THE VIEW FROM RIZAL
There has been a string of some positive developments lately, giving us a breather from the steady stream of disappointing news in the past few months.
First is the good news that the long-delayed opening of the additional stations comprising the Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LR
Former Vice President Jejomar Binay
There is an open disagreement between Cabinet officials over a proposal to require beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), some 4.4 million Filipinos who come from the poorest of the poor, to have themselves vaccinated for COVID-19 as a condition for receiving their cash dole out.
The Health Secretary is opposing such a scheme, describing it as discriminatory. Vaccines, he said, have nothing to do with dole outs.
For the first time, I find myself agreeing with the Health Secretary. But I would add that this proposal is not only discriminatory. It is patently anti-poor.
BusinessWorld
MASTER1305-FREEPIK
Months into his presidency in 2016, President Rodrigo Duterte announced a foreign policy pivot to Beijing, as he shored up to $24 billion (P1.2 trillion) in funding pledges from China.
The initial list consisted of 26 big-ticket projects and was supposedly a display of greater confidence in the bilateral relations between Manila and Beijing.
This included: 1.) the Subic-Clark railway project by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and China Harbour Engineering Co., 2.) the Bonifacio Global City-Ninoy Aquino International Airport Segment of the Metro Manila Bus Rapid Transit-EDSA project by the BCDA and China Road and Bridge Corp., 3.) Safe and smart city projects for the BCDA by the BCDA and Huawei Technologies, and, 4.) Transportation and logistics infrastructure at Sangley Point by Cavitex Holdings, International Container Terminal Services, Inc., and China Harbour Engineering, among others, most of which have n