Commentary
Silence in the Courts: The Quiet Erasure of Marcos Accountability
Dom Ybera | September 20, 2026On 21 September 2026, the country marks the 54th anniversary of Presidential Proclamation 1081 – the day Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. placed the Philippines under martial law and began fourteen years of a regime remembered for plunder as much as for repression. Twelve days earlier, on 09 September, court documents that the Supreme Court had […]
The Paradox of Violence: The False Rhetoric Behind “Terror Grooming”
Aira Cobico | September 15, 2026The recent school shooting incidents that happened at the San Jose National High School in Tacloban City, and at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University Junior High School less than two months later, resulted in deaths and injuries that prompted public debate over school safety, violent influence among youth, criminal liability, and access to firearms. Several […]
When “Counter-Terrorism” Becomes a Weapon Against Civil Society
Dom Ybera | September 15, 2026When “Counter-Terrorism” Becomes a Weapon Against Civil Society: FATF, Financing Laws, and New Legal Threats in the Philippines This article traces how an international financial-compliance regime became a domestic tool of repression in the Philippines, and how new legislation pushed through Congress threatens to expand that tool considerably. A Community Organization Frozen OutFor years, the […]
The Cost of “Development”: Mining, Militarization, and the Philippine Climate Crisis
Normel Bermundo | July 29, 2026The Philippines is experiencing an escalating climate crisis as the country’s political and economic systems, dominated by vested interests, exacerbate the impact of climate change. The OECD, in its 2026 economic survey on the country, reports more intense and frequent typhoons, accelerated sea-level rise, and more extreme rainfall events. All these pose grave risks and […]
The soil remembers, reflections on peace and loss in Toboso
Dom Ybera | June 4, 2026I arrived in Toboso expecting to join an International Fact-Finding and Solidarity Mission (IFSM). I did not expect the land itself to feel like a testimony. Negros is beautiful in a way that almost feels cruel. The hills stretch endlessly in green. The air feels lighter than in the city. Trees sway quietly in farmlands […]
The Ayuda Trap: Why Survival is Not a Solution
Dom Ybera | May 7, 2026People already know how it goes. There’s a list. You line up, sometimes before sunrise. If your name is there, you receive a temporary reprieve. If it isn’t, you go home to navigate the impossible alone. A few days later, the relief is gone. But the problem remains. The cost of living is rising: food, […]
World Health Day: Stand for Health, Stand for the People
Aira Cobico | April 11, 2026There is a saying in Filipino told in times of frugality, “pag maikli ang kumot, matutong mamaluktot.” This saying appears to be appropriate for every Filipino family when discussing health matters because every coin spent going to the doctor could have been used to pay off rent, electric and water bills, groceries and other expenses […]
Beyond Flowers and Greetings: The Militant Heart of International Working Women’s Day
Dom Ybera | March 10, 2026Every year on March 8, we are reminded that International Working Women’s Day was never meant to be a day of passive greetings or gift-giving. It was born in the streets, fueled by the fire of organized struggle against systems that profit from our labor and our silence. In the early twentieth century, women workers—those […]
Blinded by greed: The fight for land in Candoni, Negros Occidental
Aira Cobico | March 9, 2026What was praised by Mayor Rey Ruiz as “a shining light from the sky,” the Php2 billion palm oil plantation project of Hacienda Asia Plantation, Inc. (HAPI), owned by the Consunji group, has instead been dark and ominously forbidding as HAPI have started bulldozing the uplands of Candoni, Negros Occidental along with the lives of […]
EDSA at 40: The People’s Power
Aira Cobico | February 28, 2026On February 25, 2026 at precisely 12 noon, youth, workers, farmers, urban poor, women, elderly, indigenous peoples, church people, and many more gathered in the streets of EDSA. They brought with them colorful placards, flags, and banners that had texts in bold capital letters demanding accountability and genuine good governance. Thousands walked to the EDSA […]