THE PROPONENTS ON THE CONTROVERSIAL RH Bill 5043 are actually saying that majority of the Catholics in the Philippines do support the bill. But they have not shown any exact figures yet. I think the crucial issue is not about statistics but it is about awareness and education. Surveys are perceptions because they simply show responses to a question that has been formulated to further a cause.

As mentioned earlier, good governance is not an end in itself. Good governance is not achieved through a website proclaiming the programs of the government. It is not found in the stories about a politician’s love and devotion to his family and country, or in the seemingly simple lifestyle of an elected official. These may give a semblance of good governance but the true yardstick of good governance is human development.

Last February 22 at the Kodak Theatre Los Angeles, the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, or the Oscars, recognized again the excellence of professionals in the film industry. Among the awardees is Kate Winslet who received an Oscar as best actress in the movie The Reader which only started in Germany last Thursday.

Twenty -three years since the EDSA People Power Revolution in 1986, most of us for sure have all but given up on our hopes and dreams back then. Wala rin nangyari, wala ring pagbabago – Nothing good has happened, nothing has changed, as many have been wont to say.

The 8th of March is designated as International Women’s Day. That day had not always been the day for women all over the world. There were countries that set aside a day for women in February. Countries in Eastern Europe spend this day with men giving the important women in their life flowers. Whatever the date, women and men all over the world make sure this day is a political day. It is a time for paying not only tribute to women but examining the world’s responsibility to women. The tribute can come in the form of flowers and bouquet; the examination is by way of looking at the women and how men look at them.

HAVE BEEN READING the House Bill 5043 (An Act Providing for a National Policy on Reproductive Health, Responsible Parenthood and Population Development, and for Other Purposes) and its dissection by Makati City Representative Teodoro Locsin Jr. titled The Culling Fields: Dissecting the Cosntantly Changing Reproductive-health Bill.

Good governance does not end in the apparent. As citizens, it is our duty to look beyond the images. Image is created and re-created as needed. Erap’s legendary appeal to the masses remains a standard among politicians; see how they belabor trying to look reachable, lovable by the masses. Even Raul Roco wore floral polo shirts to soften the image of the disciplined intellectual that he truly was. But despite Erap’s masa appeal, did it prevent him from holding “midnight cabinets?” Did it stop him from hoarding billions of jueteng money?

Further to my article the other week on the “Transparency at Work” section of the Naga City Government’s “Hall of Fame” website (www.naga.gov.ph), I’ve discovered it’s actually “transparency at worst.” Why? It’s a farcical façade to shut out vital information, that is, the Commission on Audit reports for Naga. In fact, if you search for “Commission on Audit” in the “Naga City Search” function, you only get one result on a 2004 ordinance mentioning the agency.

MANILA--“If the bishops would tell me to run and if they endorse my candidacy, I would follow because I am a loyal soldier of the Catholic Church.”

The western countries start Lent on Ash Wednesday and it lasts until Easter Sunday. Lent is a time of fasting and one might wonder what Germans are ready to abstain from. When asked they say that they could for a time do without chocolate, meat or particular products, alcohol or TV.