“China is now capable of controlling the South China Sea in all scenarios short of war with the United States… There is no guarantee that the United States would win a future conflict with China.” The stunning twin statements are from Admiral Philip S. Davidson, highlighting his written remarks submitted to the United States Senate…
Given our abundant arable lands and rich natural resources, we could grow enough of our own food, export those raw or processed products that we are unable to consume, and build an industrial economy. But the Philippine state’s inexcusable failure to develop our agriculture, over the decades, has instead kept us mired in periodic crises…
After threatening to resign last week in an outburst of exasperation and claiming to be tired, he now says, “No, I will not resign!” Yes, he acknowledges that he wouldn’t be able to fulfill his campaign promises to end the long-festering problems of illegal drugs, criminality, and corruption even beyond his six-year term. He has…
“I have terminated the talks with the Reds – the Communist Party of the Philippines with [Jose Maria] Sison. Because in the series of agreements before, even [in] the time of Aquino, they entered into so many things that they scattered [sic] the privileges and power which they wanted. And we summed it all [up]…
The United People’s SONA will call Duterte to account for failing to fulfill his campaign promises: to end labor contractualization, uplift the dire conditions of the poor, and pursue peace negotiations to their logical conclusion by addressing the root causes of the armed conflict.
Regular readers of the Philippine STAR have surely taken note of this paper’s series of editorials this week (the first week of President Duterte’s third year in office) dwelling on impunity and the rising cycle of violence in the country. Let’s review the key points raised by two of the editorials. On July 2 the…
Today marks the completion of President Duterte’s first two years in office. The two years are capped by controversies over multiple issues that have been stirred by his cuss-laden off-the-cuff speeches which his administration minions, often than not, pick up as the crux or elements of Executive policy. His “erratic and crass leadership style” –…
For now it looks like the fifth formal round of the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations under the current administration – bilaterally set for June 28-30 but unilaterally postponed indefinitely by President Duterte on June 14 – may be resumed after three months. That is, in the last quarter of this year. In the meantime, the two…
In April, President Duterte called for resuming the GRP-NDFP peace talks he had arbitrarily “terminated” in November. Saying it’s the “last chance” for achieving peace with the Left revolutionary movement, he gave the two sides 60 days to undertake informal/backchannel discussions to pave the ground for the fifth round of formal negotiations, which he had…
It was “pure showbiz,” meant to entertain the crowd of Filipino expatriates who had been gathered to meet him in Seoul after his arrival there last Sunday, on an official visit to South Korea. That’s how President Duterte initially explained why he had called to the stage (where he was speaking) two women in the…
President Duterte’s speech last Wednesday at the change-of-command ceremony of the Presidential Security Command at Malacanang Park carried a sense of lightness, even of goodwill throughout. He let out his usual curse only once, in passing reference to illegal drug users (durugistas). But what I particularly noticed in the speech was that, as he greeted…