During my college years, most anti-activists I’ve encountered on campus were deans, department chairs and professors. With all sorts of letters after their names. One wasn’t even shy preaching about how schools should remain neutral and defending the policies of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in one breath.
Tag Archives: Philippines
Support the Anti-Dynasty Network
For decades since the ratification of the 1987 Constitution, the public has been waiting for Congress to enact a law that gives life to the constitutional prohibition on political dynasties. With Congress dominated by politicians from political dynasties, it’s been near impossible for such a law to be enacted. Nonetheless, it shouldn’t stop the people from demanding and campaigning for it.
Enter the Anti-Dynasty Network – a non-profit organization composed of ‘reform-minded dynasts, academics, public servants, and citizens committed to ending political dynasties and advancing inclusive, accountable governance.’
They are currently gathering signatures in support of the effort to enact an anti-dynasty law with the following features:
We would like to see the following in an anti-dynasty law:
- No family member must immediately succeed an incumbent in any elective office.
- The ban must extend to relatives up to the fourth (4th) civil degree of consanguinity or affinity; this covers grandparents, parents, spouses, in-laws, children, siblings, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, and first cousins.
- The ban must cover overlapping constituencies.
i. No two members of the same family within the fourth (4th) degree can run for and hold the offices of President, Vice President, or Senator at the same time.
ii. No two members of the same family within the fourth (4th) degree can run for and hold office in the same province and/or city or municipality at the same time.
iii. No local official may be related to the district representative of the same area.
iv. No relative of an incumbent national or local official may be fielded as a nominee of a party-list organization.
Clear. Reasonable. Long overdue. If you’re looking for a cause or effort that would bring meaningful change to our country, this would be one of it. Express your support here. Together we can do this.
Marcos Jr ditches cousin to deflect flood control mess
Pundits say no one becomes Speaker of the House without the blessing of the President, so when Marcos Jr practically scolded both Houses of Congress in his last SONA with his now infamous “Mahiya naman kayo!“, what he meant was ‘WTF gentlemen, first you fucked up the impeachment, then you didn’t exactly gave me a complete victory despite all of the ayudas even though we all knew the 2025 budget was for the election, now the people are getting wild ideas from the Indonesians because the monsoon has exposed how you all got so greedy with these shitty flood control projects!
So…some would have to be thrown under the bus, it will be somebody, not me. No, definitely not me. But surely it will be some of you.’
A little over a week ago, it was Chiz Escudero who was the first to fall after being ousted as Senate President.
Now, it’s Martin Romualdez as he will be resigning as Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The Duterte propaganda machine will spin this as ‘their’ victory, but it was all on Romualdez as he brought this upon himself. He fucked up so bad, being a cousin of the President is not enough to save him. And no, all that meow meow was just a silly distraction.
That Romualdez will be replaced by Faustino Dy III, another trapo from the Dy dynasty that has lorded over the province of Isabela for decades, means the change is just cosmetic.
How this ‘adjustment’ to the current dispensation will affect or factor in the Marcos camp’s design to convert their Restoration into a continuation come 2028 remains to be seen, they have demonstrated to be able players of the long game and there’s still some time before Marcos Jr becomes a complete lame duck and the factions of the political class would have packed up and hitched their wagon to the next possible contender aside from, and if, Daughterte makes it there unscathed.
Coming back to the present, our task has become much more obvious: we must continue to demand accountability from our officials and the bureaucracy. Leadership reshuffles in Congress is not enough. Having a handful of private contractors and expendable bureaucrats facing charges are not enough. They could not have cheated and robbed the public coffers alone. It started with the preparation and deliberation of the national budget, so Congressmen and Senators are definitely involved, it would not even be a surprise if the proper investigations would lead to the President and his cabinet.
Keep following the investigations in the Senate and House of Representatives, even though we know they’re meant to distract, obfuscate, or would not reveal the complete truth, it would keep our politicians honest enough to know we are watching. Demand for the passage of the Freedom of Information bill. Demand that SALNs be made public again.
Support journalists that are really doing their job of asking the hard questions, digging deeper and providing more context beyond mere quote cards, reporting on facts rather than innuendos and gossip.
If you can spare the time, join the protests on September 21 either at Luneta or EDSA Shrine or even both. Everyone who wants a clean, honest and accountable government is welcome.
Forty
As I write this, typhoon Emong (Co-May) is barreling through Northern Luzon bringing winds up to 184 km/h. It’s the second tropical storm to hit since last week, making the effects of the Southwest Monsoon more severe as today marks the 7th consecutive days of heavy rains.
As with every monsoon season that gets worse by accompanying typhoons, Metro Manila and surrounding provinces suffer from widespread flooding, disrupting school, businesses and making it harder and dangerous to come to work. Obviously, the government has failed to do its duty despite spending billions of public funds in numerous flood control projects throughout the country.
In the midst of it all, I mark four decades of walking this earth. Celebrations have been kept simple and muted, as we all try to shelter in place and ride out the storm. Literally. Since last year, there have been some progress on the ‘goals’ I’ve laid down. It’s not on the blogging, podcasting or pushing out a newsletter side, but getting a better sense of the overall direction I want to go on now that I’ve reached this milestone. There’s a great level of confidence that come next year, we would in a better place. It all sounds a bit exciting, to say the least.
Another milestone that makes this year a little bit more special is it coincides with the 30th anniversary of my favorite Gundam series – Mobile Suit Gundam Wing which first aired in Japan in 1995. It was the first Gundam series to be aired on US television, introducing many young boys and girls of the 2000s to the world of Gundam. It wasn’t the best series in the franchise but the Gundam franchise wouldn’t be as big and popular as it is today if it weren’t for Gundam Wing.
As part of the 30th anniversary celebrations, Bandai has released a ‘clean’ (no opening credits) version of Gundam Wing’s opening theme – “Just Communication” for fans of the series to enjoy:
Bam Aquino deserves credit for the Free College Tuition Law
Bam Aquino hasn’t even been proclaimed as a Senator after garnering the 2nd most number of votes in the recent 2025 elections, the Duterte online propaganda machine has already made him a target.
In a scripted post that quickly spread on Facebook, Duterte partisans argue that credit for the free college tuition law or Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act (RA 10931) should go to the incarcerated former President, as he was the one who signed it into law during his term.
While that little piece of history cannot be denied, it’s important to bear in mind the following:
First, if Senators and members of the House of Representatives would stop doing their job, which is to legislate or craft new laws, then the President would have nothing to sign into law. It was Bam Aquino in the Senate and Sarah Elago when she was Kabataan partylist’s representative in the Lower House who led the legislative work that went into RA 10931.
Second, it would be helpful to recall Sec. 27, Art. VI of the 1987 Constitution.
It’s the President’s duty to sign into law bills passed by Congress. If he doesn’t agree with an enrolled bill, he can veto it and return it to the chamber from which it originated, along with his explanation for the veto.
The President can even refuse to actually sign an enrolled bill and just let it sit on his desk, pretending it’s not even there,e and it would automatically lapse into law after thirty days.
The Constitution gives Congress the power and duty to legislate with little participation from the President. This implies that in our democratic setup, collaboration between the Legislature and the Executive is required.
To say that credit should only be given to the incarcerated Duterte for the Free College Tuition law shows that one does not understand our legislative process or if they are deliberately ignoring it, means they have malicious intent in doing so.