PNR North Long Haul should also be considered

With recent government projects expanding the railway system currently in the pipeline, such as the North-South Commuter Railway, MRT 7, the Metro Manila Subway, the PNR South Long Haul, the Mindanao Railway, and the potential restoration of the Panay Railways and Cebu Railways as mentioned in the first state of the nation address of President

Why The Open Forum exists

In late March 2022, me and a group of like-minded friends decided to form a new group dedicated to the discussion of political issues facing the Philippines, as well as tackle international events with a Filipino perspective. We have also decided not to structure ourselves into a formal movement given the burden of formalizing things,

Eleksyon na naman. At ang papanget ng jingle niyo.

Matapos na makailang beses na muntik hindi matuloy dahil sa pangamba na ang karamihan sa mga kandidato ay mga may koneksyon sa ilegal na droga, matutuloy na sa Lunes ang Barangay at SK elections. At mayroon akong napapansin. Na karamihan sa mga jingle ng kandidato ay base sa mga nauusong kanta. Bboom Bboom, Naradang, Hayaan

A game pitch

We would like to use this opportunity to pitch an idea: a political simulation game where players are given the chance to run the Philippines through different scenarios, either during the Philippine Revolution, Philippine-American War, Commonwealth era, Japanese occupation, the post-war period, the Marcos years, and the post-EDSA administrations. The players will also have the

On Donald Trump’s comments regarding General Pershing

With US President Donald Trump still reeling from the effects of his comments on the events in Charlottesville, Virginia and amid the most recent terror incident, this time in Barcelona, he once again entered himself to controversy when he tweeted on a long-debunked urban legend that dates back to the early years of American rule

US drone strikes in the Philippines? How about no?

Source of this entry: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/u-s-may-begin-airstrikes-against-isis-philippines-n790271 The Marawi crisis is far from over, with our soldiers engaging in fierce room-to-room combat aided by airstrikes using the new FA-50s bought from South Korea, with occasional assistance by foreign countries. Our traditional allies (United States, Australia, Japan) as well as non-traditional allies (China and Russia) are providing us

Reforms on the public transport system

With the jeepney strikes protesting against the impending phaseout in favor of jeepney modernization last Monday which almost paralyzed public transport in Metro Manila and neighboring provinces (and to lesser extent other cities in the country) and the LTFRB’s controversial decisions against Uber and Grab (which is increasingly becoming the preferred mode of transport among

My Take: NYT’s piece on Du30

With the New York Times’ article on Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte dominating the political discussion, general sentiment is, as always, negative, with spokesperson Ernesto Abella stating this is part of a larger plot to unseat the president. To start, what did the NYT do? They published an article detailing his rise to power, first as

War on drugs: Learning from experience

In an editorial piece published in the New York Times, former Colombian president Cesar Gaviria had some words for Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, that is avoiding the mistakes he committed in leading his country’s war on illegal drugs which the Philippines has done since Duterte took office in June last year. It is noted that

The Filipino left desparately needs a new voice

In a disturbing turn of events, the Communist Party of the Philippines’ armed wing New Peoples’ Army announced a termination of their unilateral ceasefire starting Feb.10. The stated reasons were the government’s refusal to comply with their demands of the release of more than 400 political prisoners and the military’s withdrawal from their “territories”.  As