Dindo Manhit, President of the Stratbase ADR Institute Recent “strongman” moves by the Duterte administration have sparked multisectoral protests with possible repercussions on a nationwide scale. These moves range from threats to nullify government contracts with water concessionaires, the abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), to “trashing” the franchise of media giant ABS-CBN. The… Read More

Edwin Santiago, Fellow and Member of the Editorial Board, Stratbase ADR Institute Seemingly without any semblance of cognizance nor of comprehension of good governance, the Duterte administration strikes again in another brazen display of power—to try to take away the franchise of ABS-CBN—seen by many as a brute attempt to curtail the constitutionally-guaranteed freedom of… Read More

Jaime Jimenez, Ph.D, Deputy Executive Director for Research, Stratbase ADRi Corruption is a universal evil. It spans countless countries, regardless of the level of economic development and political orientation. As the pervasiveness of corruption simply undermines all efforts attempted by a government in trying to make things better for a country, the responsibility is primarily… Read More

Dr. Renato de Castro, Trustee and Convenor of the National Security and East Asian Affairs Program, Stratbase ADR Institute Despite the senior senators’ pleas to reconsider his plan of abrogating the 1999 Philippine-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), President Rodrigo Duterte decided to scrap the 20-year-old treaty. He ordered his executive secretary to instruct the foreign… Read More

Dr. Renato de Castro, Trustee and Convenor of the National Security and East Asian Affairs Program, Stratbase ADR Institute (This column was written before Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. gave formal notice to the United States of the termination of a Visiting Forces Agreement on 11 February 2020.) During the senate hearing reviewing the… Read More

Dindo Manhit, President of the Stratbase ADR Institute In his fourth State of the Nation Address last year, President Duterte described the problem of corruption in the Philippines as a national embarrassment and a national shame. Since his assumption to office in 2016, the President has vowed to put up a strong fight against corrupt… Read More

Alvin Manalansan, Fellow for Health of the Stratbase ADRi The Malasakit Center Act (Republic Act No. 11463) is probably one of the fastest legislative measures that has been passed and signed under the 18th Congress. It took only five months since the bill was filed in both Houses of Congress, and thereafter was signed by… Read More