Speak out: Open letter to President Benigno Simeon Aquino III, DENR Secretary Ramon J. Paje and DENR Armm Sec. Mujiv Hataman

DEAR Mr. President, Sec. Paje and Sec. Hataman;

Greetings!

Editorial: Pointing fingers

HUNDREDS died and hundreds more are feared missing when Tropical Storm Sendong hit Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities last week.

Vesagas: Anecdotes of horror and hope post-disaster

“THE act of helping the homeless Sendong victims makes me feel more human” -- (Janille, 20 years old student volunteer)

LAST Thursday, the 15th of December, two national broadcast media stations gave a public advisory of an impending cyclone that would directly pass over the northern part of Mindanao and the southern part of Visayas.

Vugt: Impeaching the Chief Justice

NOT everybody agrees with the idea to impeach Chief Justice Corona. Especially the lawyers who are very cautious and say that it may lead to a constitutional crisis, a fundamental clash between the executive and the judiciary, which may mean a destruction of our democracy.

Speak out: KIDMADI Bishops reject XSTRATA/SMI-Tampakan copper, gold project

THE Dioceses of Kidapawan, Marbel and Digos (KIDMADI) reiterate their opposition against the Tampakan Copper and Gold Project by the London based XSTRATA/SMI.

Adaza: Check and balance

THE conflict between the Chief Justice and the President is nothing to be alarmed about. This is expected in a democratic republic like the Philippines.

Vugt: 2 LTEs

I HAVE sent two letters to the Editor of the Inquirer, one concerning President Aquino and the other Cardinal Rosales. I just want to publish them in my column in Sun.Star, in case the Inquirer won’t publish them.

Amigo: Supreme power

FORMER President Joseph Estrada once branded the sage men and women of the Supreme Court as “hoodlums in robes” but grave as his accusation was, libel charges escaped him, spared owing maybe of his Chief Executive status then.

Dureza: Mining's big fight (Part 2)

MEDIA SUMMIT. After I wrote last week's mining story featuring how TVI Resource Development (Phil) Inc. is fighting the open pit ban ordinance of Zamboanga del Norte province, I was asked a few days ago to speak before a Mindanao media summit in General Santos City on the theme: "Environment Watch: Mindanao."

Wenceslao: Peace talks need not be complicated

THE longer the peace talks linger, the serious are the threats to our internal security and our ailing economy.

Vugt: Law, Truth and Justice

LAW, truth and justice are three entities in our judicial system, which are sacred, as long as they are not mishandled by men. Then they become a farce.

Osias: NPA and Extortion: The real score and the challenge to change it

THE champions of the masses have fallen prey to the same evils they have campaigned against for the past four decades, or were they really against it in the first place?

They claimed that they are fighting for equality and fairness in the country, even said that they would like to give our poor fellow Filipinos reprieve from the heavy yoke given them by the privileged few.

The City of Golden Friendship

THE city is serious in its growth. It meant business and going straight towards modernization, attraction and developing itself into such cities as Manila, Hong Kong, Sydney, Singapore and other bigger cities in the orient.

Editorial: Flooding at the flyover

SOME residents really wondered why flooding occurred at the newly-opened flyover in Macanhan, Carmen on Sunday. It is so unusual that this happened. But yes it did, in Cagayan de Oro.

Wenceslao: Pursuing peace

THE peace talks between government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) resumed in Malaysia heavy with recent events that had threatened the negotiations.

Adaza: Our purpose in life

MY WIFE and I thought that by December 8 of this year, we could move over already to our new house at PSB-Ulaliman in El Salvador City, Misamis Oriental, just beside the Divine Mercy Statue.

But there are still some tasks that are uncompleted yet like the garage and the water supply for all of the rooms. So before Christmas when our Lord Jesus was born in a lowly manger in Bethlehem, God will probably consent to our transfer in our house since it is livable already and comfortable enough for my wife and I to be of more service to Him and His creations.

Vugt: Hope

WHILE we had our associates assembly in San Francisco, Agusan del Sur, we did some sightseeing in the area. We went to Bunawan where you can see Lolong, the largest crocodile in the world that was rescued alive after he had swallowed the head of a child and is kept there in captivity.

Speak Out: Character Flaw

I DECIDED to send in contribution to this paper again because I am alarmed. I feel the urge to express my opinion on relevant issues involving the two equal branches of our government today.

Dureza: Mining's big fight

DIPOLOG VISIT. I was back in Dipolog City a few days ago. There's an interesting and important court case now before the Regional Trial Court there. And it's worth watching because the court ruling is crucial on issues on mining, local autonomy, police powers of the state and other issues clearly with constitutional undertones.

Emata: Enemies of press freedom

THE incident that brought down to the ground Michael James Licuanan after he was hit by a single bullet from a .45 caliber pistol is indeed very unfortunate. It simply put on the surface that there are enemies of the media in the local scene. That men and women in the media are not safe. That more tragedy of such kind may take place once more.

Van Vugt: Man for others

IN MY previous column, I discussed the need in our country for businessmen with a social concern, who are willing to invest their money in community development projects like that bamboo project of my friend in Dumaguete.

Speak Out: Polygamy in Islam

ISLAM holds women in high esteem. The woman is a masterpiece of Allah’s creation. And Islam stressed that woman is that creation into whose delicate hands the future of the world is entrusted.

Dureza: Maguindanao massacre two years ago (Datu unsay handover day)

(Editor’s note: This is the last installment of a four-day series on the Maguindanao massacre)

Emata: Madam Glo deserves respect

MADAM Glo is not an ordinary woman in the streets. She is not someone who exchange glances with anyone in the market place. She is not a woman you will meet anywhere, day in and day out. She was a product of a great American university, Georgetown University, where Pres. Bill Clinton attended too during his college days. In short, the Madam was President of a country for two terms. And she was a daughter of an ex-president of the Philippines. She came from a noble family, very prominent and respectable. Yes, she is a daughter of then Pres. Diosdado Macapagal and Dr. Evangeline Macapagal.

Vugt: Social contract in the Philippines

WAY back in the 1930s, President Manuel Quezon proclaimed the social contract program of the Philippine government in favor of the poor and underprivileged of Philippine society.

Dureza: Maguindanao massacre two years ago (Day Three)

DAY three, November 25 8:30 a.m., I visited a funeral parlor in Marbel. Some bodies were not identified yet. I talked with the relatives, many parlor-hopping, visiting every funeral parlor and looking at mangled bodies hoping to identify missing loved ones.

Amigo: CGMA’s crown prince?

IF SENATOR Franklin Drilon’s account on cases handled by Chief Justice Renato Corona is to be believed, chances are, CGMA’s case on massive electoral fraud will be dismissed.

Dureza: Maguindanao massacre two years ago (Day Two)

DAY Two: Nov. 24. At the break of dawn, Secretary Bert Gonzales and I took the earliest flight to Gen Santos City. The medical checkup could wait, both I and Beth agreed. She’s been used to this kind of “sudden take off” schedules since my work as newsman in the 70’s and worsened by being in the presidential beck and call since President Ramos up to President Arroyo.

Editorial: Attack on press freedom

THE shooting of Bombo James Licuanan on Thursday evening is again one proof that journalists in the country are not safe anymore. That journalists can easily be silenced. That anyone who may have been hit through the journalists’ articles in newspapers or comments on radio or TV can easily point their guns at them and shoot them.

Speak Out: K-12 Program, An answer or a burden?

THE K-12 Program of the Department of Education is an education reform of the Aquino administration that has aroused various reactions from the Filipino citizens.