-
Continue reading →: A Farmer’s Champion Rises Again: Kiko Pangilinan’s Senate ComebackBy Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — May 13, 2025 IN THE chaotic arena of Philippine politics, where dynasties like the Marcoses and Dutertes loom like Goliaths, former Senator Kiko Pangilinan has staged a stunning political resurrection. His fifth-place finish in the 2025 Senate elections, with 12.3 million votes, is not…
-
Continue reading →: Marcos’s Ratings Surge: Progress or Polling Illusion?By Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — May 13, 2025 WHEN three polls tout a president’s rising approval ratings, it’s tempting to declare a comeback—but in the Philippines’ fractious political landscape, numbers often obscure more than they reveal. Recent surveys from Tangere, Octa Research, and Publicus Asia claim President Ferdinand Marcos…
-
Continue reading →: Unmasking a Digital Conspiracy: China’s Alleged Meddling in Philippine ElectionsBy Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — May 12, 2025 Introduction: A Shadow Over Democracy On May 10, 2025, a bombshell complaint hit the Commission on Elections (Comelec), accusing 15 candidates backed by former President Rodrigo Duterte of reaping the benefits of “China-funded” digital disinformation campaigns in the 2025 Philippine midterm…
-
Continue reading →: Echoes of the Unheard: Marcos’s Call and the Poor’s Silent StruggleBy Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — May 11, 2025 IN THE festering slums of Tondo, Sisa, a 42-year-old mother of four, claws through heaps of garbage, scavenging for scraps to feed her children. Her husband, gunned down in a police anti-drug raid last year, left no justice, only silence. Sisa’s…
-
Continue reading →: Jailed in The Hague, Ruling Davao: Duterte’s Defiant Bid to Govern from a CellBy Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — May 11, 2025 RODRIGO DUTERTE, former Philippine president and Davao’s eternal strongman, is pushing the boundaries of law and logic. Detained in The Hague on International Criminal Court (ICC) charges for crimes against humanity, he’s gunning for an eighth term as Davao City mayor…
-
Continue reading →: Empty Plates, Full Promises: Will Poverty Data Shape the Philippines’ 2025 Elections?By Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — May 11, 2025 IN THE barangays of Mindanao, where 61% of families call themselves poor and 23% have gone hungry, hope is as scarce as rice. Farmers like Ana, a mother of four I met in Davao del Sur, skips meals so her children…
-
Continue reading →: Ombudsman’s Ambush on Gov. Garcia: A Legal Farce or Electoral Assassination?By Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — May 11, 2025 Introduction: Suspensions as Political Grenades—Democracy Under Siege On April 29, 2025, a mere 13 days before the May 12 midterm elections, Ombudsman Samuel Martires lobbed a 60-day preventive suspension at Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, accusing her of misconduct over an emergency…
-
Continue reading →: Truth Under Fire: Davao’s Battle Against a Forged FutureBy Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — April 11, 2025 IN A chaotic Davao City market, Luz, a vendor balancing baskets of mangoes, pauses to check her phone. A post blares across her screen: a “Pulse Asia survey” claiming Rodrigo Duterte, locked away in The Hague, commands an 83% lead for…
-
Continue reading →: The Pasay Pageant and the Shadows of Power: A Philippine Democracy on TrialBy Louis ‘Barok‘ C Biraogo — May 10, 2025 IN Pasay City’s gleaming Philippine International Convention Center, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. orchestrates a dazzling spectacle on September 26, 2024, unveiling the Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas senatorial slate—a cavalcade of dynastic titans like Villar, Cayetano, and Binay, cloaked in promises…
-
Continue reading →: Efraim Genuino’s Grand Graft Gala: A Shameless Plunder Party ExposedBy Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — May 10, 2025 EFRAIM GENUINO, the former PAGCOR kingpin, didn’t just dip his toes in corruption—he dove headfirst into a cesspool of graft, malversation, and ethical debauchery. The Sandiganbayan’s May 2025 ruling, slapping him and his four stooges with a theatrical “100 years” in…






