tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83248616464171791632011-07-31T14:57:31.913+08:00Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.comBlogger2451100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-12621939208220606492010-01-07T12:35:00.001+08:002010-01-07T12:35:50.848+08:00

My youngest daughter who lives in the United States called last week. She is taking a PAL flight for Manila today, and she gave me a list of food favorites, in fact wanted a huge breakfast the day she arrives. Together with sun-dried tapa, daing na biya and longanisa (three kinds --- Lukban, Alaminos and Vigan), she asked if I could prepare her favourite relish for fried foods, which is chopped

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-10591600752453425912010-01-07T12:34:00.000+08:002010-01-07T12:35:12.093+08:00

The last reputable surveys done after the filing of certificates of candidacy show three presidential candidates at the top: Noynoy Aquino in the mid to high forties, Manny Villar and Erap Estrada in a virtual tie at 20 or 19 percentage points. And Gilbert Teodoro, the man anointed by the once humongous Partido Lakas-Kampi founded by Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, incumbent and long-staying president

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-31295231866443441732010-01-05T23:17:00.000+08:002010-01-05T23:18:21.848+08:00

The last ten years have been most traumatic for democracy which was re-established with the ascent of Corazon Aquino to the presidency in 1986. The decade began with the usurpation of political power in the throes of what has been labelled as Edsa Dos, when a legitimately elected and duly constituted president was thrown out of the seat of power without benefit of the formal processes of a

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-80973431876609300232009-10-29T12:23:00.003+08:002009-10-29T12:23:59.894+08:00

The surprise decision of Chiz Escudero to resign from the NPC was finalized in his mind and in his heart only on Tuesday morning, the day before he was expected to rally the troops at the Bahay ng Alumni of the University of the Philippines. A simple but emotionally rousing event had been planned to begin at 5:30 on Wednesday afternoon. After a quick lunch at his informal campaign headquarters,

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-27204693627240029052009-10-29T12:23:00.001+08:002009-10-29T12:23:36.189+08:00

Yesterday morning, young senator Francis Joseph “Chiz” Escudero faced the media in a press conference to declare an overdose of political news. It was not so intended. Early this year, he had told media that he would declare his political plans only after he reached the ripe young age of forty. That is the constitutional age requirement. Tying oneself to a definitive timeline was both good

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-77080541140014083052009-10-26T12:20:00.001+08:002009-10-26T12:20:44.599+08:00

Despite the screaming headlines about the politics of 2010, the average Filipino voter has very “low involvement” in the matter of choosing who should lead the nation after years and years of the disaster named Gloria. ABS-CBN can tout “Ako ang Simula” and drum up voter interest in the all-important task of choosing who shall steer the affairs of state come noon of June 30, 2010, but even the

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-2230937571121699492009-10-22T13:14:00.001+08:002009-10-22T13:14:52.555+08:00

Since Cory of Tarlac partnered with Doy of Batangas in the “snap” elections of 1986, and Marcos of Ilocos chose Tolentino of Manila in defending his kingdom, the North-South political equation was dashed. In 1992, FVR chose Lito Osmena of Cebu as his “vice” both as a return to the Luzon-Visayas balance and the fact that the latter was himself considered a “presidentiable”. Earlier, he had

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-38914171254839256412009-10-20T13:50:00.000+08:002009-10-20T13:51:18.116+08:00

There is a metaphor used in the US of A to describe the office of Vice-President as “worth a pitcher of warm spit”. The uselessness of the office was ascribed to it’s being just a “waiting room” for death watch that may or may not occur. Taking off from the American presidential system, the Philippine Commonwealth had a president, Manuel Luis Quezon, and a Vice-President, Sergio Osmena Sr. The

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-37931896288713066992009-10-14T11:08:00.001+08:002009-10-14T11:08:49.319+08:00

It’s quite refreshing to listen to young leaders posit their views on national problems. In the Synergeia Foundation-sponsored “Face to Face” encounter between the presidentiables and 100 local government leaders, which was televised live over ANC, we saw how clearly out-classed the older traditional politician, Manuel B. Villar was, by the younger crop of rising political stars --- 49-year old

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-9445792514567457282009-10-12T18:10:00.002+08:002009-10-12T18:11:23.573+08:00

Is the good Lord sending us a message? Two Saturdays ago, torrents of water fell from the heavens, right smack into the metropolis, and in six hours of blinding rain, thousands of homes were flooded, most beyond repair or rehabilitation. For two days, the national capital region and nearby provinces were virtually no man’s land. Rooftops looked like thousands of islets where families were

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-33053002522039643212009-10-12T18:10:00.001+08:002009-10-12T18:10:49.144+08:00

Nangako si Chiz Escudero nang makailang beses na hindi siya magdi-deklara para sa panguluhan hanggang hindi niya inaabot ang kanyang ika-apatnapung kaarawan. Ayon kasi sa Saligang Batas, maari lamang tumakbo ang isang Pilipino sa pagka-pangulo o bise kapag inabot na niya ang edad ng 40. At si Chiz, na ipinanganak noong Oktubre 10, 1969, ay naging 40 anyos noong Sabadong nagdaan. Kinansela

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-1841029854669534712009-10-09T18:16:00.000+08:002009-10-09T18:17:19.125+08:00

The business section of many newspapers bannered the story recently that the Food Terminal property in Taguig City will be up for sale. One hundred twenty hectares in all, the property, minus some 17 hectares which is being used by the National Food Authority, is expected to fetch a minimum of 13 billion pesos for the Philippine government. The usual reason given for selling off crown jewels

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-10274593111495714382009-10-05T22:46:00.002+08:002009-10-05T22:49:18.863+08:00

We rushed our article last Friday the previous morning due to a series of early meetings. The night before, a friend e-mailed us this: “Several political personalities and controversial celebrities reportedly used Twitter to express their thoughts on this latest tragedy. Here are samples of unverified posted tweets.” I saved the very wittily written “tweets”, and on Thursday morning, while I

