COTABATO CITY—With reporters in tow, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia flew into the city on a C-130 plane early Monday, Nov. 4, to witness the opening of the six-day filing of certificates of candidacy (CoCs) and manifestations of intent to participate (MIPs) in the May 2025 elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in...
A former customs intelligence officer told the House of Representatives’ quad committee on Thursday that he wept on seeing ex-colonel Eduardo Acierto because of “anger and joy” that they are both still alive after losing their men to the “Davao Mafia” that prospered during then President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration. Jimmy Guban, who is serving a...
MASINLOC, Zambales—As leader of the San Salvador Biodiversity Friendly Association, Edna Sarmiento is committed to conservation projects such as planting mangroves, monitoring environmental violations, and pushing cleanups in the Masinloc-Oyon Bay Protected Seascape and Landscape (MOBPLS). This is why Sarmiento and her group were gravely alarmed when, last Oct. 24, a barge carrying more than...
MASINLOC, Zambales—Local residents are worried about a marine disaster after a barge carrying more than 11,000 metric tons (MT) of coal ran aground last week in a fish sanctuary within a government-declared protected seascape off this town. Nestor Dait, 67, the chair of the Bantay Dagat civilian volunteer group in Masinloc, said the barge Katapatan...
(Last of two parts) The Sanggunian Kabataan (SK) law and Bangsamoro Electoral Code define and prohibit political dynasties. However, these laws only cover the SK and Bangsamoro parliamentary elections. In national and local elections, clans continue to consolidate political and economic power. Based on the electoral plans for May 2025 of district representatives belonging to...
In two stunning admissions he made before a Senate blue ribbon subcommittee on Monday, former President Rodrigo Duterte said he kept a death squad that was set up to “fight crime” when he was mayor of Davao City. Duterte said three former Davao police chiefs had led the so-called “Duterte Death Squad (DDS)” and that...
(First of two parts) Fathers and mothers passing on their government posts to sons and daughters, as if these were family heirlooms, is nothing new. But election watchdogs said it was jarring to watch political dynasties flaunt their power during the week-long filing of certificates of candidacy (COCs) this October. It’s as if Oct. 1...
We’ve seen sibling pairs in the Senate, as well as mother-and-son tandems. But three brothers? If the pre-election polls hold until May 12, 2025, neophyte Sen. Raffy Tulfo will be welcoming two of his brothers to the Senate—fellow news broadcasters Erwin and Ben, who ranked first and second in the September 2024 Pulse Asia senatorial...
LIBON, Albay—Delia Sario Elcano, 68, plodded through mud and past fallen power lines, barbed wires, slippery stones, and streams that were not there before. She had to take an unfamiliar path in temporarily abandoned residential lots because the usual route was covered with soil and rubble from a landslide. It was noon of Oct. 24...
Former president Rodrigo Duterte phoned retired police colonel Royina Garma after she testified two weeks ago at a hearing of the House of Representatives’ quad committee that killings were enforced in his “war on drugs” in exchange for rewards. Garma made the admission under questioning by Alliance of Concerned Teachers partylist Rep. France Castro during...
