Author Bios

Che Carpio

Che Carpio

Articles by this author:

  • Vote WISELY! (For Bikol and the World)

    Today marks the end of the campaign period for the May 13, 2013 elections. It is now our turn as voters to decide on whom to vote into office. For this, we suggest that we all vote WISELY, that is:

    By: Che Carpio
  • Catholic Vote - Myth and Reality (For Bikol and the World)

    Since the passage of the RH law, there has been much talk about a so-called "Catholic Vote" like that of the common perception about the Iglesia ni Kristo voting as a bloc. Nothing can be farther from the truth than the idea that the Catholic Church would supposedly wield its power and influence for a so-called "command vote" as politicians are wont to strive for. We Catholics are not automatons. Indeed, the very concept of a "command vote" is anathema to the Social Teachings of our Church.

    By: Che Carpio
  • 10-Question Primer on Political Dynasties (For Bikol and the World)

    1. What is a political dynasty? It is one family's control, occupation or holding by succession or switching among its members of elective positions in government. Family may be the immediate family (husband and wife and children) and/or the extended family (grandparents, uncles and aunts, nephews and nieces, and cousins).

    By: Che Carpio
  • Providential SC SQA on RH Law (For Bikol and the World)

    On March 19, Francis I was formally installed as our new Pope. This day is also the feast-day of St. Joseph. And in his homily, Pope Francis pointed out our mission in whatever station in life we may be to be like St. Joseph as a "protector" of life, of God's creation, our families and children, and everything under our care and responsibility.

    On the same day, our Supreme Court issued an SQA or status quo ante order effective for 120 days suspending the implementation of the controversial RH or reproductive health law. Recall that this RH law was railroaded by Congress upon the personal intervention of President Aquino.

    By: Che Carpio
  • New Pope, Back to Basics (For Bikol and the World)

    Resigning as pope could well be Benedict XVI's greatest legacy. It is also his supreme witnessing. He had it all, as it were, and could have stayed on until death. But he gave it up so someone else could takeover to fulfill the mission.

    Indeed, it is the mission that counts the most -- proclaiming the Gospel to all the ends of the earth. The call, through God's Word, to enter into an intimate relationship with God.

    By: Che Carpio
  • Sabah: Ceasefire and Dialogue NOW (For Bikol and the World)

    It's sad that the present standoff in Sabah between the Malaysian government and the "royal army" of the Sultanate of Sulu has resulted in bloodshed and even reports of Malaysian abuses of Filipino civilians caught in the crossfire.

    But what is sadder is the utter mismanagement of the issue by the administration and President Aquino's glaring ignorance and even stupidity by his orders for "surrender." To make matters worse, PNoy has even resorted to playing the blame-game and throwing below-the-belt attacks on the Sultan of Sulu.

    By: Che Carpio
  • People Power: History and "His-Story" (For Bikol and the World)

    When Chiz (now Sen. Escudero) and I were studying in Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, DC, for our Master of Laws in International and Comparative Law, we kidded our lawyer-classmates from around the world about our contrasting versions of Philippine history, particularly under then President Marcos.

    To Chiz, whose father served Marcos as agriculture minister, it was "Marcos Pa Rin". It was not a "Marcos Dictatorship." Instead, it was the "New Society" that would make the Philippines "great again" as then trumpeted by Marcos who claimed a "covenant with the Filipino People." In fact, Marcos was his personal hero, having shook his hands as a little boy like Bill Clinton as a Boy Scout shaking the hand of then US President John F. Kennedy.

    By: Che Carpio
  • Elections (For Bikol and the World)

    Elections are rooted in the fundamental principle that government exists only on consent of the governed. There are two critical concepts in this proposition, that is, consent and governed. But both terms spring from one and the same tree, as it were: We, the People.

    Thus, in our Constitution, it is we, the sovereign Filipino People, who establish the government. And it is through elections that we put individual people to run it or unfortunately in many instances, ruin it.

    By: Che Carpio
  • Political Dynasties (For Bikol and the World)

    With the coming May elections, our bishops have decried the "widening practice of political dynasties" through their pastoral statement released on January 29.

    "As monopolies in business, monopolies in politics limit the entry that can bring in new ideas and offer better services. Political dynasties breed corruption and ineptitude. We are aggrieved that lawmakers themselves defy the supreme law of the land by not following the mandate of our Philippine Constitution given 26 years ago to make an enabling law to ban political dynasties," the CBCP stated.

    By: Che Carpio
  • Legalized Corruption (For Bikol and the World)

    "Tuwid na Daan" boasted of 2012 as the year for public accountability through the first-ever removal of a Chief Justice. And the impeachment was doggedly pursued by no less than the President of the Philippines, using all the forces of government at his disposal like the BIR.

    But early on in the New Year 2013,  the annual practice of multi-million peso Christmas cash gifts by the Senate President to all the senators from senate "savings" was outed. Enrile playing Santa Claus to his peers, a "tradition" of the senate allegedly since the time of Quezon, would have normally gone unnoticed except that four unhappy "naughty kids" complained about the "small" amount of Php250 thousand each that was given them.

    By: Che Carpio