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-31570175088074447002009-10-05T22:45:00.000+08:002009-10-05T22:46:09.362+08:00

Dalawang mahahalagang leksyon ang dapat nating matutunan matapos ang pagkakapagsalanta ng Bagyong Ondoy at ang nagmuntikanang Bagyong Pepeng. Ang una ay ang pag-unawa na mayroong malawakang climate change na nangyayari sa ating planeta. Ibang-iba na ang mga weather patterns sa ating daigdig dala ng climate change. Sanhi naman ng climate change ang walang patumanggang pag-abuso natin kay

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-36128740422809223672009-10-01T21:00:00.002+08:002009-10-01T21:01:34.288+08:00

Congress will once again throw money into a problem the clear preventive solutions to which neither the executive nor the legislature can’t seem to plan well ahead, let alone implement effectively.From the much-abused road users’ tax, they are going to pull out ten billion pesos as an Ondoy rehabilitation fund. The senators try to look better. They are pledging one million from their 200

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-60627119268468360652009-10-01T21:00:00.001+08:002009-10-01T21:00:46.558+08:00

Those of us who had the good fortune to be spared from the life-and-death crisis that was the killer-weekend Typhoon Ondoy brought about, and whose only annoyance was being caught up in endless traffic, or having had to suffer the inconveniences of flooded streets and brown-outs, will do well to ponder at the travails of our fellows --- friends. relatives, as well as simple kapwa-tao. My

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-65605370833228356552009-09-29T12:27:00.001+08:002009-09-29T12:27:41.535+08:00

Sadyang nakapanlulumo ang nangyari sa Kalakhang Maynila at sa mga karatig na lalawigan noong Sabado ng umaga. Isipin na lang natin kung gaano pa kalaki ang naging trahedya kung ito’y nangyari nang gabi imbes na umaga. Sa maraming mga naka-ekspiryensya ng lagim ni Ondoy, pare-parehong namangha sa bilis ng pag-akyat ng tubig-baha. Isipin mo kung nangyari ang ganito habang natutulog ang mga

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-59396284982148678972009-09-29T12:25:00.000+08:002009-09-29T12:26:52.502+08:00

Because I write articles three times a week here and twice a week for Abante, my writing chores end on Thursday when I file my Friday article. My weekend really begins Friday and ends Sunday. I normally write my Tuesday column either on Monday morning or Sunday afternoon. This was partly written on Friday afternoon, as I had planned to be out-of-town from Saturday. A lot of jokes happened

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-38934039580942331252009-09-24T21:28:00.000+08:002009-09-24T21:29:58.400+08:00

Even as they have found a champion to bear their colours in next year’s elections, it is clear that PaLaKa, otherwise known as the Lakas-Kampi-CMD “Party”, is heading towards legal shoals that will mean they cannot officially bed with each other. Lakas founding fathers Fidel Valdez Ramos and Jose de Venecia are questioning the marriage officiated by no less than Dona Gloria at the Manila Hotel

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-24418842541241441772009-09-23T10:47:00.001+08:002009-09-23T10:47:54.483+08:00

In the middle of March, 2006, accompanied by a daughter and my then year-old grandson, I flew to the US of A to visit my family. Two of my kids (whose mom is an American citizen by choice) were studying in the West Coast at the time. I had planned on spending three weeks there, planning to drive to my favourite haunts in Carmel and Monterey with the kids, also to Napa, Sonoma and the rest of

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-90566243871253162452009-09-22T23:02:00.001+08:002009-09-22T23:02:34.747+08:00

The herring (hareng in French cuisine) is a favourite among people who live in the countries beside the North Sea. Pickled herring is a delicacy among the Dutch as much as Scandinavians, and there are as many country variations of the recipe. Smoking fish and brine-salting were done in the 14th and 15th century to preserve it, much like our tinapa and tuyo. Now herring when cured, turns red.

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-33264506292174912482009-09-18T00:12:00.001+08:002009-09-18T00:12:36.766+08:00

The week began with startling political news. Noynoy Aquino, who announced his intentions to run for the highest post in the land September 9, has zoomed up spectacularly in the first measurement of popularity done in the month of September. The surveys, in fact were done in haste (not that haste makes its results suspect). When it was clear in the last days of August that the Liberal Party

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-73434085798163326012009-09-18T00:09:00.000+08:002009-09-18T00:11:57.386+08:00

On the 16th day of the 9th month of the Gregorian calendar, which is the 28th day of the 7th month of the lunar calendar, also known as the “Kwi Ge” or ghost month, Gilbert Teodoro was “chosen” by the PaLaKa Executive Committee as their standard-bearer for 2010. (For the benefit of those who do not know the significance that the Chinese place on the Kwi Ge, know this: No Chinese family moves

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-90244527153869072382009-09-15T13:27:00.001+08:002009-09-15T13:27:19.855+08:00

One of the unfortunate effects of the death of a genuine party system in our polity is the inability to maintain geographic balance in the selection of our top leaders. While this may seem like the country and its disparate ethnic groups are uniting towards a single center, the reality is that the periphery is drifting farther from the center. Imperial Manila has never been as self-centered,

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-29098320003736522472009-09-15T13:26:00.001+08:002009-09-15T13:26:54.891+08:00

Ang pagbalik ni Erap sa eksenang pulitikal, bilang kandidatong muli sa panguluhan ng bansa, ay matagal nang itinatanghal. Para siyang “re-run” o segunda-manong palabas ng pelikula. Mula nang ma-convict ng Sandiganbayan sa kasong pandarambong, na kaagad na sinundan ng isang “pardon” o pagpapatawad ni Donya Gloria, nagsimula nang tumakbo ang “Pagbabalik ni Erap”. Mula rin noong siya ay

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-30069199242151311092009-09-09T11:44:00.001+08:002009-09-09T11:44:58.023+08:00

This week or next, the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee will release its findings and recommendations on the highly anomalous ZTE-NBN deal. We shall all compare that with the Ombudsman’s decision to prosecute only Romulo Neri and Benjamin Abalos, and leave the masterminds scot-free. Jun Lozada, the reluctant witness forced by circumstances to reveal what he knew about the deal that was negotiated

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-19380985494689011592009-09-07T14:41:00.001+08:002009-09-07T14:41:32.028+08:00

It’s early days yet. Many things could and would happen, even after the early withdrawal of Mar Roxas and his endorsement of Noynoy Aquino as the standard-bearer of their Liberal Party in the forthcoming presidential elections. Their party has announced a Noynoy-Mar tandem, even if formally, Aquino has yet to declare. This has become standard operating procedure in Philippine politics.

