10 Dec 2021
Duterte is playing both sides
Whether in relations with the United States or China, the Philippines remains a plaything in power politics.
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1 Dec 2021
Philippines: diagnosing the infodemic
Fake news is harder to spot than ever. Young voters need to get savvy before the country’s 2022 election. -
2 Nov 2021
Filipino migrants are agents of change
Stereotypes tell of disenfranchised labour. But the experience of people abroad can seed change at home, too. -
12 Oct 2021
Ressa’s prize for resilience underscores the need for press freedom
Telling a story in the Philippines can be deadly. But if a right to know is to recover, this marks a start. -
8 Oct 2021
The Duterte double
The spectacle featuring Duterte and his daughter in the next Philippines presidential election comes as no surprise. -
24 Aug 2021
Duterte’s back-down on US forces in Philippines
After several threats to scrap the agreement giving US troops a legal basis in the country, challenges are lingering. -
21 Jul 2021
The politics of PacMan
Manny Pacquiao is famously conservative. By turning on Rodrigo Duterte, the boxer-senator wants to deliver a knock-out. -
12 Jul 2021
Whatever happened to the South China Sea ruling?
Five years ago the Philippines largely squandered a crucial legal win. But it’s not too late to marshal support. -
1 Jul 2021
Philippines: Aquino’s death marks another democratic turning point
The passing of the former president – and scion of political heroes – could remind people of the power of their choice. -
28 May 2021
How strong is Duterte the strongman?
Entering his last year in office, the Philippine president’s campaign promises ring hollow. The question is what’s next. -
21 May 2021
Duterte the defier
From “beyond compromise” to “just a piece of paper” – the Philippine president jettisons the West Philippine Sea claim. -
6 May 2021
Philippines community pantries give help – and send a message
Filipinos are putting the Duterte administration on notice that its efforts to help during the pandemic fall short. -
22 Mar 2021
Lockdown déjà vu in the Philippines
With Covid cases rising, the Duterte administration keeps doing the same thing but somehow expects a different result. -
26 Feb 2021
A Duterte dynasty?
A campaign by the daughter of the Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte hovers somewhere between rumour and reality. -
3 Dec 2020
In the Philippines, a label can take your life
Accusation as a communist – “red-tagging” – is a potential death sentence, which doesn’t stop some from using it. -
23 Oct 2020
Reading between the lines: Duterte’s careful South China Sea speech
The President of the Philippines may stump up with more nationalist rhetoric, but his true message to Beijing is plain. -
15 Oct 2020
If Duterte likes his human rights record, he can let others look
An international investigation is the best way to address concern about the “war on drugs” in the Philippines. -
30 Sep 2020
Duterte’s vaccine promise is a political placebo
The Philippine president has pinned hopes on a miracle solution to the Covid crisis while gutting effective responses. -
25 Aug 2020
The killings in the Philippines grow more brazen
The recent murder of a well-known activist signals a turning point in the campaign to eliminate dissent. -
13 Aug 2020
The myth of Rodrigo Duterte’s “independent” foreign policy
By lashing the United States and drawing closer to China, the Philippines president has undermined his own goals. -
7 Aug 2020
In the Philippines, a political dance around constitutional change
Quite literally a cha-cha. -
13 Jul 2020
Philippines government driving jeepneys off the road
A modernisation plan and now Covid-19 threaten a vivid cultural symbol and the livelihoods that go with it. -
3 Jul 2020
Southeast Asian democracies in declining health amid Covid-19
An illiberal turn across the region has been exacerbated by the pandemic. Australia should take note. -
6 May 2020
Philippines: Bangsamoro, between conflict and Covid-19
A year after its creation, the autonomous region faces the threat of a pandemic, on top of lingering fractures. -
24 Mar 2020
Philippines: Covid-19 will devastate the poor
The pandemic threatens to break the already frayed fabric of communities that had not yet recovered from the drug war. -
16 Mar 2020
Australia-Philippines: Prolonged partners
