Tag Archives: noynoy

Presidential hopefuls in the Philippines

Written for New Mandala On 9 May, an estimated 54 million Filipinos will vote for a new president. Campaigning starts today, with the new president taking office on 30 June. There are five major contenders in the race — Mar Roxas, Jojo Binay, Grace Poe, Miriam Santiago, and Rodrigo Duterte. With the eventual winner serving […]

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7 Things to Know About the 2016 Philippine Elections

Written for The Diplomat 1. The Contest: The Philippine elections are scheduled for May 9, 2016. Filipinos will vote for a new president, vice president, 12 senators, one district representative, one party list representative, and provincial/city/municipal officials. The winning president has six years to lead the country but he/she cannot run again for reelection since […]

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Ang lumalabang Lumad, hindi si Duterte, ang tanglaw ng Mindanao

Published on Bulatlat *Talumpating binigkas sa Mindanao Human Rights Summit na ginanap sa Philippine Normal University, Taft, Manila noong Nobyembre 12, 2015 Sa susunod na linggo, ipapalabas na ang inaabangang huling installment ng pelikulang Hunger Games. Sa pelikula, lumusob sa Capitol ang mga nakatira sa District 12 at iba pang inaaping distrito ng Panem. Sa […]

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Time For Southeast Asia to Address its Climate Problem

Written for The Diplomat Though transboundary haze pollution and the El Niño phenomenon are often reported these days across Southeast Asia, these issues deserve greater attention from regional leaders. These are no longer national problems that local politicians can easily address through rhetoric; the situation already demands a stronger action which can be effectively realized […]

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ASEAN’s Joint Communique: It’s Not Just About China or the South China Sea

Written for The Diplomat The 48th foreign ministerial meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Malaysia concluded by releasing a communique last week. As expected, most media reports focused on the position of ASEAN with regard the South China Sea dispute involving China. This is newsworthy because the issue has regional implications and […]

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Rising Child Labor Abuse in the Philippines

Written for The Diplomat Child labor exploitation is worsening in the Philippines. In 2011, the Philippine National Statistics Office reported that there were 5.5 million working children in the country, 2.9 million of whom were working in hazardous industries such as mines and plantations. The agency added that 900,000 children have stopped schooling in order […]

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Are you dating an activist? Take the quiz

Written for Bulatlat He had you at “power to the people!” and then he said he wanted to “occupy” your heart, and that you are his 99 percent. Yet you find his world quite exotic, his vocabulary sometimes confusing, although he seems sincere given his passionate determination to fight for his beliefs. Indeed, it is […]

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Charter Reforms in Southeast Asia: The Good, The Bad, and The Half-Serious

Published by The Diplomat The good: Five million people in Myanmar signed a petition asking Parliament to remove the undemocratic provisions in the 2008 Constitution. The bad: Thai military authorities enacted an interim constitution that gives sweeping powers to the army. The half-serious: Philippine President Benigno Aquino III hinted that he is open to the […]

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Bangsamoro Peace Deal in Danger of Collapse

Written for The Diplomat The peace deal signed by the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) could soon collapse, as the draft law that would give autonomy to Muslims in the southern part of the country has yet to be submitted to Congress. Aside from the delay, the MILF is accusing the […]

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The people’s decade

Written for Bulatlat If the future generation will ask us about Philippine politics during the early years of the 21st century, what should we tell them? Perhaps some historians will name it as Erap’s decade. In 1998, Joseph Estrada became the most popular Philippine president in terms of number of votes. Two years later, he […]

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