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-7094494606579123632009-09-03T18:04:00.002+08:002009-09-03T18:05:14.962+08:00

What is this? The morning after Mar Roxas’ beau geste, in simple eloquence delivered at a Club Filipino press conference, traditional politicians hoping to sit beside their new driver Noynoy in his jeep to Malacanang start falling all over, acting like they were the progenitors of the sacrifice, offering their own picayune and irrelevant ambitions as me-too willingness to abstain, and

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-51712622883583110492009-09-03T18:04:00.001+08:002009-09-03T18:04:35.793+08:00

In politics, a lot of things can happen in so short a period. The denouement that took place Tuesday evening at the Club Filipino was not entirely unexpected. It just happened too soon. When the crowds swelled at the wake and funeral of President Corazon Aquino, the political observer may have had time to wonder what effect the outpouring would have on the political fortunes of the Liberal

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-27786901557621048732009-08-31T21:48:00.001+08:002009-08-31T21:48:51.678+08:00

On January 8 this year, I began a series on ten presidential wannabe’s, beginning with Joseph Ejercito Estrada, which I entitled “The Hamlet Act”. It has been almost 8 months since that article was printed on this space. Let me reprint an abbreviated version of the same: Quote the Bard of Avon, “To be or not to be, that is the question” in his well-read Hamlet. For Joseph Ejercito

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-33225314889195552762009-08-27T17:38:00.000+08:002009-08-27T17:39:17.517+08:00

Dona Gloria will fly again. To London, but not to visit the Queen, whose royal presence she was already granted, was it last year? And for what deal?The ostensible purpose is to honour an invitation to speak before a gathering of businessmen and academicians assembled by that hoity-toity magazine The Economist. Oh well, she should be in her best elements before these people. They might believe

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-86389730542662652652009-08-26T12:10:00.001+08:002009-08-26T12:10:52.607+08:00

Trust Senadora Miriam to make your day whenever she vents her ire on whoever. Aliw na aliw. She chewed Buboy Syjuco and spat him out with such sardonic humor that even the masa clearly understood. “Pasayaw-sayaw pa, e ang tanda-tanda na…puti na nga ang buhok!” And even if you knew she was purposely lying when she described her Jun Santiago as “one of the handsomest men in the

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-54309896568107781392009-08-25T17:50:00.000+08:002009-08-25T17:51:16.218+08:00

While we have almost twenty men and women who hope to be president of the land, and who, in one way or the other, have expressed such intent, we do not have enough men and women to fill up the slates of these presidential wannabe’s. Almost all those who have announced presidential quests have declared their intent to field a senatorial slate, but there are very few takers, as of now. There are

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-63806802890220729902009-08-21T21:48:00.000+08:002009-08-22T21:49:09.096+08:00

It’s been the umpteenth time we heard Gloria Macapagal Arroyo bark orders to “her” soldiers to crush the Abu Sayyaf. Remember how many? They’re still there, and they still kill, the latest being an ambush in Basilan, in coordination with their brothers MILF, of 23 of the Republic’s fighting men. It’s been the umpteenth time that we have sued for peace, renewing “stalled” peace talks with

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-39134513930588600882009-08-20T21:47:00.000+08:002009-08-22T21:48:20.970+08:00

Because Ninoy Aquino offered his life so that freedom and democracy may return, a day which we will commemorate tomorrow, Cory Aquino was able to preside over the return of those cherished freedoms during her presidency. The most fundamental of those rights is the right to freely choose the men and women who shall lead the country, as president and as lesser officials.I am afraid that unless the

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-57806269941308352062009-08-18T21:46:00.000+08:002009-08-22T21:47:03.325+08:00

So many stories to tell. So much political “trivia” has been coming in from reliable sources and old friends. So let me use this Tuesday space for these straws in the political wind, just before we enter the “ghost month” of the lunar calendar. Manny Villar has once again foiled the attempts of Jamby Madrigal to conclusively tar him with the ghosts of C-5 and his real estate dealings with

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-3603768955670399722009-08-18T21:45:00.000+08:002009-08-22T21:46:03.790+08:00

Sabi ng mga tagapag-salita ni Manny Villar, sina Alan Peter Cayetano, Gilbert Remulla at Adel Tamano, hindi na raw dapat busisiin pa ni Jamby Madrigal ang mga ginawa ni Villar nung ito’y hindi pa senador. Kasi daw, ang kaso sa Ethics Committee ay para sa mga ginawa o hindi ginawa ng kapwa-senador lamang. Kasi naman itong si Madrigal, ipinaliwanag sa mga senador kung paano binili ni Villar sa

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-91865631674921594262009-08-14T22:09:00.000+08:002009-08-14T22:10:24.396+08:00

If we thought the $20,000 Le Cirque fine dining where Senator Lito Lapid complained about the service, too slow and too elegant for his taste and hunger pangs was all there was to the gustatory adventures of Dona Gloria y su esposo in the US of A, here comes the Washington Post no less reporting about a “pig-out” at Bobby Van’s Steakhouse on Fifteenth St., NW, right after Obama allowed a

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-45051541523454413142009-08-12T11:32:00.000+08:002009-08-12T11:34:46.331+08:00

