Opinion

The Marcos administration took two giant steps toward restoring peace in the country through its proclamation of amnesty for various rebel groups and its agreement with the National Democratic Front to restart peace negotiations and reach a political settlement of the 55-year old Maoist insurgency. But while the twin peace …

WITH the Islamic State already claiming responsibility for the deadly bombing at the Mindanao State University in Marawi City on Dec 2, authorities should move decisively to arrest the perpetrators and bring them to justice. Investigators believe the bombing was the handiwork of the Dawlah Islamiyah-Maute Group that operates in …

Chinese harassment of Philippine vessels on humanitarian missions in the disputed South China Sea is continuing, with Beijing accusing Washington of encouraging Manila to provoke China for its own purposes. China has not offered any direct evidence to support its accusation, but observers noted the continuing acrimonious confrontations underline China’s …

The 13-day United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai ends today with hopes high from observers round the world the thorniest issue on the use of oil and gas had been addressed. The participation of more than 160 countries represented in the summit shows how important the conference has …

The House of Representatives deserves commendation for taking a strong stand behind the Marcos administration’s bold move to forge national unity through peace talks with the National Democratic Front and an offer of amnesty to various rebel groups. Party leaders from among the more than 300 members of the House …

Hopes are high world leaders meeting now in Dubai during the Conference of Parties 28 or COP28 would find themselves committed to achieving a “breakthrough” to save the planet. Hot issues during the 13-day summit ending on Tuesday next week range from how to contain fuel fossils to regulating carbon …

“Worse than war is the fear of war,” someone said a long time ago, and that could well be interpreted as an argument for waging war. But fear of war is precisely what keeps us striving to keep war from happening in the first place. Our Constitution explicitly renounces war …

Would you believe that some of our detention facilities, particularly in the National Capital Region, are so overcrowded by those facing trial for various criminal offenses, mostly drug cases, and packed like sardines they can barely move in cramped cells? The problem has gotten so out of hand the government …

Eyeball-to-eyeball at the West Philippine Sea. This is the stretched tight situation in the area after the Philippine Coast Guard deployed two of its vessels following what Manila described as an “alarming” increase in the number of Chinese maritime militia vessels at a reef within the Philippines’ 200-mile Exclusive Economic …

Earlier this year, the Armed Forces of the Philippines reported the current strength of the Maoist New People’s Army had gone down to 2,000 regular fighters from its peak of 25,000 in the 1980s. Of late, the AFP spokesman said the figure had gone down even further to just 1,500 …