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After the Philippines was battered by tropical cyclones and heavy southwest monsoon rains a couple of months ago, which resulted in predictable but deadly flash floods, Filipinos are now suddenly -- ironically -- hopeful. And why wouldn't they be? When the water subsided, anger rose, and President Bongbong Marcos just had to douse the collective rage during his State of the Nation Address. (After spending most of his term thus far gallivanting abroad [a la Sara Duterte] in the name of "generating investments," but not much to show for it, Marcos didn't have a choice. He was already earning the ire of the eagle-eyed; it's easy nowadays to track the frequency of his foreign trips and the corresponding travel expenses.)  "Mahiya naman kayo," Marcos intoned (an ironic choice of words, don't you think?), singling out those involved in anomalous flood-control projects. Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto went a step further in a Facebook post, and zeroed in on Sar...

To break bad means to turn to immorality or crime. Walter White in "Breaking Bad" turned to the illegal drug trade -- transitioning from chemistry teacher to meth cook and eventually drug lord -- out of necessity. He thought he was dying, and was worried for his family's future. Walter broke bad. These contractors, politicians, and corrupt DSWD heads are just, well, naturally evil.  

This knee-jerk clamor for bringing back the death penalty to punish plunderers and corrupt government officials is putting the cart before the horse. FIRST, let's make sure that the guilty ones go to jail and not get away scot-free, especially the ones who can buy their freedom using not just money but also power and privilege -- the Eraps, the Jinggoys, the Arroyos, the Bong Revillas, the Imeldas. ONLY THEN can we think about bringing back capital punishment. (Better yet, make an example of that jet-setting daughter of the dirty old man in the Hague, who spent her confidential funds faster than the Discayas could amass a fleet of luxury cars.) Otherwise, the only ones hanging from that noose are, again, the poor and the powerless -- regardless of whether they are guilty or not.

The recent news of Royina Garma's decision to testify against Rodrigo Duterte at the ICC has been labeled an unnecessary distraction from the current Senate hearing on the substandard flood-control projects and the massive corruption behind them.  A distraction? Not really. You can call something a distraction if the newer issue isn't of equal weight. "Distraction" here only depends whether you're a DDS or a Marcos loyalist. Not both, because, as well all know, Unity doesn't exist anymore. But that's another story. Or issue. Or "distraction." For instance, when this DPWH-Discayas-congressmen thing exploded, people were quick to say that it was a distraction from the missing sabungeros case.  And can someone refresh my memory please: what distracted us again from that Alice Guo issue?  What's sadder to me is that all these "distractions" seem to come out of the blue, rapid-fire -- one after the other, leaving us with no breathing roo...