Wise Guys Vs. Wise Men

  By Oliver Geronilla
 
Times have indeed changed! Gone were the days when rumor-mongering, yellow journalism, and character assassination were confined to the walls of beauty salons, roadside eateries, and other similar places where rancor and candor filled the bucolic air of yore. Now you can see people from different walks of life—fishwives, henpecked husbands, bums, government [...]

The Town Of Bulan Is Different

Or, Reprisal-Free Bulan Politics
 by jun asuncion
Linking Bulan Observer to Bulan-LGU Website is a sign of maturity-  for both. Maturity because it is all about constructive dialogue, maturity because it is about public service and transparency, maturity because it is about democracy.
We cannot expect perfection from both of these Bulan platforms yet we strive to make [...]

What Moved The Con-grAssmen To Dance The Cha(os)-Cha(os)

Two articles I found today which I consider must be shared throughout the country, namely those who signed the “death sentence”  to  the 1987 Constitution and Loren Legarda’s assailing  Gloria for JBC Directive.
- Congressmen Who Signed Con Ass- and perhaps because of the promised P20 million for each by Malacañang – as  posted in Loren Legarda’s [...]

The Death Of A Political Dynasty

(Or, Rediscovering Apolinario Mabini)
by jun asuncion
 
“…  Political dynasty  is also subject to natural death as history has shown us: it dies due to lack of next generation that will continue it or the shift in interest or lack of energy of the new generation, or continued strife with other political dynasties has led to total annihilation of [...]

The Final Insult To The Filipino Mind

by jun asuncion
This SONA 2009 sounds like a desperate appeal to the public of one of the most unpopular presidents of the Philippines- Gloria Arroyo- to change their perception of her for the better before she steps down the throne of power where, for years, she overstretched the meaning of political corruption in the Philippines. [...]

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo SONA 2009

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo SONA 2009 Full Text
Thank you, Speaker Nograles, Senate President Enrile, Senators, Representatives, Vice President de Castro, President Ramos, Chief Justice Puno, Ambassadors, friends…
The past twelve months have been a year for the history books. Financial meltdown in the West spread throughout the world…
Tens of millions lost their jobs; billions across the [...]

Part I: The Mayor Behind The Mayor

Or, Democracy Is About The People, Not About A Family Or Clan
Nine Plus Nine Plus Nine Plus… A tongue twister, mental arithmetic or a case of obsession ? It could be a mixture of all these if we are referring to the maximum term  of  nine years  a Filipino local politician may hold office and his habit of [...]

LGU Bulan Joins the Earth Hour Movement

Submitted on 2009/03/26 at 8:37am
 By: PIO-LGU Bulan
Bulan, Sorsogon, March 26, 2009.
 
 Bulan Town in the Province of Sorsogon, in the Philippines is joining the Earth Hour movement!
Mayor Helen C. De Castro of the Local Government Unit of Bulan leads her community in joining the Earth Hour event on March 28, 2009 from 8:30-9:30 in the evening [...]

The Woman Warrior Of The Philippines

by: jun asuncion
 
It’s astonishing that Senator Loren Legarda and Jing Magsaysay still manage to write me personally in spite of their very tight schedules. These are small gestures that tell  a lot about the character and professionalism of these two super busy people. That in spite of Loren being a national and international figure, her [...]

Loren Legarda: Avenue Of Green Trees, Poetry And Dreams

by: jun asuncion                                                                           
 
 
Loren Legarda, Joyce Kilmer and The Sniper – What connects them together? It’s their love or need for trees.
Loren Legarda, a  Filipina senator. Loren’s love for trees is known,  a love which manifested itself early in childhood. She claims to have had a happy childhood “climbing trees and playing jackstones” in that Malabon compound where she [...]

Arroyo’s AO 255: The Last Insult To The Filipino Mind

 
Chiz Escudero seems to be reading Bulan Observer for now he just dared President Arroyo to “show sincerity in her moral renewal campaign”, this just after I have posted Strengths And Weaknesses Of  The Filipino Political Character where I used the concept of sincerity as the foundation of a sustainable political culture. Yet,  kidding aside, [...]

Strengths And Weaknesses Of The Filipino Political Character

by: jun asuncion
 
Part 1: The Virtue Of Sincerity As The Foundation Of Sustainable Political Culture
Lack or flawed sincerity  underlies our socio-political underdevelopment. What is sincerity? Webster dictionary defines it as honesty of mind and intention. It is therefore closely related to honesty. The political Filipinos have the fondness of making things complicated; they corrupt a simple thought or action [...]

Politics and Greed

By Dora The Mouse
Politics is defined as “the process by which groups of people make decisions. The term is generally applied to behavior within civil governments, but politics has been observed in all human group interactions, including corporate, academic and religious institutions. It consists of “social relations involving authority or power” and refers to the [...]

