Rappler's latest stories on Rappler thought leaders
[OPINION | Just Saying] Constitutional prerogative gone wrong
'The denial of ABS-CBN’s franchise application resonates with all of us: our job security, our freedom of information, expression, and the press and, our fundamental right to know and be happy'
[ANALYSIS] How ABS-CBN’s exit will hurt the PH economy
It will seem our laws and regulations can be easily weaponized against certain business interests, at the President’s whim
[OPINION] Surviving and fighting the anti-terror law
'From targeting a universe of a few dozens or at most a few hundred terrorists, the law can be used against thousands, even tens of thousands of activists, critics, and dissidents'
[EXPLAINER] Forget about people’s initiative for ABS-CBN
It will cost the Comelec at least P4 billion, and it will overlap with its preparation for the 2022 elections. Let’s set the exercise aside for when we truly need it.
[OPINION] 100 days of COVID and Duterte
Clearly, the Philippine government wasted the most precious commodity in a crisis: time
[OPINION] Who needs enemies when you have a President like Duterte?
'Count the deaths. Count the sufferings. Count the fear and division he has cast over our nation...'
[OPINION] Duterte raises the bar on impunity
'It is now hoped that petitions to junk the anti-terror law filed in the Supreme Court can be judiciously decided sooner than later'
[OPINION] The moment of truth for the ABS-CBN franchise
'Already, many people in the provinces and our islands have lost access to their only sources of news. This has life and death implications for many...'
[OPINYON] Comments section, vicious sub-platform
Ang comments section ay tuntungan din ng mga tao upang magpahayag ng kanilang ideya na dati’y eksklusibo lang sa mga letter-to-the-editor section ng pahayagan
[OPINION] How social media users can protect themselves from the anti-terror law
'What should the people do? Should they delete their old posts or make their accounts private?' That may not be enough.
[OPINION] The Air Defense Identification Zone – China’s next South China Sea aggression?
'[China's] seizing control of the South China Sea is but the maritime step in a much larger strategic goal: dominating Asia by 2050'
[OPINION] Is Duterte now a dictator?
'Duterte is now encountering hurdles in his authoritarian drive as perhaps never before'
[OPINION] The ABS-CBN hearings: A theater of the absurd
'There’s something rather aberrant about Marcoleta: he just won’t stop flogging a dead horse, whether it be the Lopez citizenship or any other carcass, which is the precise lifeless state common to all the issues raised against ABS-CBN'
[ANALYSIS] How the Senate can save us from Duterte’s ailing pandemic response
'It’s now up to the Senate to come up with a solid, sound supplemental budget that will force Duterte and his economic managers to change their ways and rethink their priorities'
[OPINION] Why did priests and religious vote for Duterte?
'My classmate who told me that he voted for Duterte after a process of discernment was most likely influenced by regionalism rather than the Holy Spirit'
[OPINION | Just Saying] Judges should not take offense
'[Judges] cannot just blame people for making negative outbursts regarding their decisions'
[ANALYSIS] Return to a bleak, not better normal
'Alas, with the Rappler cases and ABS-CBN shutdown, made emphatic with the passage of a draconian anti-terror law amid still rising COVID-19 cases, the Duterte administration’s bait for investors is laced with poison'
[ANALYSIS] Leila de Lima's bail application
'Clearly, the testimonies against De Lima are inadmissible, being hearsay, have little probative value, and are irrelevant, immaterial, and self-serving'
[OPINION] Beyond legalities and technicalities: How the court decision challenges us to keep press freedom alive
'Fear is not what we need at this time, of all times. Especially if fear tricks us into seeing enemies where there are only fellow Filipinos and fellow human beings...'
[ANALYSIS] The racial and genocidal underpinnings of the American Way of War
Racism has been a central feature of the way the United States has waged its wars
[ANALYSIS] The global significance of the Ressa-Santos convictions
'To think that the conviction will only last for at least 6 years is wrong. This imprisonment will last for generations and lifetimes to come, and haunt the national memory.'
[OPINION | Dash of SAS] A love letter to our jeepney drivers
'Our tatay jeepney drivers have not only been stripped of their livelihood, they have also been stripped of their dignity. For the first time, we are seeing our jeepney drivers begging on the street.'
[ANALYSIS] Understanding the Ressa-Santos convictions
'How can an offense deemed to be so minor such as libel and a right so fundamental such as the freedom of speech and of the press stir so much conflict and confusion?'
[ANALYSIS] How Duterte failed to meet the Bayanihan Law’s objectives
Far from being proactive, orderly, and based on clean, reliable data, Duterte’s pandemic response has largely been reactive, chaotic, and based on murky, unreliable data
[ANALYSIS] How COVID-19 threatens online freelancing in the PH – and what can be done
'We should…recognize that in the face of COVID-19, these freelancers, just like many other Filipino workers, will be facing potentially significant headwinds'
[OPINION] Why you can't support both #BlackLivesMatter and Duterte’s drug war
'If you are performatively hashtagging about the murders of Michael, Breonna, and Trayvon, you cannot congratulate the murders of Kian, Jefferson, Carl, and over 20,000 other Filipinos'
[OPINION] When religion blames the victim
'In congregations around the Philippines, women are enjoined to be submissive to their husbands. The Filipino translation is more forceful: magpasakop sa asawa.'
