Tag: asean

Marcos Returns from Washington with an UNFAIR DEAL for the Filipino people

July 29, 2025 Ramon Ortoll 18 Comments

“It may be dangerous to be America’s enemy, but to be America’s friend is fatal.” Henry Kissinger President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has concluded his visit to the United States. Marketed as a reaffirmation of “ironclad friendship” between Manila and Washington, the trip was hyped by Malacañang as a breakthrough moment for Philippine economic and security…

Business, Economy, Government

US propaganda continues to be parroted by Rappler “thought leaders”

July 21, 2024July 21, 2024 Ramon Ortoll 11 Comments

It’s important to the Americans that the Duterte brand in Philippine politics be destroyed since it advocates for an independent foreign policy. Witness how we have become the outlier in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) community. Among the original founding members, we are only ahead of Cambodia and Laos while Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia,…

Development, Politics

Philippine “nationalism” torn by Filipino partisans’ rabid loyalties to China and America

May 19, 2024 Ramon Ortoll 7 Comments

Is the face of the new nationalism against China also a false one? The question should be asked and answered because as Randy David stated in his Inquirer column “Against China: The face of a new nationalism”, his generation’s nationalist bent was directed against the US and not China. “I never thought there would come…

History

The Philippines as the Pariah in ASEAN

January 20, 2024 Ramon Ortoll 7 Comments

The administration of President Bongbong Marcos is about to mark its second year in office but it still has not been able to make much headway solving the problems Filipinos face in their daily lives. Rice prices, for example, continue to accelerate with the cheapest at around P50.00 per kg, despite the supposed bumper crop…

Development, History

Makapili or Makabayan Part 2: The lies that brought the US military back to the Philippines

November 18, 2023 Ramon Ortoll No Comments

Philippine President Bongbong Marcos has adopted a pro-America foreign policy that was reportedly at the insistence of his cousin, Philippine Ambassador to the US, Jose Manuel “Babe” Romualdez. This has resulted in Marcos being received warmly in the US after he allowed American access to additional bases under the Enhanced Cooperation Defense Agreement (EDCA), all…

History, Politics

Food insecurity in the Philippines the result of substandard infrastructure and backward industrial base

November 4, 2023 Ramon Ortoll 5 Comments

Apparently the general public has several misconceptions about the current state of agriculture. In simple terms, we haven’t achieved food security because of our neglect of adoption of modern techniques and the absence of population control measures. We don’t produce enough food for domestic consumption. Each subsector in agriculture is also beset with problems. In…

Development

The Philippines’ return to the embrace of its former colonial master firmly secures the Second Marcos administration

April 23, 2023 Ramon Ortoll 4 Comments

Now they don’t want EDCA? Former Reuters correspondent Manny Mogato writes about the “genuine concerns from some sectors about a looming conflict in the region” in the context of the ramping up of the United States’ military presence in the Philippines within the frame of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). Mogato expresses his skepticism…

Politics

Bongbong Marcos: Another Noynoy Aquino and another Kamaganak Inc in the making?

January 23, 2023 Ramon Ortoll 9 Comments

The elephant in the room we need to talk about: Marcos might just turn out to be another Noynoy. This is probably the universe’s way of putting an end to the Marcos-Aquino feud and pave the way for a new leader to rise from the ranks. But fate is cruel. There’s no one on the…

Economy, History