Download the 2017 Yearend Birdtalk briefing paper here
The year 2017 will be remembered as the year when the first major signs of distress for the Duterte administration showed themselves. The signs of economic troubles and the fundamentally anti-poor direction of economic policies became even clearer. The political agenda of centralized power and extended rule through charter change also became clear, notwithstanding the misdirection of federalism dangled as a cure-all for the country’s far-ranging economic and political ills. These set the stage for greater unrest, as the Duterte administration shifts to high gear in undermining nascent Philippine democracy in 2018 and beyond.
