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Continue reading →: Watt’s the Verdict? NGCP Shocks PSALM and TransCo in Landmark RulingBy Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — February 28, 2025 Introduction: A High-Voltage Victory with Far-Reaching Sparks In a ruling that sent ripples through the Philippine energy sector, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP)—the powerhouse backed by tycoons Henry Sy Jr. and Robert Coyiuto—has emerged victorious in a seven-year…
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Continue reading →: When Rain Brings Death: The Philippines’ Fight to Outlast DengueBy Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — February 28, 2025 MARICEL clutches her daughter’s tattered bunny doll, its single eye staring blankly back at her. Four-year-old Ana used to chase dragonflies in the alleyways of their Quezon City barangay, her laughter echoing through the narrow streets. Now, that laughter is gone.…
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Continue reading →: Coco Cash Grab: Sandiganbayan Hands UCPB’s Shares to the Government—Game Over?Sandiganbayan Slams COCOLIFE, Orders UCPB Shares Back to the Government—Here’s What It Means By Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — February 27, 2025 THE Sandiganbayan just dropped a legal bombshell that’s reverberating through Manila’s corridors of power and the coconut groves alike. In a February 24, 2025 ruling, the anti-graft court…
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Continue reading →: The Price of Power: Putin’s Mineral Gambit and Ukraine’s Stolen FutureBy Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — February 27, 2025 THE ground beneath Olena’s feet shimmered with promise. Rich deposits of lithium lay hidden there, fueling her childhood dreams of designing sleek, futuristic vehicles. Today, that same earth bears the scars of war—shattered homes, abandoned streets, and Russian tanks rolling over…
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Continue reading →: Echoes of Kyiv in Manila: A Vote That Tests AlliancesThe UN Vote That Shook the World: A New Era of Uncertainty By Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — February 27, 2025 BETRAYAL tastes bitterest when it comes from a friend. For Oleksandr, a Ukrainian soldier shivering in a trench near Kursk, the news hit like a mortar shell: the United…
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Continue reading →: Roots of Ruin in the PhilippinesBy Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — February 26, 2025 ON Dinagat Island, a speck of green off Mindanao’s coast, Maria Tumulak wakes before dawn. Her bamboo hut clings to a hillside once shrouded in towering dipterocarps—giants of the Philippine forest. Now, the canopy is thinning. At 53, Maria, a member…
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Continue reading →: The Golden Silence of MalacañanBy Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — February 26, 2025 IMAGINE a vault deep within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, its shelves gleaming with gold bars—national treasure, a hedge against chaos, a symbol of stability. Now picture those bars slipping quietly into the shadows, sold off to unnamed buyers for undisclosed…
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Continue reading →: The Grease of Greed: Unpacking the Tara System in Philippine CustomsBy Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — February 25, 2025 IN THE quiet hum of a warehouse in Capas, Tarlac, a betrayal was brewing. Last weekend, news broke of a plot to resell P270 million worth of smuggled cigarettes—seized years ago at Subic, meant for the crusher—allegedly during a shift change…
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Continue reading →: Two Wheels, One City: How Angkas Tests Manila’s LimitsBy Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — February 25, 2025 PUBLIC safety laws exist for a reason—but what happens when entire groups decide those laws no longer matter? On February 2, 2025, Cainta Junction in Rizal province witnessed a blatant disregard for such rules. Scores of Angkas riders, clad in neon-green…
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Continue reading →: Chasing Shadows: How FATF’s Playbook Pulled the Philippines Back from the BrinkBy Louis ‘Barok’ C Biraogo — February 24, 2025 MARIA Santos sat in silence, her hands trembling as prosecutors painted a chilling picture of betrayal and greed. Her late husband’s name had become a footnote in a sprawling web of corruption—money funneled from his tiny sari-sari store to shadowy offshore…






