would show a better effort in questioning the truthfulness of the exposed dollar accounts when the impeachment court hearing resumed yesterday. I also thought defense lead counsel Serafin Cuevas would rebound after losing the first...
Wenceslao: Carpio-Morales delivers telling blow
I WONDERED last week why Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona suddenly changed tack and announced his willingness to appear before the Senate, which as an impeachment court is hearing the impeachment case against him. Yesterday, I wondered again, will he ever get to testifying?
Wenceslao: Old haunts
IT IS not often that I would stray into what seems like one of Cebu City’s neglected areas. My high school batch mates are once again preparing for the second of their series of “mini reunions” and that required a visit to the alumni affairs office of Southwestern University (SWU). That office...
Wenceslao: Binghay and Canoy, Cordova projects
THE Facebook message was emphatic:
“It's starting to become a mantra. A bandwagon. There will be a movement in the coming days. It's called the ABC caravan. Alex Binghay for Congressman (ABC) caravan. I hope the leaders of One Cebu acknowledge and recognize this clamor. Again, fingers-...
Wenceslao: Tulfos’ debacle
COLUMNIST Mon Tulfo has admitted that his ego was affected by the airport encounter he had last Sunday with the couple Raymart Santiago and Claudine Barreto. Tulfo had built an image of a pistol-packing macho journalist who isn’t afraid of tangling with the powerful. His columns in the...
Wenceslao: Corona may yet testify
AFTER getting a beating during the continuation starting Monday of the hearing of the impeachment trial against Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona, the defense exploded a bombshell yesterday. I compare it to American Floyd Mayweather Jr. agreeing to fight Filipino boxing icon Manny...
Wenceslao: Corona trial, Floyd’s win
IT HAS been a while since the Senate acting as an impeachment court left hanging the impeachment trial of Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice Renato Corona. Now, Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile and his “gang” are back to listen to the attempt of the defense panel to demolish what House...
Wenceslao: The Magpale factor
THE political career of Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale is taking an interesting turn going into next year’s elections. She is being wooed by the two major political groupings—One Cebu of Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia and the Cebu chapter of the Liberal Party led by Hilario “Jun-Jun” Davide III--in Cebu...
Wenceslao: Corona’s pro bono lawyers, Guv’s chances
THEY came, they saw…but did they conquer? I am referring to the “pro bono” lawyers of embattled Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona, who held a press conference in Cebu the other day to repeat what they have been saying in similar activities in Manila. Did they win over the Cebuanos to...
Wenceslao: Binghay’s third district bid
I received the notification in my Facebook account the other day. When I clicked on the icon, I was introduced to a newly created account, “Alex Sanchez Binghay for Congressman 3rd District Province of Cebu.” Who created the FB account, the notification didn’t say. But the heading was self-...
Wenceslao: Frolicking in Santiago’s white beach
GOV. Gwen Garcia has been photographed many times riding a horse. Still, I was pleasantly surprised seeing a photo of her on horseback in Barangay Santiago in San Francisco, one of the towns in the Camotes group of islands. The Suroy-Suroy Sugbo has once more given a place with potentials to...
Wenceslao: Gwen for senator, PJ for governor
THE final setup in the 2013 polls is continuing to take shape as Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia announced the other night her decision to go national by gunning for a senatorial post. The governor is on his third and last term and her One Cebu party also bared its choice of Rep. Pablo John Garcia as its...
Wenceslao: After the Hacienda Luisita triumph
I ALMOST fell off my seat when I heard the report that some Hacienda Luisita farm workers had crowned Chief Justice Renato Corona “champion of agrarian reform” hours before and after the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Cojuangco clan-owned land be distributed to them at a relatively cheap price...
Wenceslao: Panatag Shoal, SWS survey
TENSION in Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal) has eased with the announcement of the Chinese embassy in Manila that China had withdrawn on Sunday two of its vessels from the disputed zone. Embassy spokesman Zhang Hua identified the two vessels as Yuzheng 310, a Fishery Administration ship, and...
Wenceslao: Condemn China’s move
THE Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have not been on good terms since as far back as the ‘80s. While the guiding ideology of the CPP is still “Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought,” the party has long criticized the direction the CCP is bringing...
Wenceslao: The Binay experiment
VICE President Jejomar Binay’s current “early bird catches worm” move is interesting.
He seems bent on getting the record for earliest open campaigning for the presidency post-Marcos. If he succeeds and become president in 2016, his template will be copied by the ambitious.
Wenceslao: Re-charting Kawasan’s course
I HAVE been to Kawasan falls in Badian a number of times, but the trip to this tourist spot that sticks in my mind has always been the one we made I think in the late ‘90s.
Wenceslao: Pacman the politician
HOW huge a politician is Rep. Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao now? Was he able to bring all the goodwill he got as world boxing’s pound-for-pound best (Ring Magazine says the crown is now on Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s head) to the political arena? Can the transition from retirement in boxing to working...
Wenceslao: US troops have landed
THE joint military exercises involving Philippines and United States troops called Balikatan kicked off yesterday in, of all places, Palawan island. But before you shout, “Scarborough Shoal,” Philippine officials have made it clear that the games are not in response to the tension that gripped...
Wenceslao: Falling for the same strategy
I STILL have to hear talks about “Operation Asphalt Storm” like what former mayor Tomas Osmeña used to refer to this activity years ago. But the asphalting of major roads in the city is continuing, although I am not sure if the credit should go to the Department of Public Works and Highways (...
Wenceslao: The Ecleo story
I COULD actually hear a collective sigh of relief somewhere after Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Soliver Peras ruled that Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA) supreme master Ruben Ecleo Jr. did kill his wife Alona Bacolod ten years ago.
The twists and turns the...
Wenceslao: Scarborough Shoal
I WAS initially more amused than worried when I read the news about the standoff between Philippine and China troops at the Scarborough Shoal.
