IN 2003, Sulu opened its arms to visiting American soldiers who took part in Balikatan military exercises, says Mindanao State University-Sulu professor Octavio Dinampo. Sulu's governor, a congressman, and 17 mayors pledged their support in return for...

THE POOR will always be with us, but in Eastern Samar, the number of people living below the poverty line has been on a steady decline in the past decade. And while Eastern Samar was once a perennial member of the so-called ‘Club 20’ (which is made up...

THE election period began this week, and with it the promise of Malacañang that it will ensure “credible, honest, and peaceful” elections. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita himself said that “all indications point towards peaceful and credible...

NEXT month commences a new round of joint U.S.-Philippine military exercises. Cancelled by the United States in protest over the continued detention at the Makati city jail of a U.S. Marine convicted of raping a Filipina, the Balikatan exercises were...

ONLY individual media practitioners, not media organizations, are covered by the constitutional guarantees of free speech and free press. Or so argue lawyers of First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo in his motion to dismiss the civil class action suit...

THE latest article in our current i Report series on good local governance focuses on Marikina. For more than a decade now, Marikina has been held up as a model for good local governance -- and with good reason. From a decrepit and nearly dying...

FOLLOWING the Office of the Ombudsman's decision to file graft and extortion charges against former justice secretary Hernando Perez, Senate Minority Floor Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said he hopes Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez “will really...