The "truth commission" that was recently established by the Aquino administration's first Executive Order is being heavily criticized by quarters in government which, in the words of President Noynoy Aquino, "seem to be the people who might be part of the process." While the issues raised against it are admittedly legally cogent, these seemed to have missed the point why there is a pressing need for such a commission.

For three teachers in Masbate, July is the cruelest month and not April as T. S. Eliot averred. This July, two public school teachers, Mark Francisco and Edgar Fernandez had been shot dead on the same day. Like Francisco, Dexter Legazpi was shot at by armed, masked men in camouflaged uniforms; unlike the two other teachers, Legazpi survived.

It was the reference to these sirens utilized by the powerful (or those feeling powerful) that left a lasting impression on the throngs at the new President's inaugural and those watching from their television sets. And indeed why not?

As the new administration of President-elect Benigno C. Aquino III is poised to take command of the nation on June 30, the pressing issue of creating jobs and generating income for virtually countless Filipinos becomes paramount in view of the huge expectations-perhaps misplaced-engendered by his triumph in the first automated polls.

The din of outrage and uproar had filled the Naga City Gymnasium last June 1 as member-consumers of CASURECO II congregated and vented their ire and frustration over the power cooperative's unannounced, unexplained, and unjustified power rate hike.

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.

While protests will be forthcoming-as Comelec Chair José Melo predicted-the May 2010 National and Local Elections are decidedly through. Now, the much more important task of rebuilding our nation and moving forward, after one of the most partisan, "dirtiest," and bitterly contested polls, confronts not only the winners but all of us.

The defections of many Lakas-Kampi-CMD members to either the Nacionalista Party (NP) or to the Liberal Party (LP)-the most recent of which is Albay Governor Joey Salceda's migration to LP-challenge if not undermine the claims of these two parties regarding their avowed identities of being "oposisyon" or "moral reformist."

As the official campaign period for the local candidates began last March 26, we can safely assume that the final stretch towards the May 2010 Elections is well underway. Quite visibly, the campaign efforts of political parties and candidates had intensified: motorcades here and there, tarpaulins, and posters of candidates strewn ubiquitously, campaign sorties held almost simultaneously, and house-to-house visits by the candidates themselves.