Senator Francis Escudero’s Senate Bill No. 1476

“AN ACT REQUIRING PUBLIC OFFICIALS AND  EMPLOYEES TO SUBMIT A WRITTEN
PERMISSION OR WAIVER IN FAVOR OF THE OMBUDSMAN TO LOOK INTO
ALL DEPOSITS OF WHATEVER NATURE WITH BANKS OR BANKING
INSTITUTIONS BOTH WITHIN AND OUTSIDE THEPHlLIPPINES INCLUDING
INVESTMENT BONDS ISSUED BY THE GOVERNMENT  OF THE PHILIPPINES,
ITS POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS AND INSTRUMENTALITIES AND PROVIDING
PENALTIES THEREFOR.”
 

This is so far the most [...]

The Many Voices Of Bulan Democracy: The Highlights

Compiled here are some of the excerpts from articles and comments of people who help built as a result  Bulan Observer as a Platform to express views and concerns for all Tagabulans and Bikolanos alike.
 ”As in any democracy, plurality of views and opinions is an integral part of the society. Nevertheless, we should strive for responsible [...]

2008 REPORT TO THE PEOPLE OF BULAN

Submitted on 2008/12/30 at 5:09am
We are here posting the 2008 Year-end Report of Mayor Helen C. De Castro to the People of Bulan. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all! – From LGU- Bulan PIO…

Mayor Helen C. De Castro
Bulan, Sorsogon
2008 REPORT TO THE PEOPLE OF BULAN
INTRODUCTION:
Sa Entero na mga Taga-Bulan,
Sa Pinapadaba Ko na [...]

LMP CITES DE CASTRO AS AN OUTSTANDING MAYOR

Submitted on 2008/12/11 at 9:34am
Press Release
PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
Local Government Unit of Bulan
 
Bulan, Sorsogon, November 21, 2008
 
 The League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) cited Mayor Helen C. De Castro of Bulan, Sorsogon as one of the Most Outstanding Mayors in the Philippines in the area of ecological protection during the League’s 2008 General Assembly at [...]

“Hello Obama!”

Or, Arroyo’s Frustration  (reaction to J.A. Carizo’s and Atty. Benji’s comments)
   I expected somehow that Arroyo would not support Obama but rather McCain for Arroyo knows exactly that she cannot hide behind Obama should he become president; Obama is just too transparent, hence  not a good hiding place for Arroyo. For Obama, it was and [...]

The Bulan-te Connection

Or, The Missing P3million
When Bolante told the House agriculture Committee chaired by Palawan Rep. Mitra that of the 181 recipients (or “farmers”) he listed, only 22 did not avail themselves of  the P3-million to P5-million allocations he gave them, I was delighted to know that there are still 22 “farmers” in our country who are [...]

A Transcendental White House

Obama, Or the Clash Of Ideas, Not Of Emotions Or Races
The Obama effect on me was that sigh of relief the day he won this historic election. Think about the real significance of this event for the black race as well as for the white and all other colors in between. For the Afro-Americans, a historic triumph [...]

A Pair Of Shining Shoes Made In Marikina

You still remember that while the City Mayors (organizer of the World Mayor Award) was looking for the Top 11 Mayors around the world last 2007, we found our town Bulan wrestling with the Central Bus Terminal-or CBT Scandal. Whatever happened now to this CBT case, we are practically no longer  interested with it as long as [...]

BULAN SENIOR CITIZENS CELEBRATE MONTH FOR ELDERLY

Press Release
By  Tonyboy ( PIO, LGU-Bulan)
Bulan, Sorsogon – October is declared as the Month in honoring the Elderly, and the Bulan Senior Citizens, responding to the call for activeliness in community undertaking, came in big numbers representing various Senior Citizens’ groups.
The Office of the Senior Citizen Affairs (OSCA), headed by former Councilor Joe Tan, under [...]

Two-Edged Swords

by jun asuncion
( My reaction to rudybellens interesting contribution ” Lessons We Should have Learned…)
This situation analysis about Taiwan and the Philippines boils down to the most basic fundamentals again that we have been talking about: education and character, with all its strengths and weaknesses. To illustrate this I quote hereunder salient portion of rudybellen’s [...]

Lessons That We Should Have Learned Long Time Ago…

October 15, 2008 at 4:49 pm ·
from rudybellen

 
On Technology Development :
The research agency that virtually turned Taiwan around from an agrarian to an industrialized economy suggests that the Philippines should put up a similar agency that can get technologies take off from the shelves. The Philippines may derive a model from Taiwan in having [...]

Of Greener Pastures, Brain Drains and Headhunters

 (A response to J.A. Carizo’s comment on A Lesson from From Shamans…)
Colonization actually started also with the dream of greener pasture which, as in the case of Spain, not really to spread Christianity and glorify their God and His Ten Commandments like Thou shall not kill, Thou shall not steal, Thou shall love thy neighbor etc. , for in [...]