I was yet thinking of what to comment upon for this Thursday article, given the many sickening developments we have heard or read about in this week after the outpouring of grief over Cory Aquino’s death, when a reader, Steve, sent us this reminder about a forgotten American president. “Harry Truman was a different kind of President. He probably made as many important decisions affecting

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-6988948532849984032009-08-11T00:55:00.001+08:002009-08-11T00:55:43.837+08:00

L’addition, s’il vous plais, Ferdinand Martin Romualdez must have told the head waiter at Le Cirque. He could have added, “The President has a funeral to catch in Manila”. Le Cirque does not get this large a crowd of diners these days, the economy being in recession. In any case, the celebrities that come to the East Side restaurant which boasts of a wine collection like no other in

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-5845801847228903182009-08-06T23:37:00.002+08:002009-08-06T23:38:22.502+08:00

I hope this is not going to intrude into the quiet private life of Maria Elena Aquino Cruz, the eldest daughter of Ninoy and Cory, but in these moments of national grief, I find it appropriate to quote excerpts from a poignant letter written by a father to his eldest daughter. The letter was written while Ninoy was incarcerated in Fort Bonifacio, one of many the prolific hero wrote in his

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-3332813152427099422009-08-06T23:37:00.001+08:002009-08-06T23:37:54.876+08:00

I write this an hour or so before I proceed to the Manila Cathedral to attend the funeral mass for President Corazon C. Aquino. Over the past five days since Saturday, the first of the month, we have been in mourning, and the images I saw, the feelings I have experienced, inspire and overwhelm. A member of the family confided that the immediate plans were to have a simple wake at the Heritage

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-48805777337324301102009-08-04T23:36:00.000+08:002009-08-06T23:37:20.330+08:00

It was the summer of 1981. I called up Ninoy Aquino and said I would be going to Boston from New York. I travelled from my place in Virginia to the Big Apple to attend a friend’s wedding, and from there, I thought of visiting him in Boston. He gave me his address at Newton, and told me that his house was just in front of Boston College. On June 9, 1981, at about 9:30 in the morning, I was

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-54059712046476482682009-08-01T10:16:00.000+08:002009-08-01T10:17:08.626+08:00

Just before she left to see Obama at the White House, a “working visit” with a retinue of at more than a hundred, a “summons” as Sen. Pong Biazon uncharitably calls it, the little lady sent back the shortlist of six nominees for two vacancies in the Supreme Court, back to the Judicial and Bar Council. The official reason is that she wants a wider field of choices. The scuttlebutt is she wants

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-53408922365537434102009-07-29T22:27:00.000+08:002009-07-29T22:28:04.880+08:00

It ain’t over till the fat lady sings.Everyone was glued to the ninth SONA of Dona Gloria, waiting for the moment when she would finally sing. She ain’t fat alright, but she’s the star of the long-running opera, tragedy to most, sheer fun to a few. All she did was to warble a fast version of “Her Way” --- “I did all that, and may I say, not in a shy way”, but she would neither begin nor end her

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-2020922558689847502009-07-27T20:49:00.000+08:002009-07-27T20:50:20.300+08:00

What in heaven or hell’s name is the nation’s In-security Adviser, Norberto Gonzales, up to? He and his acolyte (it used to be reverse roles), Romeo “Archie” Intengan, the ingenuously “jesuitic” priest cum political ideologue, have been going the rounds of whoever care to listen for the last several months, whispering about a plot to save “democracy”, reform the country, and put to eternal rest

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-51380877558842471592009-07-23T22:48:00.001+08:002009-07-23T22:48:22.336+08:00

Have you tried driving from Apalit, the first town of Pampanga, to Mabalacat, it’s farthest going north, using the MacArthur Highway? I have been doing that for several years in the 80’s, breaking the NLEX into Guiguinto, then to my lola’s hometown of Malolos, and into Calumpit, the northernmost town of Bulacan. I used to time it in such a way that I would be in Calumpit by noon. Lunch would

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-80122855289073282462009-07-22T12:07:00.001+08:002009-07-22T12:07:39.875+08:00

Filipinos who have participated, as spectator, voter or active player in post-Pacific War politics are a disillusioned lot. They have been for a pretty long time. They elected Manuel A. Roxas, the great and fiery orator and best friend of the US of A, and pinned their hopes in his leadership when the Philippines was recognized as “independent” by the “Great White Father”. The latter

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-30546863238304330102009-07-21T10:59:00.001+08:002009-07-21T10:59:51.759+08:00

Nais kong ipaalam sa ating mga taga-subaybay ang salaysay sa akin ng isang pamangkin ni dating Pangulong Cory Aquino na malapit kong kaibigan. Noong isang linggo, nagkaroon ng misa mismo sa loob ng silid ni Tita Cory sa Makati Medical Center kung saan nakaratay sa karamdaman ang dating pangulo ng higit isang buwan na. Nagtanong ang pari kung nais ba ni Cory humiling sa Panginoon ng isang

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-68442633207169127352009-07-20T16:49:00.001+08:002009-07-20T16:49:25.369+08:00

As early as January of 2008, this writer suggested that civil society groups and media start planning and thereafter sponsoring a series of debates all around the country’s regional groupings. We called the proposal a “winnowing” process by which people can gauge the competence and character of those who would be president. Since the usual opinion research polls would be done periodically, the

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-59534972556644641272009-07-20T16:45:00.001+08:002009-07-20T16:45:54.419+08:00

Gaya ng alam na ninyo, tutungo si Donya Gloria sa Washington D.C. sa katapusan ng buwang kasalukuyan, batay sa “imbitasyon” ni Pangulong Barack Obama ng Estados Unidos. Matagal nang inaasam-asam ni Donya ang pagkakataong makaharap si Obama. Ilang beses na siyang nagtungo sa Estados Unidos sa pag-asang makakadaupang-palad niya ang bagong halal na pangulo ng pinakamakapangyarihang bansa sa mundo.

