THERE’S a very thought-provoking article that former US State Secretary Madeleine Albright recently wrote in the New York Times. Its title, “Will We Stop Trump Before It’s Too Late?”, is a little deceptive in that it suggested that it was a purely American concern that she was writing about. It was not.
In fact, it was about the resurrection of an old threat to world order. “Fascism - and the tendencies that lead towards fascism - pose a more serious threat now than at any time since the end of World War II,” Albright warned.
“Today, we are in a new era, testing whether the democratic banner can remain aloft amid... rogue social media and cynical schemes of ambitious men,” she wrote, noting “the raw anger that feeds fascism.”
She mentioned the Philippines as among the United States allies, along with Hungary, Poland and Turkey, where warning signs have emerged in the form of “relentless grab for more authority by the governing parties.”
The assertion will surely not sit well with the Duterte administration which has consistently denied that it was lusting for more power, justifying the many stiff and overreaching measures that it has taken as necessary for the preservation of the Republic and the execution of its change agenda.
We cannot ignore, however, the vicious attacks on Chief Justice Lourdes Sereno and their impact on the independence of the judiciary. Duterte already has Congress or at least the House of Representatives firmly committed to do anything at his bidding as most recently demonstrated by their speaker’s reaction to the president’s order to fast-track Sereno’s impeachment. If the judiciary falls, what will become of democracy in this country?
Albright emphasized the need for a free press that will defend the truth as a safeguard against the concentration of too much power in one office. I’m afraid that she’s asking too much.
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What, the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system will cost us P1 billion more? How much longer will we have to wait before the BRT project is implemented and how more more will it cost the Cebuanos?
Look, we have been talking about the BRT for more or less 25 years now. That’s a quarter of a century already. All the Cebu City officials, including former mayor Michael Rama, have at one time or another said the BRT was good. Now, only Mayor Tomas Osmeña is left pushing for this type of mass transport system. What happened to the others?
Let’s not wait for the day when we shall have lost many more billions of pesos before we get the first buses rolling. Let’s set aside the fact that it was Osmeña who thought of the BRT and is likely to get credit if it succeeds. Besides, if, as his critics claim, the BRT is going to be a disaster, it’s going to be Osmeña’s head on the chopping block, anyway.