P-Noy and 'the grace of office'

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo WILL “THE grace of office” carry him through? After Benigno Aquino III was proclaimed landslide winner in last year’s presidential elections, I did a page 1 article (May 23, 2010) on the so-called “grace of office” supposedly divinely bestowed on persons called to positions of power and responsibility. Their human frailties, imperfections and reluctance notwithstanding. The question was: Could...

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Sulong FOI! Bantay FOI!

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo The push for the Freedom of Information (FOI) law has risen from the dead. This time, we hope, the law will be passed and live on for generations of Filipinos to invoke and use to enhance their rights and freedoms. In June last year, during the dying days of the Arroyo administration, the FOI act (FOIA) was killed in Congress at the 11th hour when all that was needed was just one more nudge and two minutes. What a dismal, shameful day it was. Those in the Senate (where it had been passed) and...

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Not the briefs, but the billboards

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo We should credit those sportsmen in skimpy underwear that came out in all their almost-naked glory on a giant billboard. If not for their loaded briefs that caused an uproar in some sectors and offended the sensibilities of some people, the issue of billboards and the danger and ugliness they bring would not have come up again. This is another good season for bashing billboards. Most of the complaints...

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A breast issue

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo In the past months there has been an aggressive print ad campaign in the Philippines on different types of cancer treatment being offered by the Guangzhou Modern Cancer Hospital in China. I counted at least 15 that came out in the Inquirer from May to June. I was told these also came out in other publications. These were half-page ads that cost a lot of money. The ads showed happy people, mostly Caucasian-looking, enjoying life. A lot of fine print went with the ads. The text explained the...

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The Enchanted Farm (Almost a Fairy Tale)

Sunday Inquirer Magazine/FEATURES/by: Ma. Ceres P. Doyo Rising gradually on 14 hectares of verdant, undulating terrain is a farm, home, village and “university” rolled into one, where people’s dreams and ideas are put to the test, nurtured and turned into reality. Gawad Kalinga’s (GK) Enchanted Farm in Barangay (village) Encanto in Angat, Bulacan is, as its name and location suggest, a special place like no other. Beholding it even in its unfinished...

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