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Continue reading →: The Silence Trap: Kaufman’s No-Witness Ploy Faces the ICC’s GuillotineBy Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — August 6, 2025 When Nicholas Kaufman, Rodrigo Duterte’s lead counsel, declared his team would call no witnesses at the September 23, 2025, confirmation of charges hearing, the courtroom didn’t just gasp—it smelled blood. Is this a masterstroke to set a trap for trial, or…
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Continue reading →: DA to Farmers: Let Them Eat Tariffs — A Tragicomedy in Three ActsBy Louis “Barok” C. Biraogo — August 6, 2025 🎭 Act I: Curtain Call for Common Sense The Department of Agriculture’s new proposal is like offering a band-aid to a gunshot wound—if the band-aid were made of red tape, soaked in imported rice vinegar, and stamped “From the Generous Pockets…
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Continue reading →: Hontiveros as Champion, Trillanes as Kingmaker: A Risky Road to 2028By Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — August 5, 2025 IN A cramped Manila barangay, a widow named Katrina clutches a faded photo of her husband, killed in Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war—a victim of the extrajudicial killings that left thousands dead. She whispers, “I want justice, but I also want a…
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Continue reading →: The Night the Constitution Trembled: Romualdez’s Defiant Stand in a Democracy on the BrinkBy Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — August 5, 2025 A midnight ruling by the Philippine Supreme Court didn’t just derail an impeachment—it ignited a constitutional firestorm that could reshape the nation’s democratic foundations. On July 25, 2025, the Court unanimously struck down the House of Representatives’ impeachment case against Vice…
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Continue reading →: Romualdez’s Bold Play: Can Open Budgets Slay the Philippines’ Graft Hydra?By Louis ‘Barok‘ C Biraogo — August 5, 2025 IN Manila, where jeepneys rumble and urban slums whisper tales of despair, a seismic battle for governance unfolds. House Speaker Martin Romualdez’s resolution to open Philippine budget deliberations to civil society watchdogs is a bold strike against a national scourge: graft.…
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Continue reading →: Philippines’ Tourism Boom: Miracle or Mismanagement?By Louis ‘Barok‘ C Biraogo — August 5, 2025 IN THE Philippines, where turquoise waters and vibrant festivals draw millions, a storm brews not on the beaches but in the halls of power. The clash between Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre and Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia-Frasco threatens to unravel a…
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Continue reading →: Gadon vs. Topacio: Manila’s Legal Soap Opera Where Everyone LosesBy Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — August 6, 2025 IN Manila’s sweltering political arena, where egos clash louder than a jeepney’s backfire, the Gadon-Topacio feud is a spectacle of self-inflicted chaos. Picture a disbarred lawyer and a headline-chasing attorney dueling with gavels and microphones while the Supreme Court, gavel poised,…
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Continue reading →: NIA’s Rice Revolution: Solar-Powered Dreams Drowning in a Leaky CanalBy Louis ‘Barok’ C Biraogo — August 4, 2025 THE National Irrigation Administration (NIA) in the Philippines has rolled out a glittering pageant of promises—contract farming, climate-smart irrigation, and AI-driven dreams to “future-proof” rice farming. Administrator Eduardo Guillen’s vision is a bureaucratic fairy tale: farmers empowered, rice at P29/kg for…
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Continue reading →: Honeylet Barred, Bonds Broken: The ICC’s Clash with Filipino Values in Duterte’s TrialBy Louis ‘Barok’ C Biraogo — August 4, 2025 IN THE cold corridors of The Hague, where the International Criminal Court (ICC) seeks justice for alleged crimes against humanity, a deeply human drama threatens to unravel a high-stakes case. Honeylet Avanceña, common-law spouse of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, has…
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Continue reading →: Damn the Floods, Pangandaman Already Cleared It on PaperBy Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — August 4, 2025 FILIPINOS are paddling through waist-deep floodwaters in inflatable kiddie pools, while their leaders ride out monsoons in Land Cruisers with engine snorkels—government-issued, of course. In Manila, flood season now doubles as boat season. I met a mother near Araneta Avenue last…






