Governance

The Lessons of Scarborough

scarborough
Scarborough Shoal (AP Photo)

Questions arise about whether we have creative policy makers who are focused on the real issues in the disputed areas or inflexible bureaucrats who can only repeat old mantras as their solutions to current issues and problems.

By Ben Lim*
Posted by CenPEG

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Getting to Know U.S. Foreign Policy

chinese navy
Chinese navy (AP Photo)

Rhetorical flourishes that America would come to the rescue of the Philippines in the event of an armed attack must be taken for what they are, balloons of hot air.

By Ben Lim*
Posted by CenPEG

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Political Parties and Elections

GUINGONA LEADS PETITION FOR TRO vs COMELEC, SMARTMATIC
Legal move cites grave abuse, violation of procurement law by Comelec

GUINGONA LEADS PETITION FOR TRO vs COMELEC, SMARTMATIC
AES Watch lead counsel, Felix Carao, Jr. (center) is interviewed by reporters after filing the citizens' petition for temporary restraining order at the Supreme Court, Padre Faura, Manila. With him are petitioners Nelson Celis (left) and Dr. Pablo Manalastas (right).

Posted by CenPEG.org
April 11, 2012

Through individual petitioners led by former Vice President Teofisto T. Guingona, Jr., the Automated Election System Watch (AES Watch) on April 10 sought a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) from the Supreme Court (SC) on the new contract signed by Comelec to buy Smartmatic-TIM PCOS machines for the 2013 automated elections.

AES Watch Petition for TRO


Comelec' 'option to purchase' not binding, procurement board says

In a March 28, 2012 official letter, the Government Procurement Policy Board (GPBB) says the Commission on Elections' "option to purchase" the Smartmatic PCOS machines has expired and not binding.

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Global Currents

Lessons on Sovereignty from Vietnam

ARTILLERY SHELLS
ARTILLERY SHELLS: Inside the War Remnants Museum, Ho Chi Minh City, author strikes a pose with artillery shells used by U.S. forces against the Vietnamese villages suspected of being strongholds of the Vietnamese people's resistance.

In our current disputes over territorial claims with China, Vietnam presents lessons from which we could learn without surrendering our self-respect and sovereignty to ANY big power.

By Roland G. Simbulan

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The Global Crisis and China

Issue Analysis

ISSUE ANALYSIS No. 03

In this issue:


Nowhere to Go: Will Aquino's Anti-Corruption Reform Work?

ISSUE ANALYSIS No. 02
Series of 2012

President Benigno S. Aquino III's much-vaunted anti-corruption program barely scratches the surface of the problem and gives no hint on how he will grapple with its systemic roots. Failing to address or worse abetting the fundamental roots that sustain corruption makes his administration's anti-corruption drive superficial if not a complete sham.


20 Years After: Revisiting the Local Government Code

ISSUE ANALYSIS No. 01
Series of 2012

There should be an end to the fruitless process of reforming laws and crafting development strategies where the dubious intention is in furtherance of elite governance sugar-coated by meaningless concepts of "transparency and accountability", LGU-civil society or "public-private partnership."


Pushing the Case vs Arroyo, Her Chief Justice a Step Further

ISSUE ANALYSIS No. 6
Series of 2011

The signals that the Aquino administration is sending so far are to provide a climate conducive to foreign investment and to project the image of a President determined to pursue reforms particularly in anti-corruption. At the moment though, they do not remove suspicions that what is unfolding only dramatizes a feud between political dynasties and a motive to make the high court more like pro-Aquino than being pro-Arroyo.


FOI and the State's Hegemony of Information

ISSUE ANALYSIS No. 05
Series of 2011

Clearly, the presidential strategy with regard to the FOI bill is to put heavy restrictions so as to make the government in control of public information. Such impediments will favor the state if and when the bill is passed – or would make legislation more protracted so as to stall its final enactment. Either way, the national government wins. But it also signifies a weak regime. Hiding information makes a government unworthy of public trust. Fear of public scrutiny and criticism only means a government unsure of itself.


On the 10th anniversary of 9/11: The War on Terror — Is the World More Secure?

ISSUE ANALYSIS No. 04
Series of 2011

The U.S. is now trapped in a global war of its own making. It will be embroiled in more wars possibly in the next 10-20 years as a result of which it will create more enemies and make the use of force a long-term necessity.


Living in the past: Mishandling the Spratlys territorial row

Issue Analysis No. 03
Series of 2011

Government must abandon the 20th century politics of colonialism and neo-colonialism and begin to act more responsibly with a mature and independent foreign policy.