Three counts of murder were filed on Monday by the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutors against former president Rodrigo Duterte amid claims by his family that a third country is open to hosting him if he is released. The three charges of murder as a crime against humanity allege the 80-year-old’s hand in the killings...
Stars of showbiz also showed up at the Sept. 21 rallies against corruption
The stars came out to shine in these tumultuous times. They showed up at Rizal Park and Edsa last Sunday, which marked 53 years since the dictator’s declaration of martial law, and made their presence felt at the protest actions against corruption in high and low places. The presence of the stars from TV, movie, music,...
Subdivision residents upset at discovery that Discaya firm bagged contract for bridge rehab project
ALABANG, Muntinlupa City — With the revocation of the project contractor’s license, residents of a private subdivision here are questioning the scheduled closure next month of a bridge to pave the way for retrofitting the South Luzon Expressway crossing. To their surprise and consternation, the residents of Pleasant Village learned just last week that the...
Romualdez quits the speakership in yet another offshoot of the flood control corruption scandal
After weeks of speculation, the House of Representatives has switched leadership from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s first cousin to an ally who belongs to a political dynasty in Isabela. Leyte (1st district) Rep. Martin Romualdez resigned the speakership on Wednesday amid accusations of corruption involving flood control projects and of “insertions” in the 2025 budget....
From ‘Baha sa Luneta’ to ‘Trillion Peso March,’ Sept. 21 is a day of protest against corruption and for accountability
Street protests against corruption on Sept. 21 will culminate in a grand rally at the People Power Monument in the hope of reliving the “Edsa spirit” that led to the ouster of strongman Ferdinand Marcos in 1986. But the goal is to hold erring officials accountable, not to topple President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the late...
Marcos names ex-SC justice Andres Reyes as flood control probe chair, vows no one will be spared
Not even his cousin Speaker Martin Romualdez or his political allies will be spared in the inquiry of the Independent Commission on Infrastructure (ICI) into corruption in multibillion-peso flood control projects, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Monday as he appointed former Supreme Court associate justice Andres Reyes as its chair. With Reyes’ appointment, the...
Marcos taps Singson, Magalong, CPA for the Independent Commission on Infrastructure
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has appointed former public works secretary Rogelio “Babes” Singson, Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, and seasoned accountant Rossana Fajardo to the independent commission tasked with investigating anomalies in the government’s multibillion-peso flood control and other infrastructure projects. He is expected to announce the commission’s chair in the coming days. Palace press...
Name, shame, prosecute: Lacson plumbs the ‘national sewer of corrupted flood control projects’
Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson has linked recently resigned public works secretary Manuel Bonoan to a government contractor of multibillion-peso flood control projects in Bulacan, a province that, he said, “has proven to be the national sewer of corrupted flood control projects.” Delivering on Tuesday the second part of his privilege speech titled “Flooded Gates...
The unrest in Indonesia is driven by inequalities and entrenched oligarchic rule
Indonesia has been ravaged by its worst popular unrest since the downfall of the dictator Suharto in 1998. Large-scale street protests began last Aug. 25 in the capital Jakarta—the culmination of widespread economic frustration and anger at widespread corruption, democratic regression, gross inequalities, and the indifference and lack of empathy of Indonesia’s leaders, elite classes...
Escudero loses Senate presidency to Sotto as scandal over multibillion-peso flood projects rages
Francis Escudero lost the Senate presidency to Vicente Sotto III on Monday, just over a month after his reelection to the post—a sign that senators are listening to public opinion, according to a political analyst. The change in leadership in the Senate occurred in the face of growing public anger over the government’s multibillion-peso flood...