If Western mainstream media are to be believed, the likes of North Korea, Iran, Cuba, Syria and, until recently, Venezuela are rogue states. They are considered “rogue” because they supposedly flout international law by “promoting terrorism,” seeking to develop or already having nuclear weapons, widely disregarding human rights, or engaging in the narcotics trade. As...
Category: Opinion
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When will teachers become involved in policymaking?
The Department of Education (DepEd) has announced the shift to a three-term school calendar starting on June 8, 2026, and ending on April 8, 2027. DepEd has defended the abrupt shift to a trimester school year as strategic, saying it is aimed at optimizing the contact time between students and teachers. But many have pointed...
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The richest 1% are more capable of sacrifice than the rest of the population
Because both the value-added tax and the excise tax are sales taxes or indirect taxes, regardless of which product they are imposed on and whatever percentage rate or amount is set, they are a regressive form of taxation contrary to the declared state policy in the Philippine Constitution on uniform, equitable and progressive taxation (Article...
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Blood and oil: Iran’s war against empire and what it means for the Philippines
When you fuel your vehicle here in the Philippines and wince at the price, which has surged above ₱100 a liter for diesel alone, you may be told that Iran’s “blockade” of the Strait of Hormuz is to blame. But the truth exposes this as deliberate distortion. While the United States and Israel were actively...
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‘Tayo ang People Power’: A mural for Edsa@40
The Edsa People Power revolution comprised the historic four days in February 1986 that resulted in the toppling of Ferdinand E. Marcos’ dictatorship and the return of democracy in the Philippines. The people’s long struggle was heightened when Marcos imposed martial law in 1972. The assassination in 1983 of the former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino...
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War and the basic human imperatives
We are still cavemen. Clubbing each other over the head, noncompliant females included. Except that now, the clubs are missiles and drones and the targets are entire countries and peoples. The behavior has not changed. Only the technology. And consequently, the breadth and depth of the destruction. Why have we behaved this way since time...
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The everyday absurdity of ‘accidents’ on the road
Last March 3, a 22-wheeler trailer truck spun out of control and hit the island in front of Miriam College on Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City at 2:58 a.m., spilling its load of tons of sacks of chicken-feed additives and causing unusually heavy traffic up to around 10 a.m. According to reports, nobody was killed...
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At the ICC, a portrait of the strongman as aging family man
Nicholas Kaufman’s tack in portraying Rodrigo Duterte as an aging family man isolated from loved ones comprised a curious turn in the Defense’s presentation at the just-concluded confirmation of charges hearing at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. Having harped on the Prosecution’s supposed use of rhetoric and hyperbole to cover what he...
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Thoughts on the standees of Rodrigo Duterte and Leila de Lima
When I first saw the Duterte standees, I almost cried laughing. Even funnier is how his supporters have made different versions of “Tatay Digs”—such as the thin and flimsy one, faded under the sun, in front of their supposed pobre residence in Davao City; the one at the head of a table somewhere in the...
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The Veep’s declared run for No. 1 and her ‘ready’ running mate
Vice President Sara Duterte’s announcement of her presidential run in 2028 was hardly unexpected. She has been projected as front-runner; her approval ratings stay strong despite her questioned disbursement of P612 million in confidential funds taken from taxpayer money. The continuing absence of explanation for the disbursement is again in prime spot among the burning issues...