President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has relieved Gen. Nicolas Torre III of his post as Philippine National Police (PNP) chief—a sign of growing conflict within his administration, according to some lawmakers. The move was “by order of the President” and “effective immediately,” Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin told Torre in a letter dated Aug. 25. “For the...
Category: News
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Campaign launched to find justice for all victims, whether during martial rule or the war on drugs
The former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. and the student Kian delos Santos were felled by bullets 34 years apart this month in starkly different circumstances, but many agree that they—along with the victims of Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s martial rule and of Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs”—met their end in a climate of impunity. Seeing...
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Lacson ‘pulls the trigger’ on flood control projects, says what Filipinos need is ‘greed control’
Sen. Panfilo Lacson has laid out how billions of pesos in government-funded flood control projects ended up in the hands of corrupt contractors, public works officials and politicians through the years, resulting in persistent massive flooding and inflicting suffering on Filipinos. Making good on his promise to explain the pork barrel insertions in the national budget, Lacson...
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Carpio urges the Supreme Court to reverse its ‘erroneous’ ruling on the VP’s impeachment
Retired senior associate justice Antonio Carpio is urging the Supreme Court to recognize and accept what he has argued are factual and legal mistakes in nullifying the articles of impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte, and to reverse its ruling in good faith. Carpio, who served 18 years on the Supreme Court, is a founder...
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The government wants a record P90B for the AFP modernization program
The Armed Forces of the Philippines is allocated a record ₱90 billion for its revised AFP Modernization Program in the proposed 2026 national budget, with P40 billion in programmed funds and ₱50 billion in unprogrammed appropriations. The proposed amount is ₱15 billion higher than the ₱75-billion budget included in this year’s General Appropriations Act. Of the...
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Senate ‘kills’ Duterte impeachment case; law expert says accountability mechanisms weakened
The Senate voted on Wednesday night to archive the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte, “killing” it before it could reach trial and weakening accountability mechanisms for public officials, a law expert warned. Voting 19-4 with one abstention, the Senate agreed on the amended motion of Sen. Rodante Marcoleta to archive the articles of...
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Inside the once-bustling Pogo hub in Bamban, everything is covered in dust
BAMBAN, Tarlac—The once-bustling Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) hub in this second-class town 100 kilometers from Manila is now eerily quiet. The 10-hectare Baofu compound just behind the municipal hall is a haunting reminder of a criminal enterprise that thrived under the watch of then Mayor Alice Guo, also known as Guo Hua...
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Transitional justice: Moving forward from Rodrigo Duterte is a ‘national responsibility’
With Rodrigo Duterte detained in The Hague for nearly five months, the public may now take the question seriously: What next? Even as we await the arrest of other persons involved in Duterte’s “war on drugs,” surely there is a task that ordinary Filipinos can take on, for the “war” was not waged by only...
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Is the case of the missing ‘sabungeros’ nearing solution? Their kin and advocates hope for justice
Carmen Malaca’s son, Edgar, disappeared without a trace along with 33 other cockfight gamers (sabungeros) between April 2021 and January 2022. Like the other families still grieving, she is hopeful that recent developments will finally lead to justice for their loved ones. Speaking to CoverStory in Filipino, the mother described her son as “such a...
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Five things to watch out for in the 20th Congress
1. Vice President Sara Duterte’s trial: Will it finally happen? The next round of the Marcos-Duterte family feud was expected to play out in Congress. But the Dutertes scored a win—and the possibility of a reprieve until February 2026, or even longer—in Friday’s Supreme Court ruling that temporarily banned an impeachment trial. The Marcos-controlled House...