THE SENATE minority leader on Tuesday said initiatives to change the 1987 Constitution should focus on political provisions that will enhance the country’s system of governance. Senator Aquilino Martin “Koko” D. Pimentel III recommended amendments in the party-list system and introducing safeguards against political dynasties. He also proposed a shift in the country’s form of […]
Tag: political
Defiant Ortega frees political prisoners in Nicaragua, expels them to US
MANAGUA/WASHINGTON – More than 200 Nicaraguan political prisoners were freed and flown to the United States on Thursday, nearly all of them prominent government critics jailed in President Daniel Ortega’s crackdown on dissent over recent years. Ortega later described the surprise release as a push to expel criminal provocateurs who sought to undermine Nicaragua, while […]
Analysts: Brazil polls may inspire Pinoy opposition
By Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, Reporter PHILIPPINE opposition forces that include leftists and moderates should focus on building constituents now to give themselves a fighting chance against the resurgence of right-wing populism, political analysts said, as Brazil saw the defeat of Jair Bolsonaro’s far-right rule in a tight presidential race. The opposition camp should also […]
Carvajal: Branches of the same tree
Strictly speaking, a political turncoat is one that dumps the socio-economic and political beliefs of her/his party to join another party that swears by a different ideology. Our political parties, however, are essentially factions of one Extreme Right Party.Strictly speaking, therefore, party-jumping legislators are not turncoats but mere opportunists. Much like monkeys that instinctively hop […]
Carvajal: Alternative futures
“Historians study the past not in order to repeat it, but in order to be liberated from it.” -Yuval Noah Harari, in his best-selling book (2016) “Homo Deus.”In a recent forum via Zoom, I found myself listening to a guest speaker’s lengthy attempt to explain what he saw is a trend towards authoritarianism in Philippine […]
Editorial: Penalizing political turncoats
Deeply entrenched in Philippine political life are political dynasties. Each province, each city, each municipality has a family that dominates the political setting or two sets of opposing families vying for power.The other common feature in the Philippine political setting is the practice of turncoatism after elections. Filipinos saw this after the elections of President […]
Philippines’ political risk remains ‘significant’
The Philippines overall rating improved by a point to 58 (out of 100) with “significant” risk temperature level in the quarterly Political Risk Index by global advisory, broking and solutions company WTW (formerly Willis Towers Watson) in collaboration with Oxford Analytica. The index analyzes patterns in the world’s most vulnerable countries, covering key political perils […]
Tell it to SunStar: Freedom from “politics”
What does “National Independence” mean to Filipinos today?Wonder why we are facing a food shortage crisis and why we have to depend on importing rice, fish, vegetables and fruits from our neighbors despite the Philippines being an agricultural country? Wonder why a sensible electoral reform is yet to be made and until now a law […]
TikTok is propagandists’ new tool to win elections in Southeast Asia
By Nuurrianti Jalli Scholars and political observers have raised concerns over public opinion maneuvering on social media in Southeast Asia as three countries in the region — the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia — are gearing up for elections. Propagandists’ strategic maneuvering of public opinion on social media remains a dangerous threat to democracy in Southeast Asia. […]
Bakud endorses Marcos-Sara
BARUG Alang sa Kauswagan ug Demokrasya (Bakud), a political party based in the fifth district of Cebu, has announced its support for the tandem of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. a…
Former Duterte aide hints at dropping out of presidential race
PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte’s former aide who is now a senator on Thursday hinted he might withdraw from the presidential race. “Maybe it’s not yet my time,” Senator Christopher Lawrence T. Go said in Filipino in a statement. “I am willing to make the supreme sacrifice for the good of our country, and for the […]
Editorial:Philippines’ political dynasties will never die
POLITICAL dynasties are everywhere in the Philippines. This is a familiar scenario: the mayor is the political patriarch, while the vice mayor is his wife, and their eldest child is a councilor. If the patriarch is term-limited, he would push his wife or child for the mayorship and he would seek the office of the […]
Presidential, VP debates will be face-to-face — Comelec
DEBATES among candidates for the country’s top two positions in next year’s elections will be in person, an official of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Thursday. “It will be face-to-face among candidates. Yesterday there was a lot of talk about it being online and people were concerned that online meant the candidates will be virtual […]
Substitution now getting old as a political strategy, analysts say
By Russell Louis C. Ku and Alyssa Nicole O. Tan POLITICAL parties risk losing votes if they use substitution as a strategy to buy time in choosing their presidential bets, according to analysts. “They may succeed in hurdling legal obstacles, but I doubt they will gain the support of more voters,” Dennis C. Coronacion, who […]
Ruling party row: Pacquiao expelled by Duterte group; Pimentel dismisses pronouncement
THE RULING PDP-Laban party under President Rodrigo R. Duterte on Sunday announced that Senator Emmanuel “Manny” D. Pacquiao has been automatically expelled for filing his certificate for presidential candidacy under a different party, but the other faction led by the party founder’s son dismissed the pronouncement. Mr. Pacquiao on Friday filed his candidacy under the Progressive Movement for the Devolution of Initiatives (PROMDI), noting the party’s alliance with PDP-Laban […]
Dynasties
When people talk about Philippine politics, the issue of political dynasties is — and will always be — at the forefront of discussions. Now that we are approaching an election year, the seemingly accepted “truth” that dynasties are bad for us becomes all the more salient, in the media, and among voters as well. Is […]
Carvajal: Not unless…
What does change mean? Going back to our old ways as a people is change. Moving on with a more relevant way of life is change. Replacing political leaders is change; so is shifting to a new form of government. Which of these and myriad other changes do Filipinos want? That depends on the why […]
Carvajal: When gods play poker
Having watched so many Westerns during this pandemic, I couldn’t help comparing the country’s current political scene to a poker game in a Wild West saloon. In this all too familiar scene in a typical Western movie, you see impeccably dressed professional gamblers and big cattle ranchers playing poker in one corner of the saloon. […]
Limpag: Can Pacquiao keep his focus?
One guy in the Pacman camp once described his entourage as one big distraction. There are just way too many people, some with conflicting duties. But the guy said that Pacman seemed to do fine despite the chaos. Heck, it seems he drew strength from it. Manny will have to dig deep into that aspect, […]
Prisoners allowed to attend wake
The Justice department has approved the request of the imprisoned wife and son of a farmer who had been a political prisoner for 16 years and who died of cardiac arrest on Sunday to attend his wake on Friday. In a statement, Fides Lim, spokesperson of Kapatid, a support group for families and friends of […]