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-35754292613818369112009-07-15T19:00:00.000+08:002009-07-15T19:01:00.026+08:00

Long-time Speaker of the US House of Representatives Tip O’Neill is remembered best for two quotes, both borne out of long experience in the arcane art of politics. “People like to be asked”, he said, recounting the story of a failed politician who lost his pursuit of elective office, and learned after defeat that even his neighbour did not vote for him. After the bitterness of personal defeat

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-26508329214163688142009-07-13T10:26:00.001+08:002009-07-13T10:26:22.854+08:00

A good leader, it is said, is one who thinks at least 25 years ahead of his time, and makes plans accordingly. Sadly in this benighted land, our leaders only think of today. Worse, not only are they unable to solve today’s problems, they compound the same, so that the next leader inherits not a legacy of “stones for the edifice”, but rubble. The thought came to mind when I read a recent

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-20625956186909450572009-07-13T10:25:00.001+08:002009-07-13T10:25:56.647+08:00

Noong 1984, sa New Manila, ay nagkaroon ng assassination attempt sa buhay ng naging pangalawang pangulo, senador, at embahador nating si Emmanuel Pelaez. Habang siya’y dinadala sa emergency room ng St. Luke’s Hospital, nakita niya ang hepe ng pulis ng Quezon City na si Gen. Tomas Karingal na sumugod sa ospital, at naitanong ni Pelaez, “General, what is happening to our country?” (Ano ba ang

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-2795409070119230042009-07-09T23:44:00.001+08:002009-07-09T23:44:49.048+08:00

All is quiet from Northern California and Virginia, where Ronnie Puno is hibernating after two important events. One is felicitous --- the wedding of his youngest daughter Tami which was held at Napa Valley on the Fourth of July. The other happened, rather, unsuspectingly stabbed through his back while he is away. I have already written in two previous articles about this.Crame is agog.

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-83672706977609915432009-07-08T19:35:00.002+08:002009-07-08T19:36:01.322+08:00

I am one of those “critics” who have kept silent on the issue of the supposed breast implants of Dona Gloria. Frankly, to me the implants are a purely private matter which I would not want to dissect in this space or the one in Abante. And as my few friends know, we did not even deign the subject a matter fit for discussion. What is worth discussing is how Malacanang’s mouthpieces and its

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-74815812542512418772009-07-08T19:35:00.001+08:002009-07-08T19:35:21.579+08:00

Nagsimulang maging importante si Ronnie Puno kay Donya Gloria noong 2003, nang pormal na siyang sumama sa kampo ng Donya, sa pamamagitan ng esposo nitong si Mike Arroyo, na kasabayan sa Ateneo ni Puno. Naging mahalaga ang payo nito sa pag-plano para sa 2004 na halalan. Bagama’t nangako si Donya Gloria sa sambayanan na hindi na siya tatakbo sa 2004, ito ay pa-epek lamang, pagka’t hindi pa

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-74695518825811266932009-07-07T19:33:00.000+08:002009-07-08T19:34:41.702+08:00

I was in Puerto Princesa last weekend to attend a forum sponsored by the Advocacy for Good Governance, where Isabela Gov. Grace Padaca, Atty. Harry Roque, Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio Ledesma and Msgr. Boy Salvador spoke before thousands of young men and women from all parts of Palawan. They gathered at the huge, fully air-conditioned Puerto Princesa Coliseum built by Mayor Edward Hagedorn,

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-37752777949040099772009-07-07T19:32:00.000+08:002009-07-08T19:32:57.154+08:00

Walang tigil ang mga ispekulasyong naglalabasan mula sa Kampo Crame, headquarters ng Philippine National Police. Balasahan na naman ba? Tumindi ang mga hakahaka, alinsabay ng mga kakabakabang mga opisyales dito, dahil sa kakaibang pagkaka-talaga ng officer-in-charge ng Department of Interior and Local Governments (DILG) habang nasa Amerika si Kalihim Ronaldo Puno. Ang kalihim ng DILG ay

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-68142133438425248062009-07-02T17:08:00.000+08:002009-07-02T17:09:26.835+08:00

Ronnie Puno went to the US of A to attend to the wedding of his daughter, set at California’s beautiful Napa Valley. He has been in and out of the US of A, as this is where his family resides. Everyone and his mother in the DILG knows this, and they find it normal when their boss is out of the country. And he designates one or the other of his numerous undersecretaries, usually senior Usec Ed

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-79435587340465480342009-07-01T15:46:00.001+08:002009-07-01T15:46:47.667+08:00

The week started with Comelec announcing that Total Information Management Corp. of the Philippines has backed out of a joint venture agreement with Smartmatic of Barbados, Venezuela, and other parts, in a 7.2 billion peso election automation project designed for next year’s elections. Particion de bienes o particion de poder, they now say their differences are “irreconcilable”. And neither

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-68359554718851648612009-06-25T18:20:00.000+08:002009-06-25T18:21:12.461+08:00

I have read several poll opinion surveys done in the past year or so, as well as focused group discussion (FGD) results done at the behest of various candidates for national office. Unless the trends are reversed, the future of this country could be very depressing indeed. Electoral choices have become a function of “kababawan”. The average voter from the lower C, D and E income

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-13827369772842562522009-06-23T10:44:00.000+08:002009-06-23T10:46:35.970+08:00

Sa ating pitak sa Pahayagang Malaya kahapon, inilista natin ang mga maaring gawin ni Donya Gloria upang palawigin ang kanyang kapangyarihan. Sa maikling pananalita, ang mga ito ay sumusunod: Con-Ass, na kapag itinuloy ng mga alipores niya sa mababang kapulungan matapos ang kanyang SONA sa Hunyo 27, 2009, ay maaring maisampa sa Korte Suprema. Sa kanilang pagtaya, dahil “hawak” niya ang marami

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-88143149647877602732009-06-22T12:29:00.001+08:002009-06-22T15:13:34.880+08:00

Option One: Get the House of Representatives to convene itself into a constituent assembly after her “last” State of the Nation Address. She might be able to twist the arm of one or two senators to sweeten the pot, but what matters is that a justiciable controversy arises that will trigger a petition to the Supreme Court, which will then have to rule on the constitutionality of the

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-59461257007155443612009-06-18T19:03:00.001+08:002009-06-18T19:03:53.749+08:00

Reader Herbie sent me through e-mail his comments to “Your Article of June 10 on PMA Class ‘78”. It actually came out on June 11 in this paper. Be that as it may, I have taken the liberty of printing excerpts of his letter, and my brief reply to him. But first, it just crossed my mind that today is the birthday of Jose Rizal. And I guess the benighted land will hardly remember.

