Archive for the ‘Ink Spots from Manila’ Category
The Maguindanao Massacre—GMA’s Gruesome Legacy?
By E.P. Dakanay
The onus on the Maguindanao massacre without doubt rests on the shoulders of Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) for having struck an unholy alliance with the rival clans of Ampatuan and Mangundadatu to cheat in the 2004 presidential elections to ensure her victory, and in the 2007 senatorial elections for the benefit of her [...]
Only in the Philippines
By E.P. Dakanay
The problems the nation had to contend with in the wake of the recent visit of typhoons during the month of October did not obscure developments related to the 2010 elections. Long anticipated, surprising, stunning, and bizarre declarations of prospective presidential candidates vied for public attention. For the anticipated, only the [...]
Cory’s Legacy and GMA’s Oppressive Bequest
E.P. Dakanay, Jr.
The groundswell of emotions generated by the passing of former President Cory C. Aquino drastically changed the landscape of the campaign for the presidency in 2010. Senator Mar Roxas’s giving way to Senator Noynoy Aquino in the bid for the presidency in 2010—in spite of having invested substantial amount of time, energy, [...]
Cory and Gloria’s Contrasting Legacies
E.P. Dakanay, Jr.
After a seven-day absence for a 45-five minute audience with U.S. President Obama, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) returned with the dubious honor of having been appointed the U.S. president’s coordinator for something in South East Asia. This must be Pres. Obama’s affirmation that GMA is on the “right side of history” and the [...]
COMELEC Poll Automation
E.P. Dakanay, Jr.
Easily the biggest excitement of the month was over the award of the contract for the supply and operation of equipment for the automation of the May 2010 elections. The principals of the winning consortium of Smartmatic and Total Information Management Corporation were reported to have irreconcilable differences on the eve of [...]
Author forgot the title
By E.P. Dakanay, Jr.
The hottest item in the political scene in the last few days is the prospect of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s (GMA) running for a congressional seat in her home province now occupied by her son. First broached by former Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales (now Chief Presidential Legal Adviser) the idea is reinforced by [...]
A portrait of corruption
By E.P. Dakanay, Jr.
For a bit of positive publicity, the mosaic portrait of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) composed by a photojournalist (to honor her on her birthday last month) out of over 1,000 photographs taken of her in the last eight years has been declared the largest to date in the Guinness Book of Records. [...]
Prickly Thorns in the Month of Flowers.
Our generation of senior citizens, this writer included, owe the emerging generation of younger citizens humble apology for the sorry bequest of dysfunctional government and insensitive society we are leaving behind. It is embarrassing that we incessantly seek concessions for our keep and comfort when in our time we failed to erect the structures [...]
Two Rounds in the Ring, First Steps to Perdition
E.P. Dakanay, Jr
Manny Pacquiao’s knockout victory in his bout with Ricky Hatton engendered in the Filipino nation an equivalent degree of euphoria as Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon (“One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”) did in the American people. Reeling from the consequences of inept governance by a succession [...]
Bogus Senate Investigations, Hollow Call to Morality, and Untouchables in the Juggernaut of Plunder
Bizarre spectacle, those senate hearings (January 27 and February 12) on the report on collusion in the bidding of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) road repair projects funded with World Bank loans.
“Lutong-Macau” Bidding, Presidential Breakfasts, and Valued Generals
E.P. Dakanay, Jr
The exoneration by a congressional committee of the contractors named in the World Bank’s collusion report is not surprising.
World Bank Cancels Road Improvement Loan to Philippines
E.P. Dakanay, Jr.
The indications of corruption and abuse are just so glaring in the acts of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s
