Dindo Manhit, President of the Stratbase ADR Institute The phenomenal rise of the Davao strongman as the most powerful leader in the Philippines has disrupted the Philippine political and economic landscape in the past three years. A majority of Filipinos did express optimism in the last presidential election that President Duterte would be a disruptive… Read More

Orlando Oxales, Fellow of the Stratbase ADR Institute and Lead Convenor of CitizenWatch Philippines At this point, much has been said about the incident involving Filipino fishing boat Gem-Vir 1 and a Chinese vessel in Recto (Reed) Bank on June 9. The early accounts of the Filipino fishermen—that their anchored boat was rammed by the… Read More

Atty. Hannah Viola, Fellow of the Stratbase ADR Institute Time is of the essence for the rollout of infrastructure projects as President Rodrigo R. Duterte hits the halfway mark into his six-year term that ends in 2022. As soon as he assumed office in 2016, the government introduced the “Build, Build, Build” program, which aims… Read More

Vanessa Pepino, Non-Resident Fellow of the Stratbase ADR Institute The last two months have been replete with small victories related to the Philippines’ waste problem. After languishing in our ports for years, shipping containers of garbage — plastics, household kitchen waste, shredded electronic wastes, and contaminated trash — were recently shipped back to their places… Read More

Dindo Manhit, President of the Stratbase ADR Institute The third regular session of the 17th Congress began with a “bizarre leadership revamp” in the lower chamber. Right before President Duterte’s State of the Nation Address, former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo emerged as the new Speaker, replacing Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez. The power struggle… Read More

Orlando Oxales, Fellow of the Stratbase ADR Institute and Lead Convenor of CitizenWatch Philippines Economic development, especially if it were to be inclusive, requires conscientious planning in which time is of the essence. Coming out of the summer months, the series of yellow, and even some disquieting red alerts in the Luzon grid over April… Read More

Edwin Santiago, Executive Director of the Stratbase ADR Institute Our situation in the South China Sea evokes an image of a child who gets his pants pulled down on the playground at lunchtime. This is normally followed by physical harm such as repeated hitting, kicking, pushing, and the like. And, to make the physical intimidation… Read More