We beg to differ.
Most mainstream news reports and opinion pieces about University of the Philippines (UP) Manila student Jo Lapira who was among the dead following a clash between the Philippine military and the New People’s Army (NPA) in Batangas the other day report who she was to friends. Rappler, for one, cites how Lapira was “a tiny…
Read More “Jo Lapira: ‘tiny activist with big dreams’, or ENEMY casualty?” »
Filipinos are being pulled in different directions nowadays as various political blocs battle one another for dominance in a landscape characterised by turmoil and unrest. Looking just a short time back, the mid-2000s was the same. It was also a time of frequent street rallies and accusations of “human rights violations” among others being thrown…
Now that the Philippine government will be in an “all-out” war against the New People’s Army (NPA), the terrorist arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines, it is worth exploring some lessones learnt from the recent war that liberated Marawi City from similar terrorist elements. To be sure, a war against the NPA will…
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s recent State of the Nation Address brought to the public’s attention the leaders of protest rallies in the country. A lot of people have noticed that some of those who organise rallies against incumbent Presidents have been the same people doing it for decades. Members of the public are simply tired…
Read More “Organisers of street protests in the Philippines viewed as freeloaders and moochers” »
Insurgency, rebellion, and separatist movements (Note: I will use these three terms interchangeably.) have always been part and parcel of Philippine history. In this regard, it is no different from other countries and their histories. Successive Philippine governments have had to deal with several of these movements. In the spotlight are the Communist Party of…
Read More “Lessons from history about insurgency in the Philippines” »
In his piece What Ninoy told the US about Marcos published on the Inquirer today, columnist Ambeth Ocamo reveals some interesting things the late former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr reportedly told American diplomat John Forbes. Forbes documented his conversation with Aquino in a confidential telegram sent to the US State Department on the 21st…
Read More “Secret US cables reveal Ninoy Aquino open to supporting martial law in 1972” »
The other day president Rodrigo Duterte (Du30) said that “yellow” rallyists want him out because they cannot accept defeat. Du30, of course, was referring to the folks who claim to be protesting against the burial of former president Ferdinand E. Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Cemetery of Heroes) as allowed by president Du30…
Read More “Of course not all EDSA rallyists are yellows, many of them are useful idiots too!” »
Senator Leila de Lima was on a rampage following Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s reported shift of the country’s foreign policy to one that involves a cosying up to China and a “separation” from the United States. De Lima described Duterte’s move during his official visit to China this week as a “whole level of betrayal”….