Author Archives: admin

Duterte’s Drug War is Distracting From His Social Reform Agenda

By admin | June 18, 2017

Mention the name Rodrigo Duterte and what comes to mind is the bloody “war on drugs” that has claimed the lives of more than 7,000 Filipinos. Amid the continuing spate of killings in the Philippines, it is almost impossible to discuss the social reform agenda of Duterte’s government, which came to power less than a […]

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The political legacy of the Filipino Sixty-Eighters

By admin | June 8, 2017

Published by Bulatlat Mention the year 1968 and what comes to mind are the youth uprisings across the world. The year of student strikes, anti-war rallies, and Chinese Red Guards bombarding the headquarters. In the Philippines, the political landscape during that time was dominated by Marcos. But another political event was the reestablishment of the […]

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The China Benham Rise Controversy: A Wake Up Call for the Philippines?

By admin | June 1, 2017

News about Chinese ships surveying the waters of Benham Rise, located east of the northern part of the Philippines, has triggered a bit of panic in Manila’s political circles in the past few weeks. Perhaps the renewed sense of nationalism over the issue of Benham Rise could embolden policymakers and economic planners to draft a […]

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The problem is not excess but lack of activism

By admin | May 12, 2017

Published by Bulatlat A week before the global celebration of Human Rights Day in 2016, various people’s organizations in the Philippines conducted a solidarity fasting campaign to press for the release of 400 political prisoners. In response, a government peace negotiator described the action as counterproductive and that it is putting undue pressure to President […]

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What Do the New Philippine Protests Mean for Duterte?

By admin | April 11, 2017

For two straight weekends, thousands have gathered in the streets of Manila to condemn the deterioration of the human rights situation in the Philippines. On February 18, the Catholic Church mobilized an estimated 20,000 people to participate in a “Walk for Life” as a form of protest against the rising “culture of violence” in the […]

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Philippines: Will Trump challenge Duterte?

By admin | March 31, 2017

Considering that there are, by some estimates, around 300,000 Filipinos living as undocumented migrants in the United States, the question for many here is whether President Donald Trump will be true to his campaign promise of being tough on illegal immigration. As for the about 3.5 million Filipinos living in the United States, they join […]

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What Trump can learn from Duterte

By admin | March 16, 2017

Published by New Mandala Could the Philippines President show the US President-elect how to reform? In May, I wrote on New Mandala that while Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte and US President-elect Donald Trump are notorious for tasteless jokes against women and the LGBT community, their personal and political backgrounds are altogether different. Duterte is not […]

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Pure Maoism Doesn’t Exist in the Philippines

By admin | March 12, 2017

Published by Bulatlat Like the sun that sustains life on this planet, it is Maoism that inspired the rise and spread of the National Democratic movement in the Philippines. That political slogans such as ‘Serve the People’ and ‘Learn from the Masses’ are still openly advocated by Filipino progressives today reflect the enduring legacy of […]

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The books I read in 2016

By admin | March 2, 2017

Published by Bulatlat 1. Open Secrets, Alice Munro. I think there is a Munro Effect: A reader is initially lulled into thinking that a storyline is dull but it is only when the short story is about to end that he finally begins to see how he is completely immersed in the Munronian world. 2. […]

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Duterte’s ‘War on Drugs’ in the Philippines: By the Numbers

By admin | February 27, 2017

The Philippine police has released some statistics confirming the extensive reach of the government’s “war on drugs.” Dubbed as “Project Double Barrel Alpha,” the anti-drug campaign is a top priority of the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, who assumed power last July 1. Could this mean more deaths, arrests, police visits, and extrajudicial killings until […]

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