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-5231082069923595412009-06-17T16:17:00.002+08:002009-06-17T16:18:29.034+08:00

The candidates are warming up for the starting gun. Others are yet on the way to the stadia, and there will be some 240,000 of these voting precincts spread throughout the country come May 10, 2010. It will be the first time we shall have automated elections on a nationwide scale. A gaggle of commissioners in charge of the political Olympics in this benighted land pin their hopes on some 80,000

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-5309556389702864612009-06-17T16:17:00.001+08:002009-06-17T16:17:25.017+08:00

Nagkaroon pa ng tatlong one-on-one na miting sina FPJ at Ping noong buwan ng Marso at Abril. Nguni’t walang pag-usad ang pakikipagkasundo liban lang sa kamustahan. Gaya ng naisulat ko kahapon, parehong ayaw manguna. Nguni’t isa sa mga miting na ito ay dapat malaman ng taong-bayan. Ito’y inisyatibo ng isang mayamang negosyanteng sumusuporta kay FPJ, nguni’t kaibigan din naman ni Ping

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-36868315333836779012009-06-16T16:15:00.000+08:002009-06-17T16:16:28.074+08:00

Matagal-tagal ko nang nais isulat ang tungkol sa mga one-on-one na mga miting na naganap sa pagitan ng ngayon ay sumakabilang-buhay nang si FPJ at si Ping Lacson, na parehong tumakbo sa panguluhan ng 2004. Ngayong umatras na si Ping ng kanyang kandidatura sa panguluhan ng 2010, siguro’y panahon nang ihayag ito sa sambayanan sa pamamagitan ng pitak na ito. Noong kalagitnaaan ng

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-50401050995962494732009-06-16T16:14:00.000+08:002009-06-17T16:15:17.386+08:00

It’s not a case of scrambling for the nearest exit. It’s not panic time. It’s just ensuring there is life after the Dona, assuming, and that’s still a big IF --- the Dona decides to go quietly into the night. Clearly she won’t, and in another article in this space, soon, we will try to describe Gloria’s options unlimited. But for now, let us assume that the only harm she wants to

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-78735548838343822062009-06-12T16:11:00.000+08:002009-06-17T16:13:50.136+08:00

It is perhaps most apt that this article should appear on the 111th anniversary of the Republic. It shows the state of the polity, more than a century and a decade since the dreams of our forefathers have been prostituted by their unworthy successors. It all began on September last year. Manuel Villar started a television 30-seconder which pictured him as having a “bleeding heart”

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-48006449957797740962009-06-11T19:04:00.000+08:002009-06-18T19:05:11.397+08:00

“It ain’t over till the fat lady sings”, is a wit’s description of how “boring” operas end. Those who do not appreciate the long arias and have ears only for the operatic highlights often wonder when it would all end. What this country has had to suffer through the years has been a long and badly sung, badly-scripted, badly-acted opera. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has inflicted her

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-46555693418447072462009-06-10T16:10:00.000+08:002009-06-17T16:11:24.282+08:00

Noon ay lagging bukang bibig ni Senador at matapos ay Pangalawang Pangulong Erap Estrada, na siya raw ay “hindi pulitiko; siya ay public servant”. Mariin niyang sinasabing paninilbihan sa mahihirap ang kanyang hangad, at hindi ang makipag-kompromiso sa mga nais ng mga pulitiko. Kanya nga raw ang ngalan ng kanyang lapian sy Partido ng Masang Pilipino, at hindi siya nakikilahok sa mga

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-60954894942410166232009-06-09T16:06:00.000+08:002009-06-17T16:10:01.858+08:00

Sunday, May 31, I received a call from Senator Ping Lacson. He intimated that he had made up his mind to withdraw from the presidential race. I did not ask for reasons. His campaign had been wobbling along principally due to a paucity of resources that the other so-called presidentiables seemed to have without limit. As I had written in March this year, “the atypical Ping” is not

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-37534014719837145902009-06-09T16:03:00.000+08:002009-06-17T16:05:02.766+08:00

Noong Linggo, ika-31 ng Mayo, bisperas ng kanyang ika-61 kaarawan, tinawagan ako ni Senador Ping Lacson. Nagdesisyon na raw siyang itigil ang kanyang paghangad na maging ika-labinlimang pangulo ng bansa sa halalan ng 2010. Sa totoo lang, hindi ako gaanong nabigla. Pinag-usapan na namin ang mga suliranin ng kanyang pagtakbo noong dakong Semana Santa ng taong ito. Mahirap mangalap ng

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-43274576446941990052009-06-04T10:28:00.000+08:002009-06-04T10:29:33.738+08:00

I told you so. Several times in this space, I have been telling our readers why there will be no elections the way we understand our elections to be. I detailed months ago Gloria’s options. And these options go all the way until way past May 10, 2010, when elections for a “new” president are supposed to take place. This is one little lady that will never sing, and, like Ferdinand Marcos

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-20066126472313154812009-06-04T10:26:00.000+08:002009-06-04T10:28:28.306+08:00

Noong Lunes, minadali ng Komite ng Constitutional Amendments sa Kamara de Representantes na aprubahan ang resolusyon patungkol sa HR 1109, na ang pangunahing kumatha ay si Rep. Luis Villafuerte ng Camarines Sur. Matatandaang higit isang linggo pa lamang nang ideklara ng akda na hindi na niya itutuloy ang pag-awtor sa resolusyon nagmumungkahing magkaroon ng Constituent Assembly maski na hindi

