PERRYSCOPE

Never before in the history of the Philippines has a corruption scandal rocked the corridors of power to its foundations as it had with the pork barrel scam.  With at least 12 senators and more than 180 congressmen allegedly involved in robbing their pork barrel allocations with the help of greedy and unscrupulous scam operators, it makes one wonder if the country’s Fifth Republic could survive this mother of all scandals? Continue reading →

LAST August 23, 2013, three days before the “Million People March” anti-pork barrel rally at the Rizal Park (Luneta), President Benigno “P-Noy” Aquino III, in a seemingly pre-emptive move, announced that its time to abolish the PDAF, the acronym for Priority Development Assistance Fund, or more commonly known as “pork barrel.”   The rally, which was initiated by netizens, demanded for the abolition of pork barrel.  A few individuals using Facebook barely two weeks ago, posted a call for “Martsa sa Luneta” on August 26, 2013.    Continue reading →

Driving on the fast lane of daang matuwid – “straight path” – President Benigno “P-Noy” Aquino III never had it so good… until now.  By a twist of fate, right after he delivered his State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 22, a number of his political allies, personal friends, and relatives were implicated in several corruption scandals.    Continue reading →

Lately, there have been talks of the “legacy” of the Aquino family: Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., Corazon “Cory” Aquino, and their son Benigno “P-Noy” Aquino III.  Continue reading →

Government officials call them “heroes.” They are the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who have remitted more than $20 billion last year, twice their remittances 10 years ago. And their remittances have kept the economy afloat during bad economic times. Continue reading →

June 16, 2013
When U.S. President Barack Obama met Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Sunnylands estate in the desert city of Rancho Mirage in California last June 7 and 8, it was one of the most heralded summits in recent history. It measured in importance to the Cold War –era Washington Summit between U.S. President Ronald Reagan and the Soviet Union’s Communist Party General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. The highlight of the Washington Summit was the signing of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. Continue reading →

June 1, 2013
It’s tough fighting the world’s second biggest economic power and most populous country. But when another economic heavyweight joins the fight against you, they could trounce you very badly. And to make the situation worse, the two adversaries are the giant People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Lilliputian but economically rich Republic of China (ROC), which is more commonly known as Taiwan. With the Philippines up against the two Chinas, her options are limited. Continue reading →

May 16, 2013
With China moving closer to total control of the South China Sea, the other five claimant countries are getting nervous… very nervous. Indeed, China’s neighbors are so nervous that they’re arming themselves in an attempt to stop China’s aggressive advances into their territories. But at the rate China is building her naval forces and deploying them to the South China Sea Continue reading →

May 1, 2013
If China attacked the United States, she had better knock her out in the first strike. Otherwise, the U.S. would unleash 1,654 nuclear warheads on 792 deployed Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs), Submarine-launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBMs), B-52 bombers, and B-2 stealth bombers. China has approximately 240 warheads and an undetermined number of ICBMs. But who would fire the first ICBM? Continue reading →

April 16, 2013
North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un’s saber rattling – threatening to send nuclear ballistic missiles to the United States and Guam — has left a lot of people wondering what is he up to? Does he think that he could bring the world’s only superpower to her knees? The answer is no — Kim wouldn’t dare do that! However, if he did, the repercussions could be disastrous, nay, catastrophic! But he doesn’t seem to know that. If he does, then he is playing a very dangerous game. Continue reading →