MANILA, March 17, 2010-A Catholic bishop called on President Arroyo to set aside political interests and be "responsible" in appointing the next Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

MANILA - It has been a century since over 100 women from 17 countries representing unions, socialist and communist parties, working women's clubs, and the first women elected to the Finnish parliament gathered in Copenhagen for the second International Conference of Working Women and declared International Women's Day. Next year would mark the 100th year of the first International Women's Day commemoration when more than a million women and men held simultaneous rallies in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland to campaign for women's right to work, vote, be trained, and to hold public office, and for an end to discrimination.

MANILA - The search warrant was highly irregular: it did not contain the correct name of the owner of the house and the list of items to be searched. There were clear violations of the detainees' rights. They were handcuffed and blindfolded for days and denied their right to counsel and visits. Before they were allowed visits, the military brought in a fiscal who conducted inquest proceedings even if the 43 health workers were not represented by their counsels.

Since women are not represented in development planning and development councils, their interest and welfare are more often left out or unrecognized in the process. In the end, they do not receive maximum benefits of development efforts and programs, particularly those rendered by the government. These conditions have led to what most economists observe that women in the Philippines, and around the globe for that matter, are among the poorest of poor and among the most vulnerable within the marginalized sectors.

1. Uphold democracy. Ensure checks and balances. Vote for candidates from different political parties. Do not swallow ubos kung ubos. It is a threat to democracy. It is a symptom of oligarchy because power actually resides only in the Chief Executive.

Last Thursday I attended the second Taizé evening service in St. Anna Parish in Bamberg. Fr. Johannes Trai chose Edith Stein as the saint for the service and the meditation on her delivered by Andrea Borneis struck me as something long known, yet long taken for granted: Edith Stein was indeed a seeker. What she sought in her life was truth. But what, so we ask, what is truth?

It would not be far from the truth to say that the late Emilia Boncodin had been an epitome of the dedicated public servant and government employee. Her passing last 15 March, untimely for someone who was only 55, cannot be but a veritable loss for the government, and ultimately, for the public which she had striven to serve with a quiet passion.

SORSOGON CITY, March 18 - There are vast offshore areas considered as municipal waters across Bikol developed by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) into mariculture zones that offer favorable investment climate for fin fishes sea cage culture ventures and its ancillary industries in municipalities.

LEGAZPI CITY, March 18 - The Albay Council on Reproductive Tract Infection Control (ACRTIC) otherwise known as Albay AIDS Council is determined to pursue its campaign to fight the spread of Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) and HIV here.

Twenty-three (23) kinder pupils from the Tribal Pre-School at Barangay Perpetual Help in Iriga City went up the stage and started to weave dreams and hope, not just for themselves but also for their community. The significant occasion took place at the Parina Indigenous Cultural Community at Barangay Perpetual Help, Iriga City during the Tribal Pre-School's 5th Commencement Exercise held May 18.