“Successful diplomacy is an alignment of objectives and means.”— Dennis Ross SINCE becoming president of the Philippines in 2022, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has made a total of four visits in the United States. And his US trips are making China restless and suspicious, according to some geopolitical observers privy to
April 12, 2024
“Turn on to politics, or politics will turn on you.”— Ralph Nader IN any electoral battle, the concurrently dominant Defensor political clan in Iloilo can always afford to tandem with lesser-knowns, or with a rival clan, the Tupases in the fifth district that, for awhile, became a force to reckon with
April 11, 2024
“When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.”— Edmund Burke WHOEVER conceptualized the idea of fielding Iloilo second district Rep. Michael “Mike” Gorriceta for vice governor against the handpicked candidate of the Garin clan in the next
April 10, 2024
“You always have two choices: your commitment versus your fear.” — Sammy Davis, Jr. ONE of the best “techniques” and principles I have maintained over the years as a major leverage to my “staying power” in community journalism is I DON’T COMMIT, or I have never committed to any politician or
April 9, 2024
By Alex P. Vidal “In every area of the world where there is earthquake risk, there are still many buildings of this type; it is very frustrating to try to get rid of them.”— Charles Francis Richter I WAS walking on 8th Avenue in Midtown Manhattan when the 4.8-magnitude earthquake slammed The Empire State April
April 8, 2024
“I guess rumors are more exciting than the truth.”— Venus Williams THEY’RE saying the rumored Marie Louise “Liza” Araneta Marcos-Julienne “Jamjam” Baronda tandem for Iloilo City lone district representative and city mayor is only an April Fools’ Day canard when it recently circulated in the social media and the grapevine. Since
April 6, 2024
“An ounce of performance is worth pounds of promises.”— Mae West UNLIKE the first marching orders of Police Brigadier General Jack Wanky, Police Regional Office (PRO) 6 acting regional director, for cops to run after illegal gambling operations when he recently assumed office, Wanky’s boss, the 30th chief of the Philippine
April 5, 2024
“Time will inevitably uncover dishonesty and lies; history has no place for them.”— Norodom Sihanouk A 74-YEAR-OLD Filipino-American woman who has been reportedly under the radar of the federal government for “misusing, abusing, and exploiting the loophole” in a New York state health program for several years, has “fled” to Mindanao
April 4, 2024
“It takes a heap of sense to write good nonsense.” —MARK TWAIN WHAT happened in Iloilo City won’t happen in Iloilo Province. This was the assurance made before the Holy Week by Iloilo governor Arthur “Toto” Defensor Jr., 54, referring to the unfortunate split recently between erstwhile political sweethearts, Iloilo City
April 3, 2024
“My biggest piece of advice when it comes to bullying is to have an open communication about it.”—Lizzie Velasquez I HAVE warned a visiting female friend, Matutina (not the now 80-year-old former actress who starred in the “John & Marsha” comedy sitcom in the 70’s), from Mandaluyong City not to stroll
April 1, 2024
By Alex P. Vidal “I decided that it was not wisdom that enabled poets to write their poetry, but a kind of instinct or inspiration, such as you find in seers and prophets who deliver all their sublime messages without knowing in the least what they mean.”—Socrates IN the course of his journey to ambassadorship,
March 28, 2024
“The only vice that cannot be forgiven is hypocrisy. The repentance of a hypocrite is itself hypocrisy.”— William Hazlitt GRAFTERS in government as well as thieves, dishonest individuals, philanderers, and scam artists in society should not wait for the Holy Week to repent for their sins. All of us sinners can
March 27, 2024