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[Newspoint] The ominous knock on the door
Duterte’s war on drugs is finally hitting home, though rather prematurely; our own drugs have yet to arrive.Here, in our condominium communities, the operation is promoted as benign, even friendly, to...
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Is Duterte’s Cabinet ready for Duterte?
For a Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte has been saying very strange things. And I’m not talking about the curses, the insults, the rambling speeches and press conferences, although there is that,...
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#AnimatED: ‘Go away, EU, US!’ Now what’s the plan?
Truth to tell, President Rodrigo Duterte was spot on when he pointed out the hypocrisy of countries and institutions that had criticized his war on drugs for the wave of killings it had spurred. The...
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Why federalism is not the answer
For better or for worse, the proposal to change our present unitary system of government to a federal system and to do this through Congress acting as a constituent assembly, if accomplished, will be a...
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#TayoAngKapayapaan: Gov't, NDF should learn from indigenous peoples
"They do their fighting in our home, but they do not include us when they talk peace.”For me, that was the message that stood out during the recently organized media roundtable discussion on the...
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PH can’t win war on drugs with guns alone
It is time to reframe the discourse on the country’s war on drugs. While I join the government in its desire to end the drug problem, a law enforcement approach without a public health and human rights...
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The Philippines' pivot to China
President Rodrigo Duterte's upcoming visit to China may formally mark the swing back of the pendulum called Philippine foreign policy. In the past few months, the Philippines has steadily and...
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[Newspoint] Who brought Matobato out in the light?
One of today’s most persistent curiosities about Edgar Matobato centers on this question: Who brought him out in the light?It is a curiosity that nags both sides of the political divide. After all,...
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Beyond the first 100 days: What other ‘wars’ can we focus on?
One of the President’s most important powers is to direct and control the national agenda for development. And for its first 100 days, the Duterte administration chose to highlight the country’s drug...
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#AnimatED: Bananas, rehab centers for Scarborough?
President Duterte visits China this week with a very clear message: you, our giant neighbor, are our great friend and you will supplant our old ally, the US. You’re in, the US is out.Duterte has...
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The silent Church
A recent Reuters article portrayed the Catholic Church as an institution intimidated by the new Philippine president and very careful in voicing its views on the bloody campaign of extrajudicial...
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Nothing spiritual about forgiving Marcos
One of the misguided arguments for the Marcos burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani is that people have to “move on” or forgive. A variation would be that those who oppose his burial must learn the...
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[Newspoint] Default by timidity
Once a bold swing force in Philippines politics, the Catholic Church has been approaching Rodrigo Duterte’s presidency with inordinate caution. Why, and for how long can it continue to do that?An...
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Contrapunto: Regarding Carol Araullo's take on the Oslo talks
Ms. Carol Araullo, member of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) that is negotiating a peace deal with the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP), is well within her...
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Duterte’s ‘hugot’ for his evolving foreign policy
In the face of bewilderment over President Rodrigo Duterte’s “independent foreign policy,” it is proper to ask, exactly what constitutes such a policy? What should underlie the President’s curse-laced...
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Duterte's pivot: Are we ready for China's imminent debt crisis?
This week President Duterte announced in Beijing that he will be severing military and economic ties with the US, and that he will be more “dependent” on China for investments, trade, and aid. If...
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STAKEOUT: Police operation, noon at ngayon
Naipangako ko sa aking sarili na susubukan kong muling makasama sa mga operasyon ng pulis, kaya't pagpasok pa lamang ng buwan ng Oktubre, sinikap kong makapag-stakeout sa ilang presinto sa Metro...
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Coping with faith in Lawin's trail
No, it is not that faith is a buffer against the onslaught of Lawin and its testing of the human spirit. Rather I write of faith as a storm no less violent because it wracks the soul. I write as one...
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#AnimatED: Impunity in the police force
In the dust of the controversy kicked up by President Duterte, when he announced in Beijing that the Philippines was cutting military and economic ties with the US, let us not allow what happened 5...
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Duterte’s China card
"I've realigned myself in your ideological flow and maybe I will also go to Russia to talk to [President Vladimir] Putin and tell him that there are three of us against the world – China, Philippines,...
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