Rodrigo Duterte formally reneged on his threat to abrogate the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) after personally meeting US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on July 29. Thus, the unimpeded entry and exit of huge number of US troops, materiél and military equipment to and from Philippine sovereign territories was officially restored. The push for the […]

Rodrigo Duterte delivered his last State of the Nation Address (SONA) at the Batasang Pambansa Complex, Quezon City in the afternoon of July 26. Lasting around three hours, his speech predictably focused on his agenda for the military and counterinsurgency, as well as his bogus war against drugs, terrorism and corruption. He also laid out […]

According to reports, around 6,000 protesters marched along the Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City on July 26 in conjunction with Rodrigo Duterte’s fifth and last State of the Nation Address (SONA). Organizations from Southern Tagalog and Central Luzon participated in the protest. With the theme “Duterte, wakasan!” (End Duterte) and “Goodbye Duterte,” they demanded an […]

For the third time, the Duterte regime placed Metro Manila and Laguna under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), the strictest form of lockdown, from August 6 to 20 to purportedly stop the spread of the more infectious Delta variant of Covid-19. The lockdowns in Cagayan de Oro and Iloilo, which have been under ECQ since July, […]