President Duterte’s third Sona

President Duterte’s third State of the Nation Address (Sona) succeeded in making him look and sound presidential. For the second time since his brief inaugural address two years ago, he behaved in accordance with what is expected of someone occupying the nation’s highest office. The special “diva lighting” that must have been used on him … Read more

The Sona as authorized speech

Presidents of the Republic give countless speeches in the course of their terms. These speeches vary not only in length and style and their audiences, but also in the degree to which they are shared with the larger public. The one thing they have in common is that they all carry the authority of the … Read more

Understanding public opinion

Social Weather Stations, or SWS, pegs President Duterte’s net satisfaction rating for the second quarter of 2018 at +45 percent, down 11 percent from his first quarter rating of +56 percent, but still “good.” Pulse Asia, on the other hand, records a very high 88 percent approval rating for the President for the same quarter, … Read more

Federalism and trade wars in a global context

The basic selling point of the Duterte administration’s planned shift to a federal system is that it would equalize development opportunities across the various regions of the country, check the traditional political dominance of a few favored centers, and thereby end mass poverty in the periphery. There is no basis for this expectation either in … Read more

Making sense of Duterte’s anti-Catholic rant

It’s difficult to say what provoked President Duterte to mount a sustained verbal attack on the Catholic faith and the religious clergy this past week. Perhaps, Mr. Duterte himself doesn’t know. Self-awareness and rhetorical restraint have never been his strong suits. But, he clearly revels in his high survey ratings. He takes them as irrefutable … Read more