Opinion

PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has sent an unequivocal message to the country’s giant northern neighbor China when the 66-year-old leader said the Philippines will not be bullied into silence. In his statement the other day, President Marcos said “We seek no conflict with any nation, more so nations that purport …

It is true, as somebody said many decades ago, that history repeats itself, the first time as tragedy, the second as farce. We’re seeing a repeat of Oplan Tokhang the Rodrigo Duterte administration implemented with bloody results from 2016 until the end of its term in mid-2022. The violent crackdown …

The ball is now on China’s turf. This, after Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. challenged China to put its sovereignty claim to arbitration after it had warned – again – the Philippines to bear all ‘’potential consequences’’ amid its actions in the South China Sea. As Teodoro said, and we …

We heard again Washington saying it is standing with its ally Manila as the former condemned Beijing’s dangerous actions against the lawful maritime operations of the Philippines in the South China Sea. The echoes of the US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller were loud: “The PRC’s actions prevent normal personnel …

All bark, no bite. This doggone cliché may well apply to certain state regulators with a fondness for dishing out press releases but short on action in the discharge of their mandated tasks, and therefore get away with murder, so to speak. Let’s talk about the Securities and Exchange Commission, …

Hear, hear. The Department of Health has urged the public to catch up on their routine vaccinations as cases of pertussis and measles have risen, the agency recording 453 cases of vaccine-preventable pertussis in the first 10 weeks of 2024, compared to only 23 in the same period last year. …

Ample proof that Philippine-American relations are on the upswing and expected to grow even stronger in the years ahead is the invitation extended by US President Joe Biden to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to join a three-way summit in Washington, DC with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in April. This …

In a span of just five days this month, the Philippines managed to strengthen bilateral ties with two countries in Europe: Germany and the Czech Republic. In the process, President Marcos Jr. has brought home tangible benefits for the country in the form of trade and investments deals as well …

Visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has had his words loud and clear the expanded defense cooperation with the Philippines is “extraordinary” and underlined Washington’s expanding alliances are not aimed at China. That Blinken, who just flew in from a democracy summit in Seoul, stated this should remind the …

We heard it from the Task Force El Niño spokesman, who raised a bulletin of uneasiness, with the Department of Agriculture saying the weather phenomenon has caused at least P1.31 billion worth of agricultural damage as of mid-March. Now the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System is considering reducing the water …