HOW CAN WE EXPECT the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) to go after grafters when its chief has been accused of committing graft by appointing her son and nephew and her son?s girlfriend as employees of the agency.

That?s nepotism in plain language.

They were all forced to resign after their appointments were exposed in the media.

PAGC Chair Constancia de Guzman even had the gall to say she didn?t commit nepotism because her relatives were placed in ?sensitive? positions.

De Guzman?s position at the PAGC?an inutile body, if you scrutinize it?has become untenable because of the nepotism charge.

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Speaking of appointing relatives, the Court of Appeals could be the headquarters of nepotism in the entire bureaucracy.

The appointment of his wife, son, daughter or other relatives to the office of an appellate court justice is the norm rather than the exception.

And you know what? Some wives or daughters of the justices are more strict with the subordinates than the real bosses.

The wife of one justice, according to a Court of Appeals insider, allegedly negotiates with litigants to ?fix? cases pending in his division.

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The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is right about rejecting the application of a group composed of lesbians and gays to become a party-list group.

Had the poll body approved the application of Ang Ladlad, baka tinamaan ng kidlat (lightning would have struck) its commissioners.

Kidding aside, gender should never be an issue in politics.

If there are many gays and lesbians in our midst, fine! We should respect their rights.

But they should not also go around town proclaiming their preferences as if it was a badge of honor.

There is nothing honorable or normal about same-sex marriage or union, which Ang Ladlad is trying to promote.

Gays and lesbians should be happy society tolerates them. They should not abuse society?s doting attitude towards them.

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After going over the benefits motorists and drivers would supposedly get from radio frequency identification (RFID), I tend to agree that there are more advantages than disadvantages from the scheme.

Stradcom Corp., the company that has gone into partnership with the Land Transportation Office (LTO) on the scheme, gave me the list of benefits from RFID.

One of them is quick access by the police to LTO database about a questioned vehicle.

If a policeman suspects a vehicle to be stolen, he doesn?t have to go to the LTO to make a verification. He can check this information on the spot through the Internet.

Having RFID would deter car theft (carnapping in local lingo) as every vehicle would be given unique features, making the recovery of a stolen vehicle an easy process.

The RFID would also be able to pinpoint the exact location of a vehicle a few minutes after it is snatched from its driver.

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Every day, hundreds of vehicles are stolen in Metro Manila and other parts of the country.

Car theft or carjacking is so rampant that it has become a big problem for policemen who created special units to go after vehicle thieves.

The RFID would help a lot in solving the problem of car theft.