Cruising with OFWs

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo I used to think that the thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who were seamen worked mostly on cargo ships. But some years back when I went on a Mediterranean cruise with friends, I realized that these luxury vessels that offered fun, relaxation and cultural experiences sailed on the sweat of our OFWs. For almost two weeks now, OFWs have been in the news after the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia ran aground and keeled over off the coast of Italy on Jan. 13. The ship carried 4,229...

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Pestano appeared to healing priest

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo The Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Jan. 12 banner story: “Pestaño case not suicide but murder” (by Lelia B. Salaverria). The lead paragraph: “Agreeing with the parents of Navy Ensign Philip Pestaño that he did not kill himself 16 years ago, the Office of the Ombudsman reversed itself and filed murder charges against 10 Navy officers in the Sandiganbayan yesterday and ordered their dismissal for grave misconduct…. “The 24-year-old Pestaño was found dead in his cabin aboard the BRP Bacolod City...

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PCIJ: Justices, Ombudsman, House defy SALN law

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo In one of the eight articles of impeachment against Chief Justice Renato Corona, the 188 members of the House of Representatives who signed the complaint censured him for refusing to disclose his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN). But according to the records of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), in securing SALNs since 2006, “the sorry picture that emerges is one of rank non-compliance—or creative defiance of the law—not just by the justices of...

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Cities be warned, prepare

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo Local government officials, citizens’ groups and NGOs in four Philippine cities should thank the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)-Philippines and BPI Foundation for undertaking research and publishing “Business Risk Assessment and the Management of Climate Change Impact.” It is subtitled “Vulnerability Assessment of Four Philippine Cities.”The four cities are Baguio, Cebu, Davao and Iloilo. The words “risk” and “vulnerability” should turn the elected local officials of these cities into boy scouts...

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