Malaysia court junks charge against Anwar
KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian court on Friday threw out illegal-assembly charges against opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim over his part in a 2012 rally that could have barred him from standing for election,...
View ArticleRouhani says Syria talks will fail without Iran
TEHRAN: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday a Syrian peace conference planned for later this month will fail if Tehran, Damascus’s main regional ally, does not participated, media...
View ArticleDiokno: Senate fund realignments in order
ECONOMIST and former Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said he finds nothing wrong or irregular with the realignment of funds by some senators prior to the enactment of the 2014 General Appropriations...
View ArticleOil companies reduce prices
PILIPINAS Shell and Phoenix Petroleum said on Sunday they are cutting prices of petroleum products across-the-board effective Monday. In their respective text advisories Sunday, Pilipinas Shell and...
View ArticleJBC bends rules to accommodate de Lima’s man
THE Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) violated its own rules after Justice Secretary Leila de Lima lobbied for her own candidate for associate justice in the Court of Appeals (CA). The Manila Times has...
View ArticleWorld leaders pay tribute to ‘patriot’ Sharon
PARIS: World leaders paid tribute Saturday to former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, calling him a patriot who made “brave decisions” to secure his country’s future, but his foes derided him as a...
View ArticleRising in Bohol: Quake-proof houses
Its frame is made of lightweight steel. Its walls and flooring are a combination of bamboo mesh and wire mesh with cement overlay. It is earthquake proof. These are the main features of the prototype...
View ArticlePower rate face-off at SC
The Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) and the petitioners questioning its P4.15 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) rate increase face off for the first time on Monday as the Supreme Court (SC) opens deliberations on...
View ArticleHead of government, head of state, spender-in-chief
In reply to President Aquino’s new year’s resolution to ignore all criticism of his presidency and his contention that critics have made a cottage industry of criticizing him, I will devote this column...
View ArticleMeralco lawyer is CJ mentor
Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno’s mentor and former law partner is one of the lawyers for the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), who will defend the rate hike the electricity distributor charged its...
View ArticleBINAY STILL AHEAD OF AQUINO IN RATINGS GAME
VICE President Jejomar continues to rate higher than President Benigno Aquino 3rd in terms of approval and trust, according to Pulse Asia’s latest survey. The survey, carried out last December, showed...
View ArticleBar has been lowered
Three years and then some, we have accepted that substandard is the norm in public service. From the bunkhouses to the “burned out” Cabinet, to the critics making a living from being critical to the...
View ArticleLabor law violators, likely tax cheats, too
Sen. Ralph Recto recently filed Senate Bill 256, which seeks to raise the tax exemption ceiling of bonuses to P75,000, up from the present P30,000 set by law (Republic Act 7833) some 30 years ago. This...
View ArticleBlasted be the poor
ERSTWHILE The Manila Times columnist Teodoro “Doroy” Valencia once served in the 1970s as head honcho for the outfit that saw to the upkeep of Rizal Park. He had a quaint hiring policy: he tapped the...
View ArticleChinese, Africans in drugs ‘turf war’
THE entry of the Mexican drug cartel Sinaloa in the country’s illegal drugs market was meant to reinforce Chinese drug lords who are being given a run for their money by African syndicates, their...
View Article