The expensive and harmful ‘Build Better More’

June 2, 2023

The Philippine government has a repetitive narrative when it comes to infrastructure – that it will “revitalize the economy” and “create more jobs” or that the government is “Building more for better lives” — claims so-repeated that they seem like obvious benefits. But history shows that this is not always the case.

Growing global economic distress as G7 meet ends

May 22, 2023

The global economy is being dragged down by fundamental forces that even the mighty US is still captive to. It may be the world’s dominant imperialist power but it is still merely monopoly capitalist and as such subject to the deeply-ingrained contradictions of capitalism.

The G7 summit: Will Hiroshima deliver the economic interests behind militarism?

May 19, 2023

What the G7 wants and the manner it exacts these are untenable and are only bound to hurt the majority of the world’s populations. Thus, these vested economic interests can only be pursued through relentless US warmongering and militarism. But even that is a paper tiger – people around the world are rising up with more vigorous struggles and resistance against imperialism and war.

BBM’s US trip: It’s all about US

May 9, 2023

The current Marcos Jr administration will have US support despite its deeply corrupt, dynastic and rights-violating character. Or at least as long as the US keeps getting what it wants, and the Philippines doesn’t ask for anything that the US doesn’t want to give — like real freedom and development, or sovereignty and independence.

19 years and counting: The story of MRT-7

May 7, 2023

FEATURES

Will the MRT-7 answer our systemic transportation problems? At this stage, the project has so far turned out to be a gateway for corporate elites to gain more profits at the expense of the people’s welfare.

WHO is committed to whom?

April 26, 2023

FEATURES

The World Health Organization is supposed to be the lead global institution for health. But it is too easily influenced by powerful HICs and big private institutions in the programs they implement. The COVID-19 vaccine profits they raked in are just the most recent example of this.

Will the creation of a department solve our water woes?

April 17, 2023

FEATURES

SB102 distorts the concept of water resources belonging to the commons or cultural and natural resources that are accessible to all members of a society by allowing water to be handled by the profit- and business- oriented private sector.

Political, economic, and cultural control under charter change

April 12, 2023

Proponents in Congress and their private sector cohorts are preoccupied with pushing for charter change. But this will be to the detriment of the Philippines and its people – politically, economically, and culturally.

The right size for development?

March 9, 2023

The Marcos Jr administration’s rightsizing program goes in the direction of further weakening the government just when it is so needed to become bigger and better to transform the economy to serve the public interest.