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Calling the charges “baseless” does not make them disappear. Declaring them “political” does not answer them… Until the vice president confronts the allegations directly and fully, the issue will not fade into politics. It will remain a matter of responsibility left unresolved.
The year ahead promises to be defining for the future trajectory of ASEAN. Expectations are high, and many want to see the bloc be more decisive on key issues of regional stability and prosperity. Marcos Jr., like his Malaysian predecessor, will face a decision whether to remain a passive observer on potentially thorny issues within member countries, or strike out and give ASEAN a more pronounced role in both regional and global affairs.
Eighty one years ago, on February 3, 1945, the Battle for the Liberation of Manila began. It was the only urban battle of the Pacific War and it raged for one month, ending on March 3, 1945… The battle remains controversial due to the excessive loss of civilian life as well as the destruction it caused. It made Manila the second most devastated Allied capital city after Warsaw in Poland during the Second World War.Some of the specific controversial issues surrounding the battle are: Was it a necessary battle? Could the city have been bypassed to save the residents from the horrors of urban fighting and massacres? Was the use of artillery by the Americans done in an indiscriminate manner?
The National Maritime Council bears particular responsibility...A multi-agency approach is necessary, but convergence without leadership is fragmentation. Public messaging by maritime and security agencies must reinforce a coherent diplomatic line, not generate parallel narratives that complicate it.
Marcos Jr., no doubt, will be held accountable. But it is a false dichotomy to assume that there was no corruption under the Duterte regime and that Sara must not be investigated.
Defunding foreign-assisted projects did not save money. It wasted it. It froze infrastructure, raised costs, slowed growth, weakened investor confidence, and shifted the burden onto those with the least protection.
Accountability remains essential. Allegations of abuse of power or misuse of public funds must be investigated, regardless of who is involved. But when political conflict overshadows governance, the public interest suffers.
Social media platforms backed by multi-million dollar companies must also be held accountable in the proliferation of disinformation, and not just profit from the crisis, political scientist Cleve Arguelles urged.
Madriaga, in a notarized affidavit dated Nov. 29, 2025 claimed that Col. Raymund Dante Lachica, security chief at the OVP, made him deliver large sums of money taken from Duterte’s confidential funds at the OVP and the DepEd to several persons “thus confirming how Respondent Duterte and her co-respondents converted the subject confidential funds to their own personal use, contrary to the actual purposes for which the same was earmarked and/or purportedly disbursed.”
A netizen boldly asks: Is government wavering on Escudero and Villanueva? Is there an orchestrated move to absolve them from complicity in the flood control scam? Has Escudero used his reported closeness to Liza Araneta Marcos to whitewash his case? Do Escudero and Villanueva have the goods against President Marcos Jr. that prevents him from pursuing their prosecution?
