Alvin Manalansan, Fellow of the Stratbase ADR Institute and Convenor of CitizenWatch Philippines Regardless of age, gender, nationality and socio-economic stature, no one is invulnerable from acquiring the virulent coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic last March 11, 2020. In order to fight the pandemic, the WHO recommends… Read More

Dindo Manhit, President, Stratbase ADR Institute With more than 100 countries now affected by the novel coronavirus, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the outbreak a pandemic and called on governments around the world to take “urgent and aggressive action.” In the Philippines, a state of “public health emergency” has been declared, and “enhanced… Read More

Jaime Jimenez, Ph.D, Deputy Executive Director for Research, Stratbase ADR Institute In as much as the country is in limbo about the circumstances and consequences brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the government needs to consider two equally important national concerns. The first concern refers to the condition or the protection and welfare of the… Read More

Orlando Oxales, Fellow of the Stratbase ADR Institute and Lead Convenor of CitizenWatch Philippines Effective rule of law is the foundation for development, peace and stability. In these times of global crisis threatening the health of the world’s population, how well our government enforces emergency measures to arrest the spread of the COVID-19 virus will… Read More

Paco A. Pangalangan, Executive Director, Stratbase ADR Institute The thing about the rule of law in just and democratic societies is that laws should be applied evenly to everyone. It makes sense, since like any other set of rules, laws draw strength and legitimacy from a sense of stability and universality. This is important since… Read More

Edwin Santiago, Fellow and Member of the Editorial Board, Stratbase ADR Institute When the President says one thing and his apologists say another, quickly adding that we should not take Duterte’s word literally, you’ve probably heard that many times before. As soon as the dust settled on his election, President Duterte made known his threat… Read More

Dindo Manhit, President, Stratbase ADR Institute In his fourth year in office, President Duterte abrogated the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the United States. This is perhaps the realization of what he declared as his “independent foreign policy” at the start of his presidency. For many observers, however, the untimely abrogation and seemingly irrational reasons… Read More