Opinion

This year, the Philippines passed a critical national law that advances the legal framework to combat further plastic pollution. Titled the “Extended Producer Responsibility” law, the legislation requires mandatory EPR for businesses with assets worth over ₱100 million. Not many know the Philippines dominates global ocean plastic pollution chart at …

We join Philippine Coast Guard authorities in condemning the unprovoked acts of coercion and dangerous maneuvers of the China Coast Guard against recent resupply missions to Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal. PCG Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan said in a statement the systematic and consistent manner in which the CCG vessels …

How important is the redeployment of military personnel at this time? It’s an urgent one, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. emphasized recently, in light of new geopolitical realities and the territorial and maritime disputes in the West Philippine Sea. “As we move now from focusing on ensuring internal security for the …

The United Nations World Meteorological Organization has said the current El Niño, which developed rapidly during July-August this year, is likely to peak between now and January. “There is a 90-percent likelihood it will persist throughout the upcoming northern hemisphere winter/southern hemisphere summer,” it said in its latest update, adding …

The House of Representatives deserves commendation for setting aside P15.8 billion in next year’s national budget for school and daycare feeding programs. The stark reality today is many low-income families are unable to put enough food on the table, with children ending up malnourished and stunted in growth. This budget, …

It is said “no army can withstand the strength of an idea whose time has come.” That proverb may have arisen under different circumstances, but it is appropriate now when the country faces China’s increasingly aggressive activities in the West Philippine Sea. And certainly an idea whose time has come …

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro has spoken. That all operations being carried out by the Philippines in its maritime territories, including those of the West Philippine Sea, are rules-based. “We are merely asserting our rights which the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and relevant Philippine laws secure …

Things are looking up, with the planned reciprocal access agreement or RAA between the Philippines and Japan which President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said would benefit both countries. The plan surfaced during the recent visit of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida who expressed serious concerns about the situation in the East …

When Republic Act 10931, known as the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, was signed into law in August 2017, it gave Filipino youth, particularly those from poor and underprivileged families, the opportunity to pursue college degrees through free tuition and exemption from other fees in state colleges and …

Soon as he uttered the last word of his oath of office and felt the congratulatory hand of the appointing authority, the newly appointed agriculture chief saw before him a bulletin board of problems he must address. This, after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. gave up the Cabinet portfolio he held …