By BENJIE OLIVEROS Bulatlat perspective What do the public know about the current initiative in Congress to amend the 1987 Constitution? First, the Duterte administration is proposing a shift to a Federal form of government. And second, there have been disagreements between the Lower House and the Senate on how to amend the 1987 Constitution.…
By SATUR OCAMPO After President Duterte signed this week the P3.767-trillion 2018 national budget passed by his “supermajority” in the 17th Congress, the pork barrel funds purposely hidden within it – funds that the Supreme Court, in 2013, declared as unconstitutional — have become a public issue again. And it’s not only the devious undermining…
By BENJIE OLIVEROS Bulatlat perspective Too many things have been happening lately that may be a portent of worse things to come. First is the cold-blooded murder of a 17-year old student Kian Delos Santos. People were enraged at the brazenness, brutality, and inhumanity of it all. The murder of young Kian could have been…
Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez is quite right. To be of any use, any discussion or debate on terrorism and terrorists — specifically to determine if an incident in which dozens of people are killed is an act of terrorism or not — can only be meaningful if the discussants are talking about the same thing. That…
By BENJIE OLIVEROS Bulatlat perspective Recently, House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez warned of a constitutional crisis if the Supreme Court orders a joint session of Congress to tackle President Duterte’s declaration of martial law over Mindanao. This, after two petitions were filed before the High Court to compel the Senate and House of Representatives to convene…
By RENAN ORTIZ
“…[t]his is definitely a boost in fast tracking the release of all political prisoners and augurs well for the scheduled resumption of the formal peace negotiations between the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP).”