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-25906511322519347052009-06-02T01:22:00.000+08:002009-06-02T01:23:12.900+08:00

We write this article hours before the Senate, acting as a Committee of the Whole, begins its adjudicatory proceedings in a complaint filed by Sen. Jamby Madrigal before the Senate Ethics Committee against Sen. Manuel B. Villar Jr. The facts of the case, as Madrigal alleges in her accusations, are: One, that Sen. Villar violated Article VI Sec. 14 of the Philippine Constitution, which states

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-587032727911859652009-05-28T11:00:00.001+08:002009-05-28T11:00:43.328+08:00

Prospero Nograles, on the eve of the merger of Lakas (Teddy Boy Locsin’s favourite “party of thieves”) and Kampi (Gloria and Mike Arroyo’s favourite party of what else?) was “ecstatic” over the conjugal union of the two. As of this writing, the mega-event is supposed to be ongoing. Said Nograles: “For now, winning the elections in 2010 is not our main goal. Changing the character of our

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-42312956705283473522009-05-28T10:12:00.000+08:002009-05-28T10:13:49.430+08:00

Another boat sank off the waters of Batangas, and twelve people are reported to have died. Another 42 have survived. On the basis of the arithmetic, Marina officials say the boat was overloaded, because it had registered capacity for only 42 passengers. Soon, when the victims shall have been buried, the issue of maritime safety will be forgotten. Months ago, another boat capsized off the

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-64271255243324968472009-05-26T03:14:00.001+08:002009-05-26T03:14:20.049+08:00

You realize that things are all awry and priorities all wrong among us with the inordinate attention showered upon a video showing two adults in private sex. Last week, the sleazy episode found its way into the Senate floor, and more than half of the entire evening news was devoted to various angles of the same story. News about the first recorded victim of the “swine” flu in the country is

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-90891228920226446392009-05-26T03:13:00.001+08:002009-05-26T03:13:44.196+08:00

Akala yata ni Senador Joker Arroyo ay magogoyo niya ang sambayanan. Akalain mong idepensa ang hindi pagkilala ng kaibigan niyang si Sen. Manny Villar sa mga kasamahan sa Senado na nag-iimbestiga ng “conflict of interest” at paglabag sa Saligang Batas patungkol sa pagpapapagaw at paglilihis ng C-5 road extension? At ang depensa ay nakahihindik --- para daw Military Commission No. 2, na siyang

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-60405532697112470012009-05-21T11:21:00.000+08:002009-05-21T11:22:23.795+08:00

Each weekend, and many other days in between, we see stories and pictures splashed in the print media about what Thostein Veblen labelled “conspicuous consumption” --- fabulous wedding parties, debutante balls, a celebrity here and there buying a handbag worth more than a million pesos, another sporting diamond bling-blings the cost of which could feed a barangay for an entire year. I remember

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-52640726986690603562009-05-20T11:37:00.002+08:002009-05-20T11:38:12.702+08:00

The Chief Justice laments that the government is beholden to business oligarchs who control the economy of the nation. In a speech delivered last week to launch the Moral Force Movement in Davao City, Reynato Puno said something that most of us already know, but have become powerless, in this day and age, to do anything about --- that the nation’s wealth has increasingly and inexorably gone to

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-41122141876061617742009-05-20T11:37:00.001+08:002009-05-20T11:37:40.583+08:00

Sa pagsusulong ng kanyang “Moral Force”, isang kilusang ninanais na manumbalik ang mga adhikain at kaugaliang naaayon sa tama, batay sa atas ng konsensiya at ng mga kaugaliang panlipunan na hinubog ng panahon at kasaysayan ng ating lahi, nagsalita kamakailan sa Lungsod ng Dabaw si Punong Mahistrado Reynato Puno ng Kataas-taasang Hukuman. “Kung ating susuriin ang kayamanan ng bansa, makikitang

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-5647900834445217872009-05-18T10:28:00.001+08:002009-05-18T10:30:00.779+08:00

First, Sen, Ping Lacson, as the new chair of the Committee on Ethics, announced the names of the Senate majority who would be members of the committee. Twice he asked the new minority membership to submit their nominees for membership. They refused. Minority Leader Nene Pimentel told Lacson, “Pasensya ka na, but that is the decision of our group”. Having been so mandated by the Senate

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-57458127600251499152009-05-18T10:26:00.000+08:002009-05-18T10:28:09.521+08:00

Ayaw sumali sa pintakasi ni Manuel Villar. Kay yaman pa naman niya, at bilyun-bilyon ang kayang isugal para sa pagkandidato, e ayaw lumarga sa pintakasi, nais ay makipaglaro sa tupada. Kung sadyang magaling ang iyong panabong, at ang kanyang mga sipa at tadyak ay umaalagwa sa ere, aba’y dapat kang humarap sa pintakasi. Andun ang pintakasi sa Senado, kung saan matalim ang mga tari na hinasa

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-52059317755997438732009-05-15T21:14:00.001+08:002009-05-15T21:14:30.118+08:00

When you’re feeling depressed and need to get your mind off personal problems or problems of the benighted state, or when you just want to get out of the dreadful metropolis of smog and traffic and ugly billboards, hop into a Tagbilaran-bound flight. There are now seven of them each day, PAL, Cebu-Pacific and Zest-Air. Ten years back, there was but one flight, and it wasn’t even daily. And

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-69431472193627981742009-05-13T21:52:00.001+08:002009-05-13T21:52:48.066+08:00

Thursday last week, a favourite cabinet official of former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada motored to the residence of a Catholic charismatic lay leader. They were after all neighbours in an exclusive, gated subdivision in the southern periphery of the national capital region. Together they proceeded to a meeting with the former president who in his prime was quite close to the charismatic

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-26737885397189240982009-05-13T21:51:00.000+08:002009-05-13T21:52:09.524+08:00

