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Under Duterte, Southeast Asia’s oldest democracy is failing

While the Philippines is labeled as a democratic state, the current political climate suggests otherwise.

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Promises of infrastructure: The Build, Build, Build program aftermath

Despite attempts to boost the economy since its launch, the Duterte administration’s Build, Build, Build project fell short of delivering on its objectives.

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Over 6k lives later, what has the drug war amounted to?

Duterte’s deadly drug war was one of his major platforms, but did it work?

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Moving from a Duterte presidency may prove ‘difficult’ for 1Sambayan

Although the united opposition seeks to overpower administration bets in the upcoming national elections, their seemingly lack of concrete plans and platforms needs a discussion.

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A ‘shadow pandemic’: How domestic violence rose amid COVID-19

From March to December 2020, as lockdown restrictions remained in place across the country, the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) received 521 requests for assistance on domestic violence incidents. The Philippine National Police, meanwhile, recorded 15,553 cases of violence against women (VAW) last year. While there was an observed drop in reports compared to the…

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Five years later, the Duterte admin’s approach to the WPS dispute remains unclear

Over the past few months, tensions in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have escalated between the Philippines and China. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has since lodged a series of diplomatic protests calling out China’s encroachment in the area, which stemmed from the sighting of around 220 Chinese fishing vessels at the Julian Felipe…

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As the pandemic drags on, vaccines became a political tool

Realpolitik does not stop in the middle of a pandemic. International affairs continue to influence local courses of action—the most evident at present being vaccine distribution. Launching into a global market for COVID-19 vaccines, the Philippines faces not just the challenge of vaccine supply inequity but also the need to keep an eye on the…

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Three nominees decline as 1Sambayan unveils president, vice president bets for 2022 elections

Opposition coalition 1Sambayan announced its nominees for president and vice president in the 2022 national elections in a webinar titled Isang Boto, 1Sambayan via Zoom and Facebook live last June 12 in commemoration of the Philippines’ 123rd Independence Day celebration. Vice President Leni Robredo, Sen. Grace Poe, Atty. Chel Diokno, former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV,…

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Portraits of resistance: The ongoing indigenous struggle in the PH

Indigenous people (IP) remain victims of injustices despite the existence of laws that supposedly protect them. Even before the pandemic started, the Lumad have faced numerous military harassment, even extrajudicial killings, which forcefully displaced them from their ancestral lands for the benefit of private businesses. Such attacks made the Lumad abandon their homes and seek…

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Slowly uphill: PH’s ongoing struggle with addressing teenage pregnancy

The Philippines has long grappled with addressing teenage pregnancy, whether by expanding education on reproductive health or by providing better access to birth control options. Yet, as a Social Weather Stations survey found last November, the issue remains the “most important problem of women today.”  For nine consecutive years, the country has reported a rise…