By LUIS V. TEODORO Vantage Point | BusinessWorld The Roman emperor Nero was supposed to have fiddled while ancient Rome burned for nine days. But if he did play any instrument at all while much of the city was destroyed, he would have picked at a lute or a lyre, the fiddle, or violin, not…
Category: Opinion
All-out deception
By Carol Pagaduan-Araullo Streetwise | BusinessWorld The shrill call to wage “all-out war”, in reaction to the overwhelming defeat of a platoon of special action forces on a mission to “arrest” a rebel Moro commander in Basilan, is nothing but pure hogwash. For one it is obvious, except to the military top brass and to…
‘Don’t give us platitudes in exchange for our grief’
By Satur C. Ocampo At Ground Level | The Philippine Star Italian missionary Fausto Tentorio foresaw six years ago that he would “die of bullets” someday. Although he was proven correct, that didn’t make his death right. Last week, Fr. Tentorio was shot dead outside his parish church in Arakan, North Cotabato. Typical of most…
Reign of assassins
By LUIS V. TEODORO Vantage Point | BusinessWorld President Benigno Aquino III has “vowed,” say media reports, to get the killers of Fr. Fausto Tentorio even if they should turn out to be members of the paramilitary groups he, Aquino, has refused to dismantle. The call has been made often for the dismantling of paramilitary…
Killing the peace process
By Carol Pagaduan-Araullo Streetwise | BusinessWorld The cold-blooded murder of 59-year-old Italian missionary priest, Fr. Fausto “Pops” Tentorio, who was a champion of indigenous people’s rights, an anti-mining campaigner and a human rights defender, jolts us all to the reality that President Benigno Aquino III’s promise of change is nothing but empty rhetoric aimed at…
Self-inflicted
By LUIS V. TEODORO Vantage Point | BusinessWorld The destruction of the country’s institutions is proceeding apace. But it’s not the “enemies of the state” who’re subverting them; it’s the very institutions themselves, including those mandated to protect the state, that are doing it. “A bulwark of liberty.” “The protector of Philippine patrimony.” “The guardian…
Counterinsurgency has priority over peace talks
By Satur C. Ocampo At Ground Level | The Philippine Star Eight months have passed since the auspicious resumption by the Aquino government of peace talks with the National Democratic Front that Gloria Arroyo had suspended in 2005. But now the talks are stalled again, despite last February’s reaffirmation by the two sides of 12…
Prometheus Bound: Mine
By Giovanni Tapang, PhD Bulatlat.com With the simultaneous attack of the New People’s Army against certain mines in Surigao del Norte, the issue of mining has come to fore in the national dailies and in discussion groups. We have seen video documentaries, news reports and community interviews that show how terrible the rape of our…
Mining despoils Surigao del Norte
By Satur C. Ocampo At Ground Level | The Philippine Star The New People’s Army’s well-executed raids last Monday on three mining firms in Claver, Surigao del Norte razing a smelting plant, 28 heavy equipment, 132 dump trucks and nine barges, but not physically harming or killing anyone has provoked all kinds of reactions. One…
Political dynasties still dominate Congress
By Satur C. Ocampo At Ground Level | The Philippine Star That political dynasties continue to dominate Congress isn’t hard news anymore. A news report on an Asian Institute of Management Policy Center study showing this has been relegated to the inside, rather than the front, page of a major daily. Nonetheless, it’s worth looking…
Luis V. Teodoro | No fear
By LUIS V. TEODORO Vantage Point | BusinessWorld In a remark that has since been condemned not only by the protesting students but also by engaged academics, thinking journalists and even half-asleep politicians, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte ventured the opinion that students should “concentrate on their studies rather than [walk] out of their classrooms…