Noong Lunes, matapos ang halos apat na oras na pagdinig at pagdi-debate, nagpasya ang mga senador, bilang Committee of the Whole na siyang umangkin sa hurisdiksyon ng Senate Committee on Ethics, ayon na rin sa panukala ng taga-pangulo nitong si Senador Panfilo M. Lacson, na tapusin na ang mga alituntunin o regla ng kanilang pag-iimbestiga. Ang pinakamainit na pinag-debatehan ay ang isyu ng

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-52669047049642269392009-05-11T10:00:00.001+08:002009-05-11T10:00:37.669+08:00

Last Friday, we analyzed the claims of three major “presidentiables” as oppositionists. Let us continue with the rest. There is Mayor Jejomar Binay of Makati. From Day One of the Arroyo presidency, Binay steadfastly remained in the ranks of the opposition. When the storm troopers of Ronaldo Puno tried to arrest him on the basis of a suspension order for some graft charge hurled by his local

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-68913462090819229882009-05-11T09:59:00.002+08:002009-05-11T10:00:12.105+08:00

A columnist in another paper recently raised the possibility that the “opposition” may have been corrupted by “secret double-agents” out to wreak havoc to the desiderata of opposition unity. He curiously suggests that Joseph Estrada may have cut a deal with GMA, and is bent on running precisely to prevent the “opposition” from uniting behind one of the others. At the end of his article, he

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-92062995397671396812009-05-11T09:59:00.001+08:002009-05-11T09:59:34.990+08:00

A legislator sat beside the wife of a highly-touted “presidentiable” in the first seats of a flight bound for Bacolod the other week. After the usual pleasantries, the legislator asked the wife, “O, tatakbo na ba talaga si (name of husband)?” The reply was quick --- “Ay, oo.” The legislator asked further: “E tatakbo yata si Erap, tutuloy pa rin ba siya?” The reply was just as quick as the

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-27357459258276937882009-05-11T09:57:00.000+08:002009-05-11T09:58:35.925+08:00

Dahil papalapit na ang halalan, na maari pang maunsyami dahil sa iba’t ibang balakin ng kasalukuyang rehimen para mapalawig ang kapangyarihan nila, nakatuon ang interes ng marami sa mga naglipanang “survey”. At dahil din mamera ang lapiang pulitikal sa ating napakagulong sistema, hindi na mahalaga ang mga lapian sa pagpili ng karapat-dapat na maging kandidato sa panguluhan, maging sa mga

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-56327667644613439112009-05-04T19:36:00.001+08:002009-05-04T19:36:44.936+08:00

It’s been two years since Jonas, son of Joe Burgos, the late founder of this paper who dared fight the dictatorship even when it was not yet fashionable to do so, was snatched by men suspected to be from the storm troopers of a military general who believes that the only way to fight the ideology they hate is to maim and kill those who rightly or wrongly, subscribe to those “unthinkable” beliefs.

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-21095358816009852312009-04-30T14:32:00.000+08:002009-04-30T14:33:20.711+08:00

Now I believe Dona Gloria when she described the country as an “enchanted kingdom”. Truly, baligtad na ang mundo, as the Tagalogs would say. Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada was arrested because he “perjured” himself in describing Miguelito el Defensor as a liar who tried to convince him to lie about the circumstances of his abduction from the international airport, to prevent him from telling the truth

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-89974510809632706452009-04-29T15:11:00.001+08:002009-04-29T15:11:42.325+08:00

The whole world is agog over a new strain of infectious swine flu. It began in Mexico, and has since “infected” the US of A and Canada. Not to be outdone, our Department of Health has intensified, or so they say, measures to protect the country from possible infection by this scourge. Pingkoy Duque and his bevy of epidemiologists faced the cameras last Monday to allay fears. One of his chorus

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-27299428820005547242009-04-28T21:30:00.000+08:002009-04-28T21:31:13.369+08:00

Minsan ay kinausap at hinikayat ng isang kaibigan kong pulitiko ang isang kapwa-kaibigan, upang sumakay na sa “byaheng Malakanyang” ni Manuel Villar. Prangka naman ang kapwa-kaibigan namin. “Hindi ako bilib sa utak niya, sa kakayahan niya”, wika nito. ‘Ni hindi nag-protesta ang kaibigan naming pulitiko. Sambit niya sa kapwa kaibigan --- “si Cynthia (Aguilar, ang ma-lupang maybahay ni Manny na

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-91140470085908511642009-04-27T18:21:00.002+08:002009-04-27T18:22:32.877+08:00

In the 56th Berlin International Film Festival, a total of 3,600 shorts films were submitted. The screening jurors, the Berlinale Talent Campus, chose 32 films, and a Filipino-produced, directed, written and filmed six-minuter topped. The title of Ferdinand Dimadura’s opus is “Chicken a la Carte”. Reader Ronald sent it to me. I will attempt to put in words the story the short film portrays

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-36692843634978931192009-04-27T18:21:00.001+08:002009-04-27T18:21:35.679+08:00

Dahil sa desisyon ng Korte Suprema, kung saan binigyan ng pagkilala ang karapatan ng iba pang mga party-list na lapiang lumahok sa halalan ng 2007, madaragdagan na naman ang Kamara de Representantes ng dalawampu’t siyam na mga miyembro. Ito’y nangyari habang pinapanukala sa dalawang kapulungan ng Kongreso ang pagdagdag pa ng miyembro sa mababang kapulungan, ng limapu hanggang sa isang daang

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8324861646417179163.post-90805919770213920322009-04-26T21:06:00.000+08:002009-04-26T21:07:25.384+08:00

Once, while en route to the Underground River, part of what was then known as the St. Paul’s Subterranean National Park, the tour guide made mention of the crocodile farm in the suburbs of Puerto Princesa. He gave us the scientific name of the crocs that were multiplying in that park – crocodilus mindorensis. These are really the Philippine variety, he explained, small but vicious, quick to the

Lito Banayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16291634277174258874noreply@blogger.com0