Under Marcos, PH economy worst performing in Asia

September 18, 2021

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?

IBON offers “Serve The People” book online

September 9, 2018

On its 40th year and amid the growing tumult of an unreformed political and economic system, IBON is glad to share online Serve the People, Ang Kasaysayan ng Radikal na Kilusan sa Unibersidad ng Pilipinas by the Congress of Teachers and Educators for Nationalism and Democracy (CONTEND) and Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT). – https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NXTd0ObBXidKgPYkbxPnGYEhbn9jYOwJ/view […]

Gov’t urged to keep Lumad schoolchildren safe, order military to leave schools alone (Letter to Editors)

August 4, 2017

  We, members of the Educators’ Forum for Development, are alarmed at Pres. Rodrigo Duterte’s order to “bomb Lumad schools”. The administration also staunchly defends the extension of Martial Lawin Mindanao which has further disrupted Lumad schools. The safety of the Lumad schoolchildren will only be secured with the immediate withdrawal of the military from […]

2017 SONA: Change is not always for the better

July 25, 2017

Sonny Africa 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 […]

2017 SONA dismissive of PH socioecon problems—IBON

July 25, 2017

The 2017 State of the Nation Address was dismissive of the Philippines’ serious socioeconomic problems especially joblessness, poverty and inequities, research group IBON said. The President even tended to oversimplify the economic situation to justify authoritarianism, said the group. President Duterte delivered Monday his second State of the Nation Address to the country’s senators and […]

President’s SONA can unite, but will likely divide

July 24, 2017

Sonny Africa Pres. Rodrigo Duterte started his term as a potentially powerful unifier of the nation, but he is now unfortunately its biggest source of division. Last year, he spoke of resuming peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), bringing all Moro groups together in an undivided peace process, and upholding […]

Martial law declaration will not help economy–IBON

May 25, 2017

The Duterte administration’s declaration of martial law in Mindanao increases political instability in the country, research group IBON said, and will not help the economy, which is already slowing as it is. While the 1987 Constitution provides for such a declaration, its indiscriminate use gives the impression of an authoritarian government arbitrarily using power for […]

Under Marcos dictatorship unemployment worsened, prices soared, poverty persisted

November 25, 2016

  “The decade 1975-1986 was actually a time of intense social crisis and economic difficulty for most Filipinos. The unemployment rate was falling in the early years of the Marcos regime – from 7.1% in 1966 to 3.9% in 1975. But this reversed in the mid-1970s to rapidly rise back to 7.9% in 1980. The […]