Wanted: Congressional reform

18-years ago, at the start of the 10th Congress, I wrote an article for one of the broadsheets on the same topic. At that time, I was assisting in setting up the office of then Sen. Marcelo B. Fernan. Interestingly, my article came out during the organizational meeting of the Ethics Committee, which he was chairing. I was asked to resign because of that article because Sen. Fernan didn’t want to “insult” his colleagues because of what I wrote. I stood by what I wrote and left his office by lunch promising to push for the reforms.

Invisible people

Is it apathy or indifference or we have just given up on them? Invisible people are all around the metropolis and more in urban areas. NEDA estimates that 25 million Filipinos currently live in poverty.

Years ago, we refer to shanties and colonies as their domiciles. Today, they live under bridges, in pushcarts and sleep on cold cements of sheds and pathways. If you happen to be traveling around midnight, you can see them around the metropolis and it seems government does not care.

Of renaming and UP tradition

THE first and only local bill renaming a street that was enacted by the post Martial Law Congress that went into a bicameral proceeding in the 8th Congress was that of renaming Vito Cruz. The House of Representatives passed the local bill renaming the whole stretch of Vito Cruz St. to Pablo Ocampo St. When it was discussed in the Senate, then Sen. Rene Saguisag asked for a research on the historical role of Vito Cruz, a street map which showed Vito Cruz traversing two political subdivisions: Manila and Makati; and a copy of Republic Act (R.A.) No. 1059, An Act Prohibiting The Naming Of Sitios, Barrios, Municipalities, Cities, Provinces, Streets, Highways, Avenues, Bridges, And Other Public Thoroughfares, Parks, Plazas, Public Schools, Public Buildings, Piers, Government – Crafts And Vessels, And Other Public Institutions After Living Persons. R.A. 1059 is vintage 1954 and is still in our statutes book.

Dissent & bashers

In recent weeks, I have been engaged in a conversation on the economy and flooding. I would like to think it was a conversation and not a monologue of criticisms. I am active in Social Media and I post when I like to post, if I like to post. A good guide for anyone interested in social engagement, but for some they think a criticism makes one a certified basher against this Administration. To the young trolls, dissent is certainly not bashing, check your dictionary, for if someone tells you it is, you are being fooled. And as Soren Kirkegaard once said, “there are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.”

Where art thou Opposition?

Elections are all about choices and when these choices are predetermined by coalition politics, there is no excitement in the air. When there is no excitement in the air, turn out is low than the average at midterm. This election is for the books because turn out is atypical that of mid term trends.

In Quaerre

In quaerere is Latin phrase for in search. I was in search of the right title for my column that would reflect the kind of writing I would do on a weekly basis. It was not easy. From “look beyond the fluff” to “connecting the dots” to “ring a bell” to “cut to the chase” and what my staff suggested, such as “outlier,”“vantage point” and “soapbox.” I used to write a column under the title Dream Catcher, but that was more like my other hat where I write on positive things. But the dream went pfft and so I decided to stick to Zilch.

Am back!

Its been four (4) years and I have been out of the blog world for some reasons.  I hope to be back regularly.  I hope to link my Manila Times column, entitled ZILCH (same column as with The Lobbyist [www.thelobbyist.biz]) and this blog.