President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. recently expressed disappointment that the Philippines never operated the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP), the multibillion-dollar project initiated during his father’s administration. During a visit to the Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Institute, the President said the Philippines had already developed a pool of nuclear experts before the project was abandoned....
Category: Opinion
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Bel Zamora and the unspoken rules for women who take up space
There was plenty to question about the prosecution’s firearms presentation at the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte on Sept. 28. The comments about flirtation, voice and femininity answered a different question altogether. There was a perfectly legitimate argument for San Juan Rep. Ysabel Maria “Bel” Zamora’s direct examination. Did a police records officer’s...
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Asking the difficult OFW question
While Vice President Sara Duterte is often criticized for her frequent trips abroad—her “world tour”—the specter of 2028 grows larger and the question of how to stop another Duterte presidency becomes harder to ask. What’s obvious is that Sara Duterte is securing the vote of the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), a small but not insignificant...
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Martial law and the continuing fight
Fifty-four years have passed but the wound inflicted by Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s imposition of martial law remains unhealed. The number of organizations engaged in commemoration nationwide indicates it; the government acknowledges it, with reportedly more than 17,000 police personnel deployed, and more on standby, to keep order. The police deployment appears to be also intended...
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The most consequential number in Philippine politics
Sometimes history turns on wars, elections and revolutions. Sometimes it turns on a denominator. The Senate impeachment court is confronting what initially appears to be a question of arithmetic: How many votes are required to convict Vice President Sara Duterte? Sixteen? Or can the number change if some senators are legally or practically unable to...
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Why are we blaming everyone else but the police?
It seems that in some countries, the availability of guns has become a complex problem. When Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated, the fatal bullet was fired from a gun assembled from parts fabricated with a 3D printer. Even with the strictest gun control laws, Japan saw its once most powerful person downed by...
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Pax Silica: A case for caution and a better path forward
Pax Silica is top of mind right now—impossible to escape in the headlines, the protests, the discussions, the arguments online. Before anyone signs anything, it is worth asking what, exactly, we would be agreeing to. The pitch is familiar: quality jobs, major investment, a seat at the table in the global AI and semiconductor value...
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The monkeys in our midst, Chinese and Filipino
There are far more monkey species and monkeys in China than in the Philippines. In China, out of about 20 monkey species, the most numerous with an estimated wild population of 100,000 is the rhesus macaque. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, China was also the leading supplier of monkeys for medical research. On the other hand,...
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Why Sen. Pia Cayetano should consider recusing herself from the impeachment trial
One of the oldest principles of justice is also one of its simplest: Justice must not only be done, it must also be seen to be done. This principle explains why judges routinely inhibit themselves from cases in which their impartiality may reasonably be questioned. The issue is not always actual bias. More often, it...
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Why the INC mobilization was not another Edsa
Last week’s Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) mobilization along Edsa, later moved to Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila, has invited comparison with the two great People Power uprisings that changed Philippine history. The comparison, while absurd, is understandable. The gatherings occupied the same symbolic space. They involved large crowds. They attracted national attention. But beyond these superficial...