Features
Hindi lumingon–a second look? The economics of the Duterte administration
May 14, 2016
by Sonny Africa IBON FEATURES – Presumptive president Rodrigo Duterte projected a vastly different image from the other presidential candidates and indeed from every national politician the Philippines has ever had: coarse, cussing, irreverent, misogynistic, an unrepentant human rights violator, and a self-proclaimed “Socialist” and “Leftist”. But, never mind, the strongman was effective and got […]
Path not to take: The exclusionary and elitist Daang Matuwid
May 8, 2016
#BeyondElections2016 | The Aquino administration’s long-playing call to sustain its so-called legacy of a fast-growing economy driven by “good governance” resonated in the “ituloy ang Daang Matuwid” electoral campaign. That the elections are just a day away and that the term of Pres. Benigno S. Aquino III is nearing its end are opportune moments to review […]
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 […]
Automated Polls: Privatized elections, foreign-controlled democracy (Part 2)
May 2, 2016
Second of Two Parts By Arnold Padilla Why Smartmatic prevails Why Smartmatic keeps on winning Comelec contracts boggles the mind especially considering the numerous and major malfunctions by the machines and services that Smartmatic provided in the past two elections. To illustrate, while the AES law mandates a 99.995% accuracy rate, Smartmatic’s PCOS machines […]
Automated polls: privatized elections, foreign-controlled democracy (Part 1)
April 28, 2016
First of two parts By Arnold Padilla IBON Features | #BeyondElections2016 | In the Philippines, you know that it is election season again not only when political scandals are at a fever pitch but also when criticisms against the Commission on Election (Comelec) are highly agitated as well. These criticisms – like most politically motivated scandals – […]
Di lumingon: The economics of the next administration
April 26, 2016
By Sonny Africa IBON executive director #BeyondElections2016 | The leading candidates for the presidency project vastly different images: plain but competent technocrat, earnest would-be mother of the nation, beleaguered man of the masses, and of course the coarse yet effective strongman. Filipino voters seem to have a variety of choices in the May 9 […]
Bracing for El Nino
April 2, 2016
We are reposting this article in the wake of the massacre of 3 farmers in Kidapawan who were among those who collectively sought rice support from government amid the El Nino drought. By Arnold Padilla IBON Features—El Niño is not expected to occur until late June or July, with its impact likely to be felt by […]
Day of the Landless: Deepening foreign control over PH farmlands thru financialization
March 31, 2016
Peasant and indigenous people’s groups in the region mark 29 March as the Global Day of the Landless. Initiated by the Asian Peasant Coalition (APC), it highlights the rural communities’ continuing struggle for land. In the Philippines, such struggle remains meaningful amid widespread landlessness still gripping its countryside. Decades of attempts at land reform have […]
“No home birthing” policy: burden to Filipino mothers
March 8, 2016
A mother in the town of Mansalay, Oriental Mindoro who belongs to the Mangyan tribe recalled how her husband had to pay a penalty at the municipal hall so that he could get their child’s registration of live birth. Meanwhile, another mother in the hinterlands of Eastern Samar had to borrow money to rent a house for […]
