Nation

Construction workers take a rest. Government infrastructure projects continue amid the pandemic. Independent think-tank Ibon Foundation maintains such projects do not stimulate the economy and favor big business and foreign investors. (File photo by Raymund B. Villanueva) “The Duterte administration’s plans for economic recovery revolve around continuing infrastructure projects as the main source of economic…

Bulatlat.com COVID-19 hastens PH economic decay As COVID-19 wipes out whatever is left of the limited opportunities for Filipinos to earn a living, the Duterte administration’s lacking response, combined with an oppressive political environment, creates conditions for a perfect storm of social unrest. Duterte’s double treason Under the guise of ‘freedom of navigation’ and ‘commitment…

Overseas Filipino workers returning from Kuwait. (Photo from DFA website) Looking at history, one can say that state abandonment is very much the official disposition on which the labor export system is hinged. The Philippine government is fundamentally inclined to function simply as what sociologist Robyn Rodriguez calls a “labor brokerage state,” an institutional apparatus…

With the cases increasing, concerned government agencies are swamped with backlogs, particularly on validating COVID-19 cases and an overwhelmed public health system. By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO Bulatlat.com MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte is set to deliver his fifth State of the Nation Address on Monday. But where does the country stand now with the…

By LEON DULCE A complex array of multiple crises slowly brewing for four years breached the tipping point and inundated the Philippines in just the last four and a half months. This is the story of our nation as we approach the upcoming State of the Nation Address of President Rodrigo Duterte. The COVID-19 pandemic…

Church leaders file a petition against the Anti-Terror Act of 2020 before the Supreme Court, July 24. (Photo by Leah Valencia) By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO Bulatlat.com MANILA – Church leaders joined the mounting legal opposition against the controversial Anti-Terror Act of 2020 as they filed their own petition today, July 24, before the Supreme…