Did President Duterte inadvertently give people the idea of “President Trillanes”?

Posted by JoeAm on September 10, 2018 · 296 Comments 

By JoeAm By any measure, Senator Trillanes’ amnesty case has further eroded President Duterte’s reputation of total, complete authority. The beating the President and his men have been taking is worse than that by the Arroyo coup of the House leadership which sat the President aside in the waiting room for an hour, like a … Continue reading →

Category Citizenship/Patriotism, Crime/Corruption, Laws and Ethics, Philippine Government, Philippine Politics

Senator Trillanes, Day 4. DID AFP officers over-reach?

Posted by JoeAm on September 7, 2018 · 205 Comments 

By JoeAm Dateline Philippines, September 7, 2018 I don’t know about you, but I was on edge all morning, running now and then to the television to see if the AFP had descended on the Senate to arrest Senator Trillanes. But nothing. At around 10:00, the Senator appeared for his daily press conference, exhausted from … Continue reading →

Category Citizenship/Patriotism, Crime/Corruption, Foreign Affairs and Defense, Laws and Ethics, Philippine Government

Rappler vs Roxas, Round 2: What is truth?

Posted by JoeAm on September 6, 2018 · 100 Comments 

By JoeAm Last week’s article “How Rappler helped defeat Mar Roxas” generated a lot of discussion here, on Facebook, and on Twitter. Maria Ressa, Rappler’s Executive Editor, responded to the article on Twitter. People contacted me by e-mail and DM to share their thoughts. It ended up being like I had overturned a rock, and … Continue reading →

Category Blogging/Journalism, Laws and Ethics

Impunity, Solicitor General Calida, and Senator Trillanes

Posted by JoeAm on September 5, 2018 · 117 Comments 

By JoeAm We normally think of impunity as a bad thing, something powerful government officials have. They operate with an overbearing sense of entitlement as they wang wang their way through town or set themselves up for commissions on another construction project or, in President Duterte’s case, do illegal acts such as inspire killings outside … Continue reading →

Category Crime/Corruption, Laws and Ethics, Philippine Government

Yellow is not politics, it is a force

Posted by JoeAm on September 4, 2018 · 84 Comments 

By JoeAm There is a lot of confusion about “yellow” in the Philippines. Some people deny being yellow as if it were dengue. Many associate it with the Liberal Party, or liberal politics. Others associate it with the movement to protect Philippine democracy, civility, and human rights. It strikes me as amusing that the State/Marcos … Continue reading →

Category Citizenship/Patriotism, Crime/Corruption, Laws and Ethics, Philippine Government