The train has not arrived yet. But the problem already has. Stand outside any MRT or LRT station at rush hour and you will see it — a crowd thathas nowhere to go, pressed against an entrance that cannot absorb it. Nobody plannedfor this. Nobody needed to. The system allows everyone to arrive at once,…
The Philippines is no longer dealing with a temporary oil shock. What is unfolding is a longer shift—one that will shape how transport, prices, and economic stability behave in the years ahead. Fuel prices will still rise and fall, but they are unlikely to return to the levels that once made a diesel-dependent system workable….
Every oil spike forces the same response. Government releases fuel subsidies, rolls outayuda, and tries to hold the line on fares. We have done this repeatedly—during pastglobal price surges, and again today. In 2022, the Department of Budget andManagement released about ₱2.5 billion for the Department of Transportation’s fuelsubsidy program, drawn from regular appropriations under…
When the last American bases left Clark and Subic in 1992, Filipinos celebrated. Thirty years later, we are inviting them back—and calling it strategy. Hosting foreign bases seems practical. It signals partnership, shows strength, and provides access to military capability we do not have on our own. There are also visible returns—jobs, a runway, a…
We send officials abroad on study tours to learn from countries that have already solvedproblems we are still struggling with. We hire foreign consultants at considerableexpense to advise on systems they built elsewhere. And then we allow retiredengineers, former hospital administrators, and veteran urban planners from those samecountries to sit undisturbed on our beaches—because no…
There is a quiet phrase that Filipinos say when problems seem too large, too complicated, or simply too exhausting to confront: “Bahala na.” It once carried the meaning of courage. It meant stepping forward despite uncertainty, trusting that effort, faith, and resilience would see things through. But lately, the phrase sounds different. When people hear…
How many times does the same story have to repeat before a nation finally admits something is deeply wrong? A scandal breaks. Officials deny everything. Investigations are announced. Cameras roll. Politicians deliver dramatic speeches about accountability. Weeks pass, the headlines fade, and somehow the same personalities remain in power while the public is told to…
Let us stop pretending. A government that talks casually in trillions while families measure rice by the cup is not leading—it is failing. Officials can point to charts and growth figures all day, but ordinary people do not live inside spreadsheets. They live in kitchens, markets, and jeepneys. When flood budgets grow yet homes still…
Let us stop pretending. A government that talks casually in trillions while familiesmeasure rice by the cup is not leading—it is failing. Officials can point to charts andgrowth figures all day, but ordinary people do not live inside spreadsheets. They live inkitchens, markets, and jeepneys. When flood budgets grow yet homes still flood, whendebt climbs…
A few evenings ago on EDSA, between Ortigas and Buendia, a scooter cut across the yellow lane, slipped between two buses, and beat a red light. No visible plate. No clear identification. Cars stayed put because red means stop. He did not. No one flagged him down. You sit there gripping the wheel, telling yourself…