At the End of the Day

I CANNOT IMAGINE how an operative of the Special Counter-Insurgency Operations Unit (SCOU), when caught by insurgents and subjective to the worse torture imaginable, can ever survive with their mental faculties intact. But that's exactly what's going to happen if the recent products of SCOU Training cry foul, or more specifically 'hazing,' when they are subjected to the hard realities of law enforcent that handles counterinsurgency operations. Operatives must be physically hard and mentally sturdy to survive the prospect of getting captured without squelling reserved information to the enemy. I am disappointed to hear that the recent batch of SCOUT trainees considered their physical ordeals during training as 'hazing.' Have they entertained the thought that they were in Camp Ceferino Genovia in Barangay Bahay for an exotic 45-day vacation? If they cannot endure physical pain during training, they must ship out because real life counterinsurgency work

SERIOUS SUSPICIONS START to surface lately on the probability of a fix fight in the Pacquiao-Bradley split decision that had the Pambansang Kamao on the losing side. I thought I was the only one on this suspicion; but apparently not. Many are actually asking this difficult question: is Manny Pacquiao involved in the fix? If you still can remember rounds one through five, Manny behaved so much like the Manny we know--strong, fast, both in hands and feet. But when the bell rang to start Round 6, Manny slowed down significantly, perhaps around 70 percent of the Pacquiao we know. Could that slow down be a cue for the "fix" mechanism to proceed? There are many benefits for a setup of such a fix. First, that's supposed to be Manny's last fight before he hands his boxing gloves. Losing a fight that can be convincingly one later on after Manny has tested what Bradley can dish out was no unavoidable loss, but a strategic one. It gives Manny an excuse to figh

THE THING WITH the latest pull out of the Philippine military vessels from the disputed Panatag Shoal gives me a feeling that we have embarassed ourselves for getting duped into withdrawing from standing put in defending that claim. The current statement from the Chinese foreign ministry seems to say that the Philippines has the only responsibility to keep the tension down in the area; not the overreaching China. Somehow China managed to stand pat on its stubbornness in "defending" what is "hers" from the Philippine claim. If the Philippine politicians fail to get the message, then we as well admit our claim as much weaker (of low resolve) compared to that of China. Imagine leaving the Panatag Shoal on the excuse of protecting the government military vessels from bad weather. That's hollow-sounding to me considering that Chinese policy considers such a move a non-issue on their part. So much for our resolve to claim what is rightfully ours. And I be

EACH TIME February 24 comes each year, it must be a deluge of painful memories that will haunt the hearts and minds of the the Marcos heirs. The triumph of the People Power in 1986 meant the downfall of the Marcos family's clutch on political power. And I cannot blame Imelda and the Marcos children if they will feel bad each time the country celebrates the Day. It is simply natural to grieve the memories of so much loss. The news report today the post that Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. wrote for his Facebook account. The gist of it all is, after 26 years of freedom from his father's dictatorial rule, not much has changed. He asked: "Has poverty been alleviated? Is the wealth of the country more equitably distributed? Do we have more jobs available at home? Has there been a rise in the quality of our education? Are we self sufficient in our daily food requirements? Is there less hunger? Crime? Insurgency? Corruption? Basic services? Health?"

THE THEORY OF Constitutional Checks and Balances in government grew from the classical theory of separation of powers in goverment--between the executive, the legislative, and the judiciary. This allows a branch of government to provide a check on the other branch when it falls into the decadence of corruption and abuse of power. In theory, the legislative and judicial branches can reign on a rouge executive; the executive and the judiciary on a rouge legislative, and; the executive and legislative branches on a rouge judiciary. In fact, however, the executive and legislative branches of today have a hard time checking a rouge judiciary. In the general rule of the majority, a judiciary with majority behaving like they are not accountable to their wrongdoings, who can put a check on an institution that supposed to have "absolute" power in the interpretation of the Philippine Constitution? Of course, the problem is not the Constitution. It is the interpretation that

WITH THE CORONA counsels seeking the Supreme Court intervention to stop the Impeachment Trial on Chief Justice Renato Corona, and the Impeachment Court junking the Santiago motion for reconsideration (MR) against the issuance of subpoena on two banks to furnish the court records of Corona accounts, a showdown is offing between the Senate acting as an impeachment court and the Supreme Court known for its rulings "perceived as not impartial." There are two good things that will come out of this development. First, it will demand a show on how far the balance of power in the Constitutionally-mandated branches of "democratic republican government" work when such balance is assailed by no less than the Chief of the high court himself. With majority of associate justices known to be Corona allies as far as certain controversial rulings are concerned, there is a strong possibility that the majority of SC justices en banc will favor the petition to stop the impeachme

APPARENTLY, LIBERAL Party (LP)-National continues to have confidence in Hilario "Junjun" Davide III, despite his defeat in the 2010 elections. And when it comes to the election of the governor of Cebu in 2013, he heads the list of those that the party will support. But former senator John Henry "Sonny" Osmena has someone else in mind. Instead of Davide, Sonny wants a choice from four personalities--Vice Governor Agnes Magpale, Cebu 4th District Benhur Salimbangon, former tourism secretary Joseph Ace Durano, and 6th District representative Luis Quisumbing. These choices reflect more how Sonny's politics work, or how his mind works, than how LP thinks in choosing candidates for government offices. Because incidentally all these four politicians are One Cebu allies, a local party that opposed LP in the 2010 national elections. But that way of thinking is not surprising for Sonny. Although he started his political career as a Liberal in 1963, he was no so