Fishing communities across the Philippines’ western seaboard—from the far north in Cagayan to the Ilocos provinces to Zambales and the Mindoro provinces—have been protesting the dredging of their rivers and coastlines. An inquiry by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) found that in all these provinces, sand mining operations by Chinese firms have given...
Tag: Rodrigo Duterte
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Consider the new Senate majority
Consider the Senate majority now led by Alan Peter Cayetano after the power seizure on Monday. It’s nearly identical to the grouping led by Francis Escudero that famously did in the first impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte. The Cayetano sibs. President Marcos Jr.’s estranged manang. The mother of the young Batangas lawmaker slapped...
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In The Hague, ICC lands one-two punch on Rodrigo Duterte leading to his trial
The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague delivered a one-two punch to former president Rodrigo Duterte last week, nearly 10 years after he took office and unleashed his brutal “war on drugs” across the Philippines. The first blow landed on April 22, when the ICC Appeals Chamber upheld the October 2025 Pre-Trial Chamber I...
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Duterte loses ICC appeal, remains in detention in The Hague
The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) ruled on Wednesday that the court had jurisdiction over the case against former president Rodrigo Duterte, keeping him in detention in the Netherlands and bringing him closer to a possible trial for crimes against humanity for his brutal war on drugs in the Philippines. The ICC...
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Ramil Madriaga’s story of service and betrayal
Explosive allegations were made against Vice President Sara Duterte and her father by a man claiming to be her former aide and bagman at the resumption of the impeachment proceedings conducted by the House justice committee on Tuesday. Ramil Madriaga was occasionally overcome by emotion as he read aloud a supplemental affidavit that he swore...
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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...
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Senators Go and Dela Rosa named among Duterte’s ‘co-perpetrators’
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has named Senators Christopher “Bong” Go and Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa as well as other former ranking government officials as co-perpetrators of ex-President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody “war on drugs.” Go ranked first and Dela Rosa third in the midterm senatorial elections last year. As chief of the Philippine National Police...
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Victims of Duterte’s ‘war on drugs’ see his trial as their last chance to be heard
With former president Rodrigo Duterte now deemed fit to stand trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague and the confirmation of charges set next month, the families of those killed in his “war on drugs” are looking to the proceedings as their last real chance to be heard. “This ICC trial is...