Corruption in the peace department (2)

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” —One of the eight Beatitudes in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. From Tibet, the United Arab Emirates and here at home came e-mailed reactions from Filipinos who were outraged and shocked at the disclosures of Secretary Annabelle Abaya, outgoing head of the Office of the Presidential Assistant on the Peace Process (OPAPP). Abaya who has headed the agency for barely a year discovered a nest of corruption inside the august...

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Corruption in the peace department

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo “Ah, it was an exciting novel. It was action-packed from Day 1.” Thus started Secretary Annabelle Abaya, head of the Office of the Presidential Assistant on the Peace Process (OPAPP), when she recounted to the Inquirer the unraveling of the web of corruption in the peace office. Abaya headed the agency for less than a year, succeeding Avelino Razon who ran for Manila mayor and lost in the last elections. Soon she will leave her post when the newly elected president, Noynoy Aquino, assumes office...

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A verdict 25 years after Bhopal tragedy

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. DoyoIN THIS DECADE of disasters, both natural and man-made, it behooves us to remember the 1984 Bhopal tragedy in India which killed more than 20,000 people and whose aftereffects continue to destroy the health of thousands. In terms of human lives lost, it is considered the world’s deadliest industrial catastrophe, and it could have been prevented. It was one of the worst ecological disasters in...

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D-Day for FOIA

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. DoyoFriday is D-Day for the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Will it be passed in the House of Representatives on the last session day? Just one more nudge, isang pindot na lang, and if it gets passed (as it had been in the Senate) we will become more enabled and empowered citizens of this nation. What a great day it would be. What previously have been kept in the dark can now be brought easily into the light. Many things that have been hidden can be easily laid bare. Without fear and trepidation,...

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