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The debt is no longer just growing. It is quietly eating the budget—and with it, our room to choose our future. And that is precisely why the Supreme Court’s pending rulings on the legality of recent budget practices matter—not only for constitutional order, but for the country’s long-term fiscal survival.
The Supreme Court must act decisively—to restore fiscal discipline, transparency, and accountability, and to uphold the integrity of the budget process. At stake is not merely a budgetary device, but the Constitution’s clear command on who controls the nation’s purse—and in whose name public money is spent.
If the Trump government gets away unsanctioned for the Jan. 3 attack of an independent country and the abduction of a sitting president, despicable he maybe, it would encourage country-bullies to do the same.
The numbers and assurances alone do not sustain credibility. What the public now demands is consistency, urgency and unmistakable political will. Without them, the promise of accountability risks dissolving into yet another anticlimax, another corruption scandal that begins with fire and ends in smoke.
Unverified social media reports claim that Cabral had “11-digits” in cold cash, meaning at least 10 billion pesos. Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla’s estimate is P20 billion.
This Christmas, amid traffic jams, the crowds, high prices, we persevere. We light up the trees. We put up lanterns. We patiently beat the long queue just to be home for Christmas. We hope and pray that in 2026, the guilty are punished and governance will be better. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
In its penultimate month of monitoring for 2025, Sandatahang Dahas recorded an alarming increase of state agents exercising their means for brutality beyond what can be considered justifiable scenarios. This brings into question the principle of “maximum tolerance,” and whether state forces actually abide by this like they are instructed to do. As the year comes to a close, Sandatahang Dahas will continue monitoring incidents of state-related violence, especially as we have noted an increase in violence between state agents and anti-insurgency operations for November.
If the 2026 budget is truly pork-free, then lawmakers should finally be liberated to do what the Constitution mandates: legislate.
For nearly 30 years, an all-Filipino choir has sustained the only English Sunday Mass at the Basilica of Notre Dame.
The first 25 years of the 21st century is almost over, and the turmoil around us continues. A recent exhibit, Hardware 3: Resistance is Fertile at Kaida Contemporary, Quezon City, reflects on the country’s socio-political trajectories through 33 art works by 12 visual artists attuned to the pulse and sentiments of the streets and to the particularities of history.
