For the past two decades, across four presidential terms, the same contractors have been awarded the largest public works contracts. Whether the president is a Marcos, a Duterte, an Aquino, or an Arroyo, many politically-connected firms have outbid all others, cornering a disproportionate chunk of lucrative public works projects funded from the people’s taxes. Through...
Between July 2022 and May 2025, the first three years of Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s presidency, the government funded 9,855 flood control projects worth over ₱545 billion. We analyzed those projects and the companies that got the contracts to build them. Massive flooding in recent months have put these projects in the harsh glare of public...
ILOILO CITY—As the fading sunlight gave way to the soft glow of street lamps, faint squeaks overhead mingled with the chatter of a small crowd pointing excitedly at silhouettes darting across the sky. Students, scientists and conservationists were observing the flying mammals in their natural habitat in the first “bat walk” organized by the Philippines...
Editor’s Note: Exactly 42 years after the fact, have Filipinos come closer to finding out who ordered the murder of the former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. at the airport that now bears his name? The ranks of those who should know have thinned considerably, and knowledge of who masterminded the deed is in clear...
ILOILO CITY – Top environment officials have launched the Philippine Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (PBSAP) 2024-2040 to implement the country’s roadmap for biodiversity conservation and align it with global conservation targets. “If we want to leave this planet in a better shape than when we found it, when we were born, then it is...
The South China Sea conflict had been a battle of maps long before China deployed its warships and the Philippines engaged in multination military drills as a countermeasure in the international waterway. China officially claimed the Spratly Islands in 1947 with a nine-dash-line map. But Spain marked the islands as part of Philippine territory two...
Just five months ago, thousands of Duterte supporters were trashing the Supreme Court on Facebook, calling it “useless” and demanding that it act against former president Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest. Now these same supporters are singing a very different tune—praising the high court as “fair and just” after a July 25 decision declaring Vice President Sara...
The political dynasty reports of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) won an Award for Excellence at the 2025 Society of Publishers in Asia (Sopa) annual Awards for Editorial Excellence. “This is an excellent series on how family dynasties dominate politics in the Philippines. It goes beyond the best-known examples to show how the...
A tempest in a teacup has been stirred by someone who attributed to “dinosaurs” the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s purported bumbling journey to digital. He appeared to be singing a dirge for it in a chest-thumping report that was run on June 30, timed for the next-day management transition of the No. 1 newspaper from its corporate...
EDITOR’S NOTE: The President Benigno Simeon Aquino III Memorial Lectures on Leadership and Democracy was launched on June 24 at the Ateneo de Manila University. The launch, one of the activities that marked the fourth anniversary of the former leader’s passing, was held under the auspices of the Ninoy and Cory Aquino Foundation, the Ateneo...
