“Just follow” won’t beat COVID-19

March 16, 2020

COMMENTARY
BY SONNY AFRICA

The coronavirus threat is real and it’s critical for the government to respond quickly and decisively. But what if government’s response is muddled and, worse, ill-conceived?

Water You Up To, Mr. President?

December 13, 2019

BY SONNY AFRICA

Pres. Rodrigo Duterte is posturing against oligarchs again. This time, the tough talk is against corporate water giants Manila Water and Maynilad.

Attacks on Civil Society, M&E, and Democracy

November 25, 2019

In governance today and in our M&E ecosystems, our biggest challenge is increasing official hostility to diversity.

Counterproductive Counterinsurgency

November 17, 2019

BY SONNY AFRICA

Development policymaking is hard enough as it is – the Philippines after so many decades of so many development plans is a case in point. Now the military wants to take that over as well?

Solving the NCR mass transport crisis

October 28, 2019

BY SONNY AFRICA

The mass transport crisis is real. And yes, the mass transport crisis can be solved.

Global crisis even less reason for charter change

September 28, 2019

BY SONNY AFRICA

The policy question is not how to attract foreign investment at all costs. Rather, it is asking what needs to be done for foreign capital to genuinely contribute to the country’s long-term economic development.

21st Century Neoliberal Authoritarianism for Whom?

September 12, 2019

(Statement for the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Inquiry on “The Current Situation Impacting on the Work, Safety, and Security of Human Rights Defenders in the Philippines” delivered on September 11, 2019) IBON Foundation was set up in 1978 and is in its 41st year of service to the Filipino people. We are a small […]

2017 SONA: Change is not always for the better

July 30, 2017

Among Pres. Rodrigo Duterte’s idiosyncrasies is preferring a vulgar stream-of-consciousness approach in his speeches. This is even for the annual state of the nation address (SONA) at the opening of Congress which is undoubtedly the government’s highest-profile policy speech of the year. The president’s choice is a matter of style but then this also means […]

Anyare? Economic decline since Marcos

May 5, 2016

The Marcos dictatorship started the Philippines on a path of economic decline that remains until today. This has already had the worst consequences for tens of millions of Filipinos across two generations. Unless corrected, it will burden generations to come. The Philippine economy’s decline since the 1980s is commonly attributed to the Marcos regime’s corruption […]