Future high school gradu­ates in the Philippines may be headed to a better future. The move to adopt a 12- year basic education cycle will definitely give them an edge in seeking employment in no time. They should be grateful to the Department of Education, which is currently in the pro­cess of drafting curriculum to extend the current cycle by two years instead of the origi­nal 10-year cycle.

You can’t please every­body. This is an old adage that may apply to some of the reactions to the first State of the Nation Address of President Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III. President Aquino made every effort to relay his mes­sages regarding his pro­grams and policies but the attempt turned out bland to everyone especially on the part of opposition. They have to consider that Aquino, who likes to be called P-Noy, is only on his third week serving the country. And yet he already earned a bunch of criticisms.

Three Filipino overseas workers in Saudi Arabia are in dire need of assistance from the Philippine government. Utmost attention is a must or they will suffer the fate that befell Singapore OFW Flor Contemplacion. The three who were convicted of killing Raymundo Dimaculangan and robbing him of 32,000 Saudi Riyals on April 15, 2008 were identified as Victorino Gaspar Jr., Paul Miquibas and Edgardo Genetiano.

Now that a new dawn of democracy is expected to unfold with the inauguration of president-elect Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III, Filipinos have high hopes for a better nation ahead. Millions of Filipinos are yearning to fulfill their dreams by bringing a leader they can trust, and a man who many believe possess a respectable reputation, which he inherited from his parents. For many, there is no doubt that PNOY (President Aquino’s preferred new nickname) will deliver.