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Zaldy Co’s critical role in BBM’s admin collapse

Malacaňang probably did not see it coming, but the blows inflicted by ex-Cong. Rizaldy Co on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has not only significantly weakened the latter’s administration but can, in fact, hasten its collapse.


Co is the closest anyone can get to a smoking gun. By his own admission, the former House appropriations committee chairman personally delivered billions of pesos packed in suitcases right to the doorsteps of BBM and his erstwhile patron, former Speaker Martin Romualdez.

Shield or sword? A lesson in leadership from DPWH turmoil

Watching the unfolding drama around the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) flood-control projects, many can’t help but feel that Secretary Vince Dizon and his team have forgotten the fundamental truth about what a real boss is.

In the scramble to respond to allegations of anomalies, what we’ve witnessed isn’t leadership. It is political self-preservation, where the people the boss is supposed to lead become expendable pawns.

Explain diversion of flood control funds from ODA, Ungab tells Co, Quimbo

Davao City Congressman Isidro “Sid” Ungab is calling on former Committee on Appropriations chairpersons, Representatives Zaldy Co and Stella Quimbo, to explain why critical foreign-assisted flood control projects were diverted from the 2024 and 2025 national budgets.

Ungab made the revelations during the budget hearing of the Department of Public Works and Highways on September 5, where he presented evidence showing the significant budget cuts and eventual removal of major Overseas Development Assistance (ODA)-funded flood control projects.

Our worst enemies

“Unlike the masses, intellectuals have a taste for rationality and interest in facts. Their critical habit of mind makes them resistant to the kind of propaganda that works so well on the majority.” — ALDOUS HUXLEY

For all his wisdom and good faith, Aldous Huxley was not spot on on this one, at least as far as the Philippines is concerned.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR l Big tobacco in Malacañang?

Dear Editor,

What if a mining firm executive heads the agency protecting our forests, or a pharma owner leads a health institute? It sends a loud and clear signal that corporate interests shape the national narrative. That's how alarming it is that a longtime tobacco company executive might soon lead the government's communications office.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR l Jonvic stabs PH tourism in the back

Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla, in an article posted on Business Mirror on June 20, admitted that tourists avoid the Philippines because they "don’t feel safe." It’s disturbing. Instead of calming fears, he poured gasoline on the fire.

Remulla’s statement was a slip and a full-blown faceplant. Would anyone still eat in a restaurant if a manager told customers that the food served gives them food poisoning? Of course not.