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Imee Marcos tilts towards China
When opposition Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III was asked recently if he had any other senator in mind to recruit to the minority, he replied in jest, “The next logical person to recruit to the...
View ArticleMarcos and Chinese companies
What will the President do about a huge Chinese company and its subsidiaries that are doing business in the Philippines but have undermined our country’s national security and committed fraud in a...
View ArticleChinese harassment in Ayungin will happen again
The resupply missions to Ayungin Shoal are starting to look like a series streaming on Netflix. In early August, we saw dramatic footage – taken from a drone or an airplane – of a China Coast Guard...
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Eyes on Taiwan
On the streets of central Taipei, in the open-air night markets heaving with food and the covered bazaars lined with foot- and body-massage parlors, life goes on in this island nation that has been...
View ArticleFirst, China wooed us. Now they are dividing us.
It seems like ages ago, when China was wooing us with friendly propaganda and trying to influence our taste for popular culture. This happened during the Duterte years, remember? Let’s go back in...
View ArticleCountering China’s disinformation: Learning from Taiwan
In the past months, the Philippines has been crying foul over China’s false reports on its aggressive actions in the West Philippine Sea as well as its baseless assertions over its claims in the South...
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The Philippines moves closer to Australia and Canada
It’s a palpable feeling, a sense of importance that we’ve not experienced in years. You must have noticed the flurry of high-level visits of foreign officials to Manila and the upbeat rhetoric – about...
View ArticleMarcos and China: Everything everywhere all at once
The President as diplomat In a span of two days, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. showed his range of diplomatic moves toward China. First, he made nice with President Xi Jinping. Then he revealed –...
View ArticleAccidental strategies: Lessons from Scarborough and Subic
As the year comes to a close, I offer some reflections on strategic thinking in the Philippines or, really, the lack of it. These thoughts come to mind as we see the acceleration of China’s...
View ArticlePolitics in 2024: The Dutertes make Marcos palatable
As we enter the new year, there’s one political phenomenon that we will see deepen. It is a continuation of what I call the state of relativity: we view things in reference to others and say, “Yes,...
View ArticleThe cost of accountability
As many of you know, just before 2023 closed, Rappler issued a public apology over instances of plagiarism committed by a junior staff researcher. We stressed that a cardinal principle in journalism...
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Democracy wins in Taiwan, memories fade in Indonesia
About four hours after the polls closed in Taiwan’s presidential election on January 13, the country knew who the winner was. Lai Ching-te of the pro-sovereignty Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)...
View ArticleEven with ‘Bagong Pilipinas,’ Marcos searches for ‘new paradigm’
Like a doughnut, the much hyped “Bagong Pilipinas,” President Marcos’ rallying cry for his administration, has a big hole. While it promises a sky full of stars – an “environment that provides equal...
View ArticleThe big shift: military prepares for external threat
It is disorienting, even jarring, to hear him, poisoning the air with his threats. Rodrigo Duterte, our former president, will not fade into the shadows especially now that he has declared President...
View ArticleA year after: Transparency in the West Philippine Sea
Flashpoints are Ayungin and Scarborough shoals, Reed Bank In an old, quiet low-rise apartment building near Malacañang, after climbing the narrow wooden stairs to the second and third floors, modern...
View ArticleEnd of the Marcos history?
The Philippines has come to terms with the Marcos family’s history. The “best proof” is the election of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. as president. This – Marcos’s claim – is my biggest takeaway...
View ArticleBeyond basmati and yoga: Closer to India
India is an acquired taste, said a friend who has visited it often. So it is like wasabi, I replied. The first encounter can make your taste buds revolt and offend the nose but, after a few more...
View Article[Judgment Call] Resisting mob mentality for warrantless arrests
When a vlogger gripped a tarsier in his hand, and said, “Smile, baby, smile,” the wrongdoing was apparent. “Tarsiers are nocturnal animals and should not be disturbed in their sleep,” environmental...
View Article[Judgment Call] Is Rappler an ‘enabler’ of Catholic ‘copycats’?
“Ano ba ’yan, Rappler… Aglipay na naman??” (What the heck, Rappler… Aglipay again??) An irritated Facebook user posted this comment at 7:10 pm on Black Saturday, March 30, on Rappler’s Facebook page....
View ArticleThe trilateral boost and Recto Bank
The Philippines has good friends and will not go it alone especially at a time of escalating tension in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), triggered by China’s reckless and aggressive behavior. That was...
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