Author Archives: admin

With Martial Law Extended in the Philippines, What’s Next for Duterte’s New ‘Communist Terrorist’ War?

By admin | January 28, 2018

This week, as expected, Congress approved Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s request to extend martial law in Mindanao. The move is a significant one that has implications for many areas, one of which is the peace process recently terminated with communist rebels, and a proclamation on December 5 declaring the Communist Party (CPP) and the New […]

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Extrajudicial Killings Go Beyond Duterte’s Drug War

By admin | January 13, 2018

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has gained global notoriety for launching a bloody “war on drugs” that has already killed more than two thousand Filipinos in less than a year. But the number of killings since Duterte assumed power could be higher if we include the victims of the government’s “all-out war” against communist rebels. The […]

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2016: A Year of Peculiar and Dangerous Living in the Philippines

By admin | December 30, 2017

Published by Manila Today Here are the top people’s issues and people’s struggles of 2016. 1. Repudiation of Daang Matuwid The defeat of the Liberal Party’s presidential candidate reflected the seething rage of the people toward the corrupt, inept and callous regime of Daang Matuwid. President Noynoy Aquino started his term in 2010 with a […]

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What Laos Taught the CIA

By admin | December 27, 2017

Joshua Kurlantzick’s recent book A Great Place to Have a War: America in Laos and the Birth of a Military CIA is more than just a retelling of the war in Laos and the role it played in the Vietnam conflict. It narrates the history of how the CIA began its notorious paramilitary operations in […]

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Duterte’s Unfinished Wars in the Philippines

By admin | December 24, 2017

Over the past few weeks, we have seen a number of bold announcements from the government of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte about the state of conflicts in the country that may in fact belie their actual status and broader significance. Last week, after five months, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared the “liberation” of Marawi City, […]

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Why do you insist that the Left and only the Left should rethink its politics

By admin | November 26, 2017

Published by Bulatlat It is common to hear some scholars complain about the Left’s lack of vigor and creativity. They follow this up with an unsolicited advice urging the Left to change its paradigms, replace its language, and overhaul its methods. These condescending but hopefully well-meaning suggestions have become formulaic and are often repeated by […]

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Rodrigo Duterte is far from the President he promised to be

By admin | November 17, 2017

Published by Channel News Asia Almost one year since Duterte took over as the Philippines’ President, he continues to enjoy high popularity ratings, despite having a reported reputation as a misogynist and harbouring a questionable attitude towards the importance of human lives. His crime-fighting agenda may have earned him significant political brownie points before he […]

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Is the Philippines’ Duterte Forming a Junta?

By admin | October 24, 2017

After naming a general as his next secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte quipped that he will soon establish a junta and allow the military to take over the country. Duterte may be joking but for some of his critics, there’s nothing funny about an idea that […]

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Myanmar’s media and Internet muzzle

By admin | October 15, 2017

Published by New Mandala Section 66 (d) is a controversial clause of the 2013 Telecommunications Law that carries a three-year prison term for defamation made using a communications network. It’s undermining media freedom and is behind a spike in defamation cases, writes Mong Palatino. Various activist groups and media networks have petitioned the parliament of […]

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How Private Capital is Devouring Metro Manila’s Public Spaces

By admin | October 8, 2017

Published by Manila Today Distinguishing the public from private spaces in Metro Manila is quite confusing. Consider these examples: Balintawak Market is privately-owned yet we consider it a public market. In fact, Metro Manila’s biggest city has only one government-owned and managed market. Jeepneys and FX taxis (or now more popularly known as UV Express) […]

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