The correct term is “state’s witness,” says Dr. Sylvia Ventura, my professor in English at the University of the Philippines. To turn “state’s witness” is for a suspect, an accused, or a convicted person to give testimony against his or her accomplices or associates in a crime in exchange for immunity from prosecution, or reduced … Read more

It’s been almost two months now since the pork barrel scam was first reported by the Inquirer. The newsworthiness of this event has been unusually protracted. People ask how this will end and what good things, if any, might come out of it. Apart from the prosecution and jailing of the individuals who took part … Read more

A “double take,” Webster’s Dictionary tells us, is “a delayed reaction to some remark, situation, etc., in which there is at first unthinking acceptance and then startled surprise or a second glance as the real meaning or actual situation suddenly becomes clear…” That is exactly what many probably experienced after President Aquino proclaimed he was … Read more

Rather than heed the growing public clamor to scrap the pork barrel portion in the current national budget, President Aquino has justified retaining it while calling for tighter control over its use.  He argues that the system of reserving funds for projects identified by legislators has the advantage of benefiting communities and addressing needs often … Read more

The pork barrel scam—whose intricate web of ghost projects, fictitious beneficiaries, and fake nongovernment organizations is unraveling before the nation’s eyes—is a good example of a “discrepant event.” This is a term used in science education to refer to something that happens contrary to expectation, a phenomenon without a visible cause, begging for explanation. I … Read more

The Inquirer periodically hosts no-holds-barred sessions with people in the news who seek to air their views on current issues.  On such occasions, newsmakers get to meet the paper’s reporters, editors, photographers, and columnists like myself who sometimes write about them.  A mutuality of interests drives these discussions.  The newspaper gets an exclusive close-up snapshot … Read more

During certain periods, crime acquires a high visibility, the result usually of diligent reporting by the mass media. “Moral panic” sets in, putting pressure on the police and the courts to show that justice is not asleep. Thus, for a while, the public may be treated to a flurry of arrests and a surge of … Read more

In the three years he has been president, P-Noy has been able to maintain exceptionally high trust and approval ratings.  This is perhaps not too difficult to explain.  Observe him: He is the first chief executive of this country to consistently speak to Filipinos in the Filipino language.  He has done this in every State … Read more

It has been roughly two weeks now since the Inquirer first broke the news about the pork barrel racket that allegedly permitted businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles to siphon as much as P10 billion in public funds into her private accounts, supposedly splitting the proceeds with her clients in Congress who wielded the power over these funds. … Read more

Even if only half of the allegations against her turn out to be true, Janet Lim-Napoles, the supposed brain behind the mind-boggling pork barrel scam that is the subject of ongoing Inquirer reports, would easily qualify as the country’s foremost expert on corruption. The elaborate scheme attributed to her presumes an intimate grasp of the … Read more