Editor's Pick

Confirmation hearings to proceed even without Duterte in court, ICC experts say

News

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By Ellen Tordesillas

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Feb 19, 2026

Update Feb. 20, 2026: ICC Pre-Trial Chamber 1 allows Duterte to skip confirmation hearings next week.“The Chamber, while acknowledging the objections of the Prosecution and the CLRV, considers that, in the present circumstances of the case, it is appropriate to proceed with the hearing on the confirmation of charges in the absence of Mr Duterte.”

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Vitaliano Aguirre’s art of comfortably lying

Commentary

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By Antonio J. Montalvan II

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Feb 18, 2026

As secretary of Justice, Aguirre announced that “The criminals, the drug lords, drug pushers, they are not humanity. They are not humanity.”

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From lawmakers to law-evaders: A Senate in crisis

Commentary

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By Tita C. Valderama

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Feb 16, 2026

A fractured Senate is a weak Senate. If leaders are busy managing internal conflict, the chamber cannot effectively serve as a check on the Marcos administration or as a counterweight to the Dutertes. Instead of focusing on laws and oversight, senators are distracted by survival

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BBM tops sycophancy branding

Commentary

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By Miguel Paolo P. Reyes

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Feb 12, 2026

Let us eat BBM rice, live in a BBM housing unit, buy medicine at a Botika at Bakuna para sa Mamamayan outlet, and get a BBM haircut. While it is unlikely that Bongbong has explicitly ordered his underlings (and their underlings) to come up with (P)BBM programs, he certainly is not discouraging them from naming things after him

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Duterte’s lies catch up with him at ICC

Commentary

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By Ellen Tordesillas

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Feb 9, 2026

Notably, the panel of ICC-chosen medical experts included a section titled “Concerning Reliability,” which Kaufman objected to. In it, the chamber noted that the panel unanimously agreed that “Mr Duterte is an unreliable historian concerning his health and mental functions” and that “Mr Duterte’s complaints of memory difficulty and apparent impaired performance on assessment are disproportionate to his observed abilities at interview.”That is a polite way of saying Duterte’s words cannot be taken at face value—hardly news to Filipinos.

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FACT CHECK Online Posts

FACT CHECK: Video of opposition saying they’ll ‘save PH’ is made with AI

This "video" of opposition figures saying they'll save the Philippines is inauthentic. AI was used to turn an image into this video.

News

BirdTalk 2026: PH needs not only good governance but also good economics

Ibon’s Rosario Guzman: The nation’s structure is collapsing because of political instability and a fragile economy due to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s ‘blunders.’ The first was adopting an anti-corruption stance in announcing the anomalous flood control projects while remaining silent on the pork barrel issue.

Commentary

Carpio’s contradictions

In styling himself an international law expert, retired Justice Antonio Carpio has only managed to tie himself up in contradictions. His recent attempt to defend his ponencia in Magallona v Ermita (2011) only tightens the knot he now struggles to untangle. The landmark case had sought to declare Republic Act No. 9522 (2009) or the Archipelagic Baselines Law unconstitutional.