Duterte gov’t fails to meet its human rights obligations amid the pandemic

December 10, 2020

STATEMENT

The country’s poorest and most marginalized are being left behind by the COVID-19 response of the Duterte administration. On the other hand, wealthy creditors are protected and large corporations including foreign investors are getting their profits boosted.

Winds of democracy in the Philippines

November 30, 2020

Features/ Commentary | On a historical scale, there’s no doubt that the world is changing for the better. There’s too much creativity, energy and bravery committed to that for it to be otherwise.

Swept away – Philippine agriculture bears wrath from government neglect

November 22, 2020

Features | Focusing on really strengthening communities: ensuring rights to basic needs including food and jobs, adequate standards of living, a balanced ecology, ample services, and development, would be what will forge the capacity to withstand disasters.

Tagged, but not it

November 18, 2020

FEATURES

The public has justifiably criticized the administration because it has revealed itself as anti-people. Yet, instead of listening to the demands of the people, President Duterte and his clique are using authoritarian rule to suppress all kinds of dissent.

Red Red Whine

November 18, 2020

FEATURES

Progressive ideas will be tolerated if spoken from armchairs or as rhetoric in speeches and policymaking. But red flags are raised when these ideas are connected to each other and, especially, when they’re borne by the organized power of politicized Filipinos in a mass movement for change.

“Build Back Better”: Lessons forgotten

November 10, 2020

FEATURES

2020 saw natural calamities hitting the country, from the Taal volcano eruption to the recent typhoons Quinta and Rolly. But is the Philippines equipped to handle natural disasters? Has it learned from Typhoon Yolanda?

Filipino rice farmers need support, not liberalization

November 1, 2020

FEATURES | The government’s defeatist attitude and blind surrender to market forces is the biggest reason why Philippine rice production and domestic agriculture as a whole remains so backward

Neoliberalism and our multiple crises in the COVID era: Dare to struggle, dare to win

November 1, 2020

Features | We may survive the pandemic, but we are headed towards even greater downward pressure on wages and working conditions amid greater repression of organized labor. We are headed towards increasing compulsion of capitalists to seek rapid growth at all costs, including environmental and social costs.

Dirty Duterte admin: More coal energy than ever

October 24, 2020

Features | The government is maintaining the country’s high dependence on coal, putting into doubt whether it is genuinely concerned about the Philippine environment and declaring a climate emergency.