inside Philippine politics and beyond
Exclusive By Raïssa Robles While monitoring the Supreme Court hearing on the cybercrime law yesterday, I was drawn to this tiny business story that broke, which would have a strong impact on our tourism, millions of Filipinos flying in and out of the country and on the economy. Transport Secretary Joseph Abaya announced he will soon sign a US$45 million [...]
Exclusive By Raïssa Robles President Benigno Aquino III asked his close chum Rico Puno to resign after the President personally did a Google search and discovered that the Galil assault rifles Puno the Department of Interior and Local Governments had helped arranged to buy for the national police were overpriced. Puno is in charge of police affairs in the DILG. [Note: [...]
My Exclusive By Raïssa Robles ONE OF THE THINGS Chief Justice Renato Corona has to prove to the impeachment court is that he correctly filled up his SALNs (Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth) and whatever errors or omissions they contain are minor and not enough to get him kicked out of office. One section of his SALN has [...]
Overseas properties & foreign currency should all be disclosed A Plaza Miranda Exclusive By Raïssa Robles Justices of the Supreme Court as well as police and military generals should disclose their assets to the public, said the head of the independent agency overseeing such disclosures. Civil Service Commission Chairman Francisco Duque told me in an exclusive interview: The Supreme Court [...]
Think about it By Raïssa Robles On the anniversary of Edsa people power, one commenter using the handle karaniwang tao wrote on my blog this sad lament on our nation: kudos to your well researched and deep opinionated reports… but im confused…… from time of prez aguinaldo to present day P-noy….. they “look like” the same….. so who will lead [...]
My exclusive By Raïssa Robles Chief Justice Renato Corona was required by the SALN law to disclose starting 2003 that his wife sat on the board of a state-owned corporation, former Civil Service Commission chair Karina David told me in an interview. David was chair of the Civil Service Commission when Cristina Corona first joined the board of John [...]
By Raïssa E. Robles Congressman Tedoro Casiño personally released this morning his own Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) without waiting for anyone to ask him. I’m glad he did. I hope he starts the ball rolling with the rest of the congressmen and senators. And those in the Executive Department. The Judiciary. The police and military [...]
By Raïssa Robles This interview with Customs Deputy Commissioner Danilo Lim and the accompanying sidebar on smuggling were recently published in Asian Dragon magazine. I am posting these with the magazine’s permission. If the former jailed rebel general Danilo Lim continues to look grim these days, he has good reason to be. Lim, 56, has been handed the chance [...]
By Raïssa Robles Today we commemorate the birth of Andres Bonifacio, father of the native revolt against Spain. There were sporadic revolts under the Spanish yoke but it was Bonifacio who brought the resistance close to the seat of Spanish power. Bonifacio’s life and death made me wonder what kind of living – not dead – heroes do we [...]