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Continue reading →: Cuffs on a Sovereign: Can the ICC Drag Duterte to The Hague?By Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — March 12, 2025 THE arrest of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on March 11, 2025, at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport is more than a sensational headline—it’s a high-stakes legal showdown pitting the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Philippine sovereignty, with Interpol acting as…
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Continue reading →: Duterte’s ICC Takedown – Blood, Bureaucracy, and a Global Legal SmackdownBy Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — March 11, 2025 RODRIGO Duterte, the Philippines’ infamous “Punisher,” now wears the ultimate symbol of accountability: handcuffs. On March 11, 2025, the former president was hauled off at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) under an ICC warrant, his “war on drugs” legacy reduced to…
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Continue reading →: When a Fugitive Waltzes Free: Manila’s Immigration ShameIN A Quezon City courtroom, a 28-year-old South Korean fugitive, Na Ikhyeon, sits surrounded by Bureau of Immigration officers. He’s been in custody since May 2023, wanted in his homeland and caught in a fraud case filed by a Filipina. On March 4, 2025, he’s supposed to face justice. Instead,…
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Continue reading →: The Philippines’ Infrastructure Dream: Gridlocked by Land and LawBy Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — March 11, 2025 MARIA Santos wakes at 4 a.m. to beat the traffic, but there’s no escaping Manila’s gridlock. A mother of three, she spends hours each day crammed into a jeepney, her children’s laughter replaced by the hum of idling engines. She’s heard…
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Continue reading →: Planted Evidence, Stolen Dignity: Why Manila’s Airport Preys on the WeakBy Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — March 10, 2025 RUTH Adel was ready to board her flight to Vietnam, her 69-year-old hands clutching a boarding pass, her family buzzing with the excitement of travel. It was March 6 at NAIA Terminal 3 in Manila, and all she wanted was a…
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Continue reading →: Between Giants: The Philippines’ Fight for Hope Amid U.S.-China FireBy Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — March 10, 2025 THE Filipino fisherman Manuel Santos hasn’t ventured beyond the coastal shallows for three months, his weathered boat idle since Chinese vessels began patrolling what his father and grandfather called their ancestral waters. In Manila, economist Maria Reyes watches her inflation forecasts…
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Continue reading →: Headline: Cop Caught with Pants Down—Literally—Shatters PNP’s Already Shaky CredibilityBy Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — March 10, 2025 A Philippine National Police (PNP) staff sergeant just turned his office into a red-light district—and the internet has the receipts. From leaked screenshots of confidential ops to a workplace scandal that’s equal parts shocking and absurd, this is the kind of…
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Continue reading →: Fleeing Justice or Rallying the Faithful? Duterte’s Dance with Democracy’s EdgeThe Filipino Diaspora’s Silent Thunder By Louis ‘Barok‘ C .Biraogo — March 10, 2025 WAS it a campaign stop—or an escape plan? As Rodrigo Duterte boarded a commercial flight to Hong Kong on March 7, 2025, the whispers followed him through Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The former Philippine president,…
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Continue reading →: The Escape That Shames a Nation: Corruption, Accountability, and the Human Cost at the Philippine Bureau of ImmigrationBy Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — March 9, 2025 THE price of justice in the Philippines: apparently negotiable. When South Korean fugitive Na Ikhyeon walked free from his March 4, 2025 court hearing in Quezon City, it wasn’t an oversight—it was a transaction. CCTV footage now in Commissioner Joel Viado’s…
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Continue reading →: Vloggers Bite Back: Barbers’ Libel Fiasco Threatens Congress’ SwaggerBy Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — March 9, 2025 ‘NARCO VLOGGERS.’ With those two words, House Committee on Dangerous Drugs Chair Robert Ace Barbers may have committed career suicide—or executed a brilliant political maneuver. By accusing prominent influencers like Trixie Cruz-Angeles and Lorraine Badoy of ties to illegal drugs and…






