Albay Governor Joey Salceda's drumbeaters and sycophants are getting ahead of themselves with their newest media spin that the economist-cum-governor is largely responsible for Sen. Noynoy Aquino's huge number of votes in the said province and even for the region. Such claim ignores the fact that prior to Gov. Salceda's defection to Aquino's camp and the Liberal Party (LP), the local LP machinery had already done much of the legwork and the campaigning for Noynoy. Or as one lead volunteer for Sen. Aquino working in Albay has put it, "(Salceda's) support was most welcome, but it wasn't needed anymore to win Bikol for Sen. Aquino. Even before he joined us, we knew that Albay and Bikol will deliver big for Noynoy."

The recent violence in Bangkok is a result of the injustice and disenfranchisement suffered by a large section of Thai society for decades, says a lay Catholic social activist. Rungtip Imrungruang, who works with ActionAid Thailand says that in such a scenario, the Church has a role to play beyond merely doing charity work. Rungtip is also the former coordinator of the Thai bishops' Justice and Peace Commission as well as of the International Young Christian Students (IYCS) Asia. Her commentary follows:

On April 27, 1977, urban poor leader Trinidad Herrera-Ripuno was arrested in Katipunan, Quezon City by virtue of an arrest and search and seizure order (ASSO) of then President Ferdinand Marcos. She was made to suffer brutal torture, which was meant to break her determination and spirit.

Some forces never fade but accompany us any day, anywhere, anytime, through all our life. We experience anxiety and arrogance, despondency and distraction, we know disappointment and despair. Doubts and faint enter our thinking as do uncertainty and helplessness. Fear and failure, quarrel and resignation are not strange to us, neither are envy and pride. All of these we know, all of these are with us, in our life, in our being. And all of these are normal, are common and ordinary.

Of late, public debate has centered on GMA's appointment of her former Chief of Staff Renato Corona as Chief Justice. On the surface, everything seems perfectly legal. After all, GMA is backed by a Supreme Court decision.

AFP Chief Gen. Delfin Bangit's admission that the AFP will not be able to meet de facto President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's 2010 deadline to defeat the New People's Army (NPA) comes as no surprise. The military claims of success in its counterinsurgency campaigns have been belied by independent media reports of the NPA's tactical offensives resulting in firearms seized and AFP troops captured, killed or wounded.

A four-man team of Japanese Nationals will explore the Bikol coastlines using only their kayaks this May-June 2010. Dr. Kosako Yamaoka, 61 year old professor of Kochi University of Japan is the Team Leader of the group. "We will paddle our way from San Lorenzo beach in Tabaco City to San Miguel Island this May 13. Then we will stay in the island to have some interaction with the local fisherman. We want to learn from them something about their "kuyog," Prof. Yamaoka said in an interview.

The University of Northeastern Philippines (UNEP) Chorale have once again proven its versatility by belting out their own rendition of Queen's "We will Rock You" in one of its rare performances with GMA-7's entertainers. The big event held last Sunday, May 16 at the Camarines Sur Water Sport's Complex was hosted by Party Pilipinas' mainstays, Janno Gibbs and Jaya. UNEP Chorale's performance with Kyla had also drawn a heartening applause from the audience.

NAGA CITY (22 May) - THREE INDIAN NATIONALS have been charged with murder before the Naga City Prosecutor's Office by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) regional office in this City for the slaying of another Indian national, Kamaldeep Brar Singh, 30, who was shot by a gunman along a commercial area of Elias Angeles St. in this City last March 30. In a report by the Naga City Police Office, three Indian nationals identified as Sikandeer Singh Grewal, a resident of Villa Grande Homes Sub., Concepcion Grande; Inderjit Singh Grewal, and Amandeep Singh Mondi, both residents of Villa Sorabella Subdivision, Concepcion Grande, all in Naga City, have been implicated by the NBI as the masterminds in the killing of Brar Singh.

NAGA CITY (21 May) -- Wednesday's shooting of the police chief of Magarao, Camarines Sur at the Central Bus Terminal (CBD-2) van and jeep terminal at Barangay Triangulo here, is being linked by police investigators to the recently concluded local elections. In a report by Naga Police Office Chief Sr. Supt. Culver Nasol Sison to PNP Bicol director Chief Supt. Cecilio Calleja, Magarao Police Chief Insp. Angeles Casaol Balla succumbed to fatal gunshot wounds causing his death at 4:35 AM on Thurs. (May 20), while being treated at the St. John Hospital in this city.