The attempt to block the renewal of the ABS-CBN franchise is part of the Duterte regime’s continuing assault on the constitutionally-protected right to free expression and press freedom. With Congress having only a few weeks left before it adjourns on March 14, nine bills that would renew the...
ON DECEMBER 19, the day set by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 for the promulgation of its much-awaited verdict on the Ampatuan massacre, it will be 10 years and 25 days since the killings occurred in Maguindanao on November 23, 2009. Let that sink in:...
POOLED EDITORIAL: March 12 is World Day against Cyber Censorship, when advocates around the globe call for an Internet that is not only accessible to all, but also free from restrictions on free speech. It is specially relevant to us today, when our nation is...
NABAGO at nakontrol na ng pamunuan ni Rodrigo R. Duterte ang diskurso publiko sa mga usaping bayan sa paraang magaspang at lampas sa matwid. Ang malungkot na resulta nito: Nasasakal at nasa panganib ang kalagayan ng press freedom at people’s right to know. Sa unang 22...
THAT JUSTICE remains elusive seven years since the Ampatuan massacre proves how the culture of impunity persists today. We are alarmed that recent events including the Marcos burial and continuing extrajudicial killings not only of alleged drug personalities but also...
The furtive burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani is a heinous addition to the long list of crimes of the Marcoses against the Filipino people. The Supreme Court decision dismissing the petition against the Marcos burial has yet to...
REGRETTABLY, the conversation between President-elect Rodrigo Duterte and the news media has turned sharp and shrill. All but lost in the noise is the two parties’ common duty in law and tradition to serve and to inform the Filipino people on issues, events and...
ON FEBRUARY 4, cause-oriented groups will file a motion for reconsideration to question the Supreme Court decision on the controversial Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). The day is significant in Philippine history because a shot fired by a US...
IT is Pres. Benigno Aquino III’s last year in office but justice remains elusive for the victims of Ampatuan massacre. No perpetrator has been convicted, the victims still cry for justice. Aquino’s vow six years ago to immediately resolve the gruesome massacre...
The full text of the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement was finally disclosed after years of being negotiated in utmost secrecy. The public, including the US Congress itself, were kept in the dark on the details of the US-led trade pact until it...
With several weeks left before the official filing of candidacy, voters have yet to hear substantial talk on the platform of governance raised (or not raised) by those who have already declared their intention to run for higher office in 2016, especially for the...
The Lumads of Mindanao consist of the few remaining tribes in the country who have preserved their indigenous culture through the only means it can be done—by living on their ancestral lands. If the current trend of killing and driving them away from the mountains...
The fact that the public remains vigilant over whether the Aquino administration struck a deal or not with the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) underscores the reality that the administration, through the Department of Justice (DOJ), indeed holds special powers over which of...