inside Philippine politics and beyond
By Raissa Robles [I'd like to share this investigative story I wrote for South China Morning Post in 2002, to help shed light on the Peace Bonds controversy. This is how they did it and why they did it. And if you're wondering why top banks and businessmen are now supporting the tax breaks given to the Peace [...]
By Raîssa Robles For lunch today, we decided to eat tacos made by my hubby Alan. Because we had no tomatoes for the delicious salsa, I went to the corner store to buy some. I was shocked when the seller told me that nine small tomatoes cost P38.65 because prices had shot up to 75 pesos per kilo. That’s [...]
By Raïssa Robles Those businessmen, Filipino contract workers and other passengers who are angry due to canceled flights of Philippine Airlines should keep this in mind – that what they deem essential is only a rich man’s plaything. I would not have believed I heard this from the mouth of PAL president Jaime Bautista himself if I had not [...]
By Raïssa Robles The label on this harmless-looking product is a drawing of a stout cat lying contentedly over this quaint phrase – “THE CAT BE UNEMPLOYED.” You’d think it has something inside for children. In reality, it is a powerful rat poison that federal and state authorities in New York seized recently after five months of undercover work. [...]
Why I believe the real intent is to bust the union By Raïssa Robles Billionaire Lucio Tan has sacked 2,600 Philippine Airline (PAL) employees so most of them can be rehired by two companies formed by Manuel H. Osmeña, a long-time business partner of his family. Over a decade ago, the same long-time business partner formed an in-flight catering [...]
Maybe angry airline passengers should read PAL’s September 24 press release arbitrarily cutting flights By Raïssa Robles A commenter to my blog named Mikko pointed out a very interesting item on the Philippine Airlines website to me. It turns out that PAL posted there a press release dated September 24, 2011 entitled “PAL reduces flights ahead of spin [...]
By Raïssa Robles I can’t help but notice that a sit-down protest held by PAL’s ground employees yesterday totally paralyzed company operations and caused 14,000 passengers to miss their flights. Didn’t PAL keep saying – to justify the sacking of several thousand employees – that what they were out-sourcing were “non-core” activities? “Non-core” would mean that these activities are [...]
By Raïssa Robles “What is essential is invisible to the eye.” The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry When you see a smoker like her, she looks like this - But deep inside, this is how a smoker really is - For the computer-challenged like me, you can enlarge the image by clicking control+ on your keyboard.
By Raïssa Robles Yawn. The toothless MMDA(Metro Manila Development Authority) has warned it would start arresting people who smoke in public areas. Big deal. This will just turn into another money-making racket for MMDA but will not drastically reduce the number of smokers in the country. What the government has to do is to make smoking uncool by displaying photos [...]
By Raïssa Robles PNoy’s government has just rejected a Saudi government appeal to cut the Filipino maids’ minimum wage back to US$200 from the current US$400, as well as waive other requirements, an Associated Press report said. The issue has been a major irritant in our bilateral relations. But I’m glad the Philippine government is standing pat. Because US$200 is [...]
By Raïssa Robles Why is world billionaire Lucio Tan having continuous labor trouble but only in one of his companies – Philippine Airlines? Why is the trouble with PAL erupting again at the start of a new presidency, just like it did when Joseph Estrada assumed office in 1998? Is there a ploy to make the new government look [...]