By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS EVERY Undas or All Souls Day (Nov. 2) when Filipinos troop to cemeteries to remember departed loved ones, I always think of the families of desaparecidos. Where do they go to offer flowers and light the candles for their dead whom they didn’t bury? I think of Edith Burgos,
By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS DO you know that President Rodrigo Duterte is a Foreign Service graduate? That what he said in his press conference with the foreign correspondents in China last Oct. 19. He boasted: “Now that I am the President, by the grace of God, I read a lot; I’m a lawyer and I
By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS PRESIDENT Duterte’s sharing of his experience with “American idiotic arrogance” has lifted part of the veil of mystery about the reason for his intense hostility towards the United States that many are concerned is adversely affecting long-standing Philippine-US relations. In his speech before Philippines-China Trade and Investment Forum in Beijing during
By CHARMAINE DEOGRACIAS PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to adopt every textbook approach on the issue of the South China Sea territorial dispute but they were muted on the arbitral tribunal ruling during their bilateral talks. In joint statement released after the bilateral meeting on Thursday, Philippines and China reaffirmed their
Duterte allows Xi to take lead on South China Sea issue from VERA Files on Vimeo. By CHARMAINE DEOGRACIAS President Rodrigo Duterte will not initiate and will instead let Chinese President Xi Jinping to take the lead on whether the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration will be discussed in their meeting today. In
By CHARMAINE DEOGRACIAS WHETHER Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping talk about Scarborough Shoal in their first meeting in Beijing, the specter of the triangular-shaped coral reef 124 nautical miles west of Zambales looms large in this landmark visit that signals the rekindling of relations between the two Asian countries severely
AS the country marks the first 100 days of the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte, one of the burning issues under intense scrutiny is: What is our foreign policy vis-à-vis current international issues and how is our diplomacy navigating the complex waters of international relations? These questions need educated answers now as the Philippines heads for
By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS PRESIDENT Duterte finally hit the highest target: God. After taking on the holiest of the living figures – Pope Francis; the president of the world’s superpower – U.S. President Barack Obama; and the Secretary General of the United Nations – Ban Ki Moon, he had ran out of adversaries.
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte is no fan of the United Nations, calling its leader a fool and its experts stupid. During his speech before the Malacañang Press Corps on Sept. 26, Duterte once again slammed the UN for interfering in his drug war. He said the international agency had investigated him on the alleged extrajudicial killings in
By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS WE don’t have to enumerate bunglings by the Duterte communication team because Press Secretary Martin Andanar has admitted it. “Tayo naman ay hindi perpekto ‘no, tayo’y nagkakamali din, pero Inaayos natin itong mga pagkakamali na ito (We are not perfect and we make mistakes. We are correcting our mistakes),” Andanar
