Author Archives: admin

On campus strikes

By admin | November 30, 2010

Thanks to @kabataancrew for helping me draft this speech. Delivered on November 30. My second privilege speech in the 15th Congress; my 5th as a legislator. Mr. Speaker, dear colleagues, a pleasant afternoon. I rise today to talk about the just demand of our public universities for a higher share in our national budget. I […]

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Slashing Scare in Singapore

By admin | November 27, 2010

Earlier this month, the Singaporean government released two National Education Surveys that showed more than 95 percent of young people are proud to be Singaporean. The authorities should be rejoicing—they can cite the survey results as proof that government programmes are successful in tapping into the support of young Singaporeans. But at the same time, […]

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Arroyo-Aquino infrastructure projects

By admin | November 21, 2010

1. The Public-Private-Partnership program of the Noynoy Aquino government is not an innovation since its framework is no different from the Build-Operate-Transfer model of previous governments. In fact, PNoy recently renamed the country’s BOT Center into PPP Center when he issued EO No.8 series of 2010. The name PPP is also misleading since many of […]

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Myanmar: New Flag, Same Country

By admin | November 8, 2010

The Union of Myanmar (Burma) is now officially known as the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, and its new flag was unveiled for the first time last week. Is the change part of the so-called democratic reforms that the ruling junta promised to deliver in time for the widely anticipated November 7 elections? As […]

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From belfry to cell phone tower

By admin | November 3, 2010

The cathedral of the Catholic Church in Spanish Philippines was the central symbol of power in the community. The rich and the powerful preferred to establish their residences near the church. The aspiring rich wanted to live in strategic locations where they could see the church tower. The law-abiding and God-fearing poor lived very far […]

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Abandoned Railways

By admin | October 23, 2010

Construction of the Manila-Dagupan railroad started in 1887. Five years later, the 195 kilometer railway link between Manila and Pangasinan began its operations. The 19th century colonial government was able to connect Imperial Spanish Manila and emerging trading post Dagupan in a span of only five years. It may be an unimpressive feat compared to […]

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Mahathir vs Lee

By admin | October 21, 2010

Written for The Diplomat When Singapore’s longest-serving prime minister and current Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew was interviewed by The New York Times last month, nobody expected anything controversial—or that he would upset neighbor Malaysia. And mostly there was nothing there that would have done, with the 87-year-old leader talking mainly about yoga and literature. […]

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PNoy@100

By admin | October 8, 2010

Talumpating binigkas sa porum ng League of College Councils ng UP Diliman. Ang daang matuwid ni President Noynoy ay walang pinagkaiba sa dating daan ni President Gloria. Imbes na mag-u-turn slot, ayun nagroad widening lang. Wala ngang wangwang sa kalye, pero baluktot pa rin ang daan. Ano ang tinutukoy ko? Gawin nating halimbawa ang 2011 […]

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Adopt A School

By admin | October 6, 2010

Through its Adopt-A-School program, the Department of Education hopes to improve the condition of public schools by raising funds from the private sector. Since its inception in 1998, it has already attracted 300 donors generating almost seven billion pesos in pledges, commitments, and actual contributions which benefited around 22,000 public schools nationwide. On the other […]

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Kabataan at daang matuwid

By admin | September 24, 2010

Talumpating binigkas sa isang porum na inorganisa ng Social Sciences and Humanities Association ng San Beda College. Change? Tama. Sino ba ang may ayaw ng pagbabago. Pero hindi lahat ng change ay kaakit-akit, katanggap-tanggap o ninanais ng lahat. Paano kung charter change, climate change, sex change, change of citizenship? Mula sa baluktot na daan, ang […]

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