Randy David | PUBLIC LIVES

President Aquino’s mission for the next six years is startling in its simplicity: To wipe out corruption in order to make government more responsive to the basic problems of the Filipino people—mass poverty, unemployment, poor education, poor health, inadequate living conditions, etc. No one can argue with the urgent nature of these problems. What sharply … Read more

The much-awaited executive order creating a special body to investigate scandalous cases of graft and corruption committed during the presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is finally out.  Last July 30, a full month after he took office, President Noynoy Aquino issued Executive Order No. 1 establishing “The Truth Commission of 2010.”  In an instant, Ms Arroyo’s … Read more

What are we supposed to do when the directors or trustees of government corporations award themselves huge compensation packages unheard of in public service and totally out of proportion to the actual services they render? It will not be enough to shame them into moderating their greed, or resigning. The state ought to sue them … Read more

After hearing President Aquino’s reference to the inordinate amounts of calamity and public works funds allotted to Pampanga, particularly its second district, the rest of the country will probably think what a privileged tribe the Kapampangans have been under their cabalen, the former President and now Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.  All I can say is that … Read more

Every year, at the opening of its regular session, the President is required by the Constitution to address Congress.  Following American tradition, this annual speech by the President is called the “State of the Nation Address” or Sona.  Yet such a speech need not be about the state of the nation.  In fact, there is … Read more

Nothing perhaps demonstrates more clearly the bankruptcy of our political life than the sight of former Pampanga Representative Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo re-entering Congress wearing another hat – that of party-list representative of a group of security guards.  The early evening news has vividly captured this remarkable moment. We follow the son of Ex-President, now … Read more

These are the types of programs we find in today’s mass media.  The stuff of which they are made is information. Because it is easy for one program to shade into another, and for readers and audiences to miss the differences, modern mass media has made their differentiation the heart of its ethical codes. Thus, … Read more

IN AN orderly transition, a new government is expected to “hit the ground running.” This idiom became a mantra in 1992 when President Fidel V. Ramos took power on a slim electoral mandate. It conjures the image of a parachutist who, after floating in the air for sometime, not only lands solidly on his feet … Read more

The word “Ombudsman” formally entered our legal vocabulary when the 1973 Constitution mandated the creation of an office to be known as “Tanodbayan.”  As this Filipino term suggests, the office was to function as a watchdog in the service of the people — their principal protector against official abuse, inefficiency, and various acts of impropriety … Read more

Of the many campaign pledges that President Noynoy affirmed in his inaugural speech, the formation of a truth commission to be headed by former Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. is likely to be the most challenging. Not so much because of Davide’s perceived closeness to the principal object of the commission’s investigation—the regime of former … Read more