[OPINYON] App, app, and away!
Naniniwala akong kahit anong warning ng mga eksperto, hangga’t hindi inabuso ang data natin, hangga’t malayo sa ating bituka, tuloy-tuloy ang paglipana at pagtangkilik sa mga app na ito
[OPINION] Leachon unmasks a crisis in COVID-19 response
'What we have now is a disastrous response to a disaster'
[OPINION | Newspoint] A strategy of crackdown and cover-up
'The pandemic lays itself open to official exploitation for the fear and the hunger and joblessness and the other distractions it has brought; the government could also use some covering up for its shortcomings in dealing with the emergency'
[ANALYSIS] Duterte’s new COVID-19 loans: Need we worry?
'Can Duterte and his minions spend the money effectively? Several red flags suggest they cannot.'
[ANALYSIS] The Anti-Terror Act is worse than Martial Law
'[The Anti-Terror Act] is authorized to order the arrest of any person even if he or she has not committed any crime of terrorism'
[ANALYSIS] Balancing education risks during this pandemic
The pandemic has made distance learning a necessary tool. But it cannot serve as the exclusive approach to education while we wait for a vaccine.
[ANALYSIS] On the Anti-Terror Bill: Beyond constitutionality
'The question is not only: is it constitutional? The question is also: does or will it serve its intended or at least declared purpose?'
[OPINION | Newspoint] From here to cyber’nity
The cybercrime law goes against the universal trend toward making libel no longer punishable by imprisonment, a long-overdue reinforcement of press freedom in its lopsided relationship to power
[OPINION] Who’s afraid of the new anti-terrorism law?
'They can tap my phone, record my conversations, read my emails, hack my internet accounts, take photos and videos of anything I do for 30-60 days'
[OPINION] Where lies the terror?
'It is a supreme irony that Filipinos suspected of being communist are being hounded and hunted down, while communists from Mainland China are being invited to tutor the Senate, most likely on how to lock down and fence us all in for effective social control'
[OPINION] Anti-Terror Law? Or Anti-Filipino Law?
In truth, therefore, the word 'terror' in the title of the bill is very appropriate
[OPINYON] Hindi ito ang panahon para bumitaw ka sa Facebook
Kung may kalokohang gagawin o ipo-post ang kapangalan mo, mabuting active ang iyong tunay na account. Madaling maipapakita sa sinumang praning na awtoridad na may bukod-tangi at pumipintig kang account. Buhay na buhay.
[ANALYSIS] The alarming jobs report Duterte is ignoring
'Bringing back some jobs will also hinge on the government’s ability — nay, willingness — to implement mass or widespread testing'
[OPINYON] Tara, webinar!
Teacher ka? Walang nakatitiyak kung anong uri ng danas ang nakaamba sa atin sa pasukan. Mag-aral, maghanda, para hindi mabulaga.
[ANALYSIS] West Philippine Sea strategy in total disarray
Certainly, the Filipino people do not deserve this. This only means that we have a long struggle ahead of us.
[OPINION] We can’t breathe
'Today, we are breathless, but we cannot be breathless for too long, for we may not have anything left to fight for and anything left to fight with'
[OPINION] The Philippine military and its hypocrisy
Who is the biggest recruiter for the communist movement? Surely the generals know?
[OPINION] Don’t pass the anti-terror bill; legalize the Communist party instead
'[We] envisage a future when the entire apparatus of the CPP becomes legal, where the CPP, as the CPP, will stand for elections and subject its ideas to open debate'
[EXPLAINER] Can government employees post criticism of the anti-terror bill?
Even those working in the private sector cannot be terminated, disciplined, or punished for posting something on Facebook or Twitter or showing up at rallies
[EXPLAINER] Proposed Anti-Terror Act of 2020 a devil’s playground in the hands of a despot
The bill suffers from obvious legal infirmities, essentially begging for a constitutional challenge
[OPINION] A double dare to the government: Take charge of people’s welfare or give up powers
'If you expect individual citizens and families to take care of themselves...give up some of your powers and resources and redirect them to the people...'
[OPINION | Newspoint] An official act of terrorism
'The ultimate and ironic bad joke is actually on us non-terrorists: the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 is itself an official, legal act of terrorism'
[OPINION] The dirty data, misleading graphs that muddle Duterte’s pandemic response
'Until we have trustworthy data on cases, deaths, and tests to guide our policymakers, government might as well be crafting their policies by flipping coins, or leaving us all to our own devices'
