Who’s afraid of ‘the Emperor?’ C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Jonathan De la Cruz 03/10/2010

Who’s afraid of ‘the Emperor?’ C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Jonathan De la Cruz 03/10/2010 The Emperor is, of course, newly designated AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Delfin Bangit who got that name in 2006 when he hosted a Christmas party “second to none,” as one attendee recounted to a broadsheet then, when he headed the Isafp, the military spy agency. One remembers that unit was then very active tracking so-called “enemies of the state” which critics suspected was actually a “hit list” of anti-GMA critics. That kind of guarded assessment bordering on paranoia has hounded Bangit since. He is, as far as his detractors go, GMA’s chief protector, the head of her praetorian guards. He will, in a word, fight to the death for her and her family and, as a result, he puts his fealty to the Constitution and the national interest in question. But no matter. He has proven himself to the Chief Executive and he is now reaping the “prize of loyalty” as detained Marine colonel and senatorial candidate Ariel Querubin noted. Said the decorated detainee: “Any president would have done the same. I wish him good luck...” To be fair, Querubin’s forthright remark is probably the general public sentiment as well. Let us watch his moves with eyes wide open but give him the benefit of the doubt appears to be the shared notion at this point. Career mirrors GMA’s rise.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune ALTERNATE URL: http://www.tribune.net.ph/commentary/20100310com4.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Gloria plus Bangit equals political longevity FRONTLINE Take surveys with a grain of salt ZOOMING IN The Toyota myth is shattered C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Who’s afraid of ‘the Emperor?’ FEATURE Brides and wounded: The saga of Afghan cab HE SAYS In New York and Taguig SHE SAYS High on promises

Brides and wounded: The saga of Afghan cab FEATURE 03/10/2010

Brides and wounded: The saga of Afghan cab FEATURE 03/10/2010 KABUL — In the 30 years since Ghulam Ali bought his yellow-and-white taxi and drove it home from Saudi Arabia, all of Afghan life — from expectant brides to dying war wounded — has occupied its back seat. Once a gleaming source of pride that made Ali a big man in a city where traffic was dominated by horse-drawn carts, the 1973 Toyota Corona sedan is now a rusty shadow of its former self. But Ali is no less proud of the opportunities the car gave him and his family after his return to Kabul from the oil-rich Gulf kingdom in 1977. “It certainly didn’t look like this,” he said of the car, stroking the broken steering wheel, bandaged now with a piece of plaid cloth.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune ALTERNATE URL: http://www.tribune.net.ph/commentary/20100310com5.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Gloria plus Bangit equals political longevity FRONTLINE Take surveys with a grain of salt ZOOMING IN The Toyota myth is shattered C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Who’s afraid of ‘the Emperor?’ FEATURE Brides and wounded: The saga of Afghan cab HE SAYS In New York and Taguig SHE SAYS High on promises

In New York and Taguig HE SAYS Aldrin Cardon 03/10/2010

In New York and Taguig HE SAYS Aldrin Cardon 03/10/2010 New Musical Express magazine described it as a “lusty bellowing” of a statement of facts about New York, the city that has become the subject of many songs, which after Sinatra’s “New York, New York,” has again hogged the limelight courtesy of Alicia Keys, whose soulful chorus in the two different versions of the “Empire State of Mind” — one with rapper Jay-Z and another of her own — would become my LSS, or the last song syndrome to replace Manny Villar’s political jingle. Ms. Keys, who was born and grew up in Harlem, described her place as “such a melting pot, on the corner selling rock, preachers pray to God. Hail a gypsy cab, takes me down from Harlem to the Brooklyn Bridge, someone sleeps tonight with a hunger for more than an empty fridge.” ..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune ALTERNATE URL: http://www.tribune.net.ph/commentary/20100310com6.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Gloria plus Bangit equals political longevity FRONTLINE Take surveys with a grain of salt ZOOMING IN The Toyota myth is shattered C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Who’s afraid of ‘the Emperor?’ FEATURE Brides and wounded: The saga of Afghan cab HE SAYS In New York and Taguig SHE SAYS High on promises

High on promises SHE SAYS Dinah S. Ventura 03/10/2010

High on promises SHE SAYS Dinah S. Ventura 03/10/2010 Politicians and wannabes might as well accept the fact that all their catchy jingles and emotion-filled advertisements are failing to touch an intrinsic part of the Filipino psyche. Years and years of mind-numbing issues and controversies stretching out to kingdom come have succeeded in transforming a normally forgiving people into a different species — quite cynical, unresponsive and, most of the time, dismissive.  Certainly many would sing along with a tune that’s easy on the ears, but I doubt if votes will be cast based on this alone. After all, Pinoys have made gold records out of songs with words like “spaghetting pababa” and “spaghetting pataas.” Some things catch our twisted sense of humor, but it doesn’t mean that they mean a thing to us.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune ALTERNATE URL: http://www.tribune.net.ph/commentary/20100310com7.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Gloria plus Bangit equals political longevity FRONTLINE Take surveys with a grain of salt ZOOMING IN The Toyota myth is shattered C.R.O.S.S.R.O.A.D.S Who’s afraid of ‘the Emperor?’ FEATURE Brides and wounded: The saga of Afghan cab HE SAYS In New York and Taguig SHE SAYS High on promises