Evidence suggests that President Rodrigo Duterte may have put Speaker Cayetano on the horns of a dilemma, between Scylla and Charybdis, between the devil and the deep blue sea, between a rock and a hard place.  But before we go any further, let me state that the special sessions that President Duterte ordered [0] should be enough to pass the 2021 National Budget in the House of Representatives. That is, the nation’s primary concern, a COVID-19 budget, should not be a problem anymore, thanks to PRRD’s intervention. With that said, we can now discuss the secondary issue, the ongoing sp ..read more

Being a Philippine President is like being the driver of the car called "the Philippine Government." Winning in 2016 is Duterte driver's license, but a license is not enough.  Duterte also needs (1) fuel for the engines, and (2) lubricants to keep the car's parts from breaking down. He fuels the car with tax revenues then he lubricates its parts using political power so that other politicians – the car parts – follow his lead. To be an effective president, Duterte needs a constant supply of funds (mostly via tax money) and political power (political influence). Unfortunately, the Pres ..read more

Latest data shows Cebu City has 3,987 cases [1] against a total population of 922,961 [2], translating to 4,320 cases per million residents, i.e., between Italy’s 3,948 [3] and the UK’s 4,511 [4]. Oddly, Cebu City registered 64 total deaths [5], translating to just 69 deaths per million, way below Italy’s 573 [6] and UK’s 632 [7]. If there are about as many cases per capita in Cebu City as in Italy and the UK, why is Cebu City’s mortality rate drastically lower than the two? A potential explanation would be underreporting (e.g., COVID deaths reported as ..read more

Here is a concise summary of Manila RTC Branch 46 presiding judge Rainelda Estacio-Montesa’s 37-page decision on People v. Maria Ressa et al., docketed as Criminal Case No. R-MNL-19-01141-CR for violation of Section 4(c)(4) of R.A. 10175 (Online Libel). FOR THE PROSECUTION: RAPPLER’S REYNALDO SANTOS in the 01 February 2014 Rappler article “C.J. using SUVs of Controversial Businessman,” accused BUSINESSMAN WILFREDO KENG of involvement in Human Trafficking, Drug Trafficking, Smuggling, Tax Evasion, and Murder. People of the Philippines v. Santos, Ressa, and Rappler by Thinking ..read more

University of the Philippines Los Banos student organization Defend UPLB announced on 07 June 2020 [1] that it took down one of its posts after it supposedly launched an investigation on the matter. It was referring to an earlier post claiming that a #JunkTerrorBill protester received a death threat from an unidentified number, a screenshot of which can be seen below: As we all know, the post above was used to justify claims of various camps that the Duterte Administration or its allies are threatening members of the opposition. But a little sleuthing reveals that there's something really ..read more

Did the Philippines make the right decision when it eased the lockdown on NCR, the country's coronavirus epicenter? On 1 June 2020, the Philippines decided to relax lockdown measures in Metro Manila, the epicenter of the country’s COVID-19 epidemic. Public opinion on this decision is mixed. Some say it’s too early as the coronavirus is still beyond the government’s control, while others say the government has successfully “flattened the curve.” In this article, we will examine the wisdom of this decision (or the lack of it), by comparing the Philippines to other countries that have signifi ..read more

Vera Files' latest fact-checking stunt on the issue of Senator Franklin Drilon's CNN interview should be a ground for its expulsion from its "fact-checker"-ship. Vera Files is among Facebook’s fact-checkers in the Philippines, and I checked how it became so. Facebook in its official help page [1] said it “work(s) with third-party fact-checkers who are certified through the non-partisan International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) to help identify and review false news,” a claim seconded by Poynter Institute with a related announcement[2]. Given these, I can only deduce that some Facebook c ..read more

Davao businessman Dennis Uy recently asked President Rodrigo Duterte for a sovereign guarantee[1] to cover a Php 700 million loan for Uy’s Chelsea Logistics[2]. Eyebrows rose, of course, including those of Bayan Muna chairperson Neri Colmenares[3]. A Sovereign Guarantee is a Government assurance that it will pay loans should the original debtor fail to pay them[4]. That is, a sovereign guarantee means taxpayers will pay Chelsea’s loans if Chelsea fails to, after all. Yes, I do understand the uproar, but, but I believe it’s still premature. For one, Malacañang has not even considered Uy’s r ..read more

Documents show Philippine Daily Inquirer’s majority owners, the Rufino-Prieto Clan, are using their other family-owned companies to cannibalize what little is left of the newspaper company’s assets, at the expense of minority stockholders who may be left with nothing if and when the media firm declares bankruptcy. PDI sells land to LexmediaOn 29 August 2018, Inquirer directors approved the sale of Inquirer-owned land near the Makati Central Business District. The board, at the time, is mostly made up of members of the Rufino-Prieto Clan, including: Alexandra “Sandy” Prieto-Romualdez (Presid ..read more

The University of the Philippines System’s 2018 Commission on Audit Report [1] states that UP has two Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects with Ayala Land: the UP-Ayala Technohub along Commonwealth and the UP Town Center along Katipunan. The two projects are business deals, so common sense dictates that the revenue sharing structure should be commensurate to how much each business partner invested in the venture. Documents, however, show that it isn’t the case, as Ayala keeps the lion’s share of profits. [Full Disclosure: I was a Math Major in the University of the Philippines - Dil ..read more