Manila’s termination of defence ties with Washington will have a geopolitical cost, but Canberra has history on side. -
6 Mar 2020
Philippines: When democracies hit midlife crisis
The Philippines’ democracy turned 34 last week. Will it continue to flirt with authoritarian fantasies? -
18 Feb 2020
Pushing the Philippines‑US alliance over the cliff
Trump may have shrugged, yet Duterte’s move marks a serious blow to US power and the maritime order in Southeast Asia. -
17 Feb 2020
The politics of racism as the Philippines struggles with coronavirus
Rodrigo Duterte and his backers appears to be exploiting the public health crisis to wedge opponents at home. -
7 Jan 2020
Martial law is lifted, but “state of emergency” persists in Mindanao
The role of the military on the strife-torn island isn’t about to change – and will continue to ensnare legal activists. -
22 Nov 2019
A verdict on justice in a land of impunity
The coming decision on the 2009 Maguindanao massacre will serve as a ruling on the Philippines’ judicial system itself. -
24 Sep 2019
The Marawi siege and after: Managing NGO-military relations
Tension between civil society groups and the armed forces built during the 2017 crisis – but it need not stay that way. -
28 Aug 2019
The Philippine standoff over China
President Rodrigo Duterte has chosen to woo Beijing, in spite of widespread public objection. -
26 Aug 2019
Dengue spirals out of control in the Philippines
After a controversial vaccine ban, the government struggles to contain the epidemic. -
1 Aug 2019
Indigenous roots of the “first” Filipino suicide bombing
A June attack in Sulu could be a rediscovery of an almost forgotten cultural practice rather than ISIS mimicry. -
18 Jul 2019
After the voting, personality beats policy in Southeast Asia
Malaysia is not the only country consumed by speculation about who takes over from a conspicuous and captivating leader. -
27 May 2019
Think national, start local: taming the Philippines communists
Peace talks to prise regional commands away from a longstanding insurgency hold promise but a national approach is key. -
21 May 2019
Duterte’s opposition in disarray following Philippines mid-terms
Renowned for once toppling a dictator, the opposition is struggling to break Duterte’s hold on the popular imagination. -
20 May 2019
Trash talk in the Philippines reveals waste trails in Southeast Asia
Rich countries dumping plastic waste and garbage on poorer parts of the region has raised a stink in Manila. -
15 May 2019
In dull midterm elections, Manila is a thriller
Another former actor-turned-politician has stolen the show and injected the spark of change into Philippines politics. -
15 Mar 2019
With US out of favour and China doubts, Duterte turns to Tokyo
Japan has quietly, and successfully, been building ties with the Philippines in a way that could calm a volatile region. -
18 Feb 2019
One casualty of Jolo bombing: Indonesian-Philippine trust
The eagerness to blame Indonesians for the cathedral attack sets back regional cooperation, exactly when most needed. -
15 Feb 2019
In the Philippines, activists increasingly face a “living hell”
Victims of “red tagging,” or the false branding of activists as communist insurgents, can be fatal in the Philippines. -
6 Feb 2019
Hopes and tempered promises for the Bangsamoro Organic Law
Fatal bombings just few days after the historic vote demonstrated that peacebuilding in the region is contentious. -
31 Jan 2019
Don’t “crush” Abu Sayyaf perpetrators, debrief them
Vital information is lost when the Philippines military is encouraged to kill rather than arrest the perpetrators. -
15 Jan 2019
Philippine alliance angst
A call for the Philippines' possible withdrawal from the US-Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty has come as a surprise. -
11 Dec 2018
Separating the Philippine state from the church
Filipino Catholic voters separate the Church from the State and uphold this in political practice. -
26 Jul 2018
The Sabah question
<p>The Philippines and Malaysia are sparring over territory as Manila looks at a change to country’s constitution.</p> -
23 Jul 2018
A travel notebook to Marawi City
A heady mix of suffering and desperation has left the Philippines’ city even more vulnerable following the brutal siege. -
11 Jul 2018
Assessing Duterte’s China investment drive
Separating the PRC and Hong Kong when calculating Chinese investment in the Philippines has major consequences.