When reputations collapse like buildings
The writer argues: "The (recent) earthquake is an apt metaphor for the destructive reckoning triggered by the exposé of massive corruption in flood control projects."
Randy David
Through Indonesia’s mirror
The writer says: "Today, it seems the Indonesians are showing us what it means to vent public fury over betrayal by leaders. While the immediate circumstances differ, the motifs…
More than conspicuous consumption
The writer says: "It’s easy to dismiss these videos as nothing more than crude platforms for bragging about possessions. But the fact that they attract millions of viewers…
Why corruption in the Philippines persists
Anti-corruption drives typically end with the arrest of a few low-ranking employees, the public shaming of a handful of principals, and a fresh round of calls to moral renewal.…
The myth of Philippine-US special relations
Having firmly aligned himself with the US early in his term, Mr. Marcos had reason to expect not just a warm reception but a deal he could tout as a diplomatic win. What he got…
The quiet rise of online gambling
What’s astounding is how almost every sector became complicit in the normalisation: government, business, media, tech, advertising, entertainment, politics.
Ironies in the Iran-Israel conflict
Ironies abound because the global system lacks an effective central political authority to enforce norms. The familiar realist maxim holds sway: there are no permanent enemies and…
Trust and the Philippine President
Trust—not ideology, not program—is what ultimately holds public life together in the Philippines' fragile democracy. Filipinos may not fully understand the inner workings of…
When voters defy the surveys
What these elections may have revealed is a voter segment determined to prove the surveys wrong—deliberate, reactive voters who cast their ballots not as protest but as…
Not even a president is above the law
This past week, the Filipino people witnessed a historic moment: the arrest of a former president—one feared and influential—by Philippine authorities for trial before an…