By Modesto P. Sa-onoy It has been known for a long time that China, as a matter of state policy, is persecuting Christians and Muslims. China, of course, denies this charge, but evidence is overwhelming that indeed China is engaged in wiping out those whose religion is anathema to the Chinese government. Recent documented reports
January 18, 2020
By Modesto P. Sa-onoy Reports say that 153 members of the Philippine National Police in Occidental Negros were subjected to a surprise drug test ostensibly as part of the cleaning up of the PNP. Included in the examination were non-uniformed personnel or civilian employees working in the police offices. Included among those tested were 161 personnel
January 17, 2020
By Modesto P. Sa-onoy President Rodrigo Duterte last week vowed to sign a proposed executive order that would lower the prices of more than 100 life-saving medicines, saying it would benefit the public. This was already news last year, but nothing had happened although from the people’s perspective such a measure would relieve them of one
January 16, 2020
By Modesto P. Sa-onoy Our title is a play in words because the New People’s Army is already considered by the government as operating outside the law. Despite their being hunted down, several towns and cities and many barangays have declared the NPA as persona non grata. The use of this diplomatic term looks nice,
January 15, 2020
By Modesto P. Sa-onoy The government operation to remove all illegal structures particularly those that obstruct the flow of traffic, both vehicular and pedestrian, went on frenzy last September after the President issued the order. The owners of these structures were caught unaware although they were given time allowance to voluntarily remove their structures that
January 14, 2020
By Modesto P. Sa-onoy The Sugar Regulatory Administration is a collegial body composed of representatives from the producers (millers and planters) and the government that also represents the interests of the consumers. It is the government agency tasked to protect the industry and promote its well-being. Of the three members the government representative is the
January 13, 2020
By Modesto P. Sa-onoy Bryan Cross once wrote in Called to Communion that appeared on July 5, 2010, a piece on the rising phenomenon in the United States called “ecclesial consumerism.” This is not new in the Philippines, but we have a different name for it – “cafeteria Catholicism”, although this trend is not limited to
January 11, 2020
By: Modesto P. Sa-onoy There is a saying, attributed to the Arabs, that to kill a snake, cut off its head. Of course, there are other ways to do that, but the saying is an apt explanation or justification for the assassination of political and military leaders throughout the centuries. The assassination of Iran’s top
January 10, 2020
By: Modesto P. Sa-onoy The franchise of the television giant ABS-CBN will expire on March 30 this year. It has completed its privilege to broadcast after it was granted a 25-year term by law, Republic Act No. 7966. Unlike newspapers and magazines, broadcasting companies as radio and television stations and networks must secure the privilege
January 9, 2020
By: Modesto P. Sa-onoy The spat between the Philippines and the United States due to the continued detention of Senator Leila de Lima may have grave implications to the tourism industry in the Philippines. Three American senators inserted in the US 2020 budget a provision banning the entry to the US of Filipino officials who
January 8, 2020
By: Modesto P. Sa-onoy A newspaper report last week says that Philippine sugar production dropped by 27.48 percent in December. Quoting the Sugar Regulatory Administration, the report further said that for the first week of December 2019 sugar output was 311,617 metric tons, lower than 429,680 MT of the same period last year. This is
January 7, 2020
By: Modesto P. Sa-onoy In truth, what is important is not to save the Bacolod City Water District per se but to ensure that the city gets enough and reasonably priced potable water supply, the dream of its citizens for decades. Bacolod is expanding very fast and with that progress comes naturally the demand for
January 6, 2020