Secretary Harry Roque, President Duterte’s spokesman berated medical frontliners in a recent meeting by the government’s Inter Agency task force. Roque blew his top when doctors appealed to the government to revert Metro Manila to strict lockdown instead of relaxing restrictions. This was the time when COVID-19 cases were soaring driven by the Delta variant. Roque has since apologized for the flare-up. But he’s standing up with what he said. We speak with those at the receiving end of the secret...
Sep 10, 2021•50 min
Earlier today, President Duterte’s daughter Sara — a frontrunner in major pre-election surveys for president — announced that she would no longer run for any national position next year. Her statement in response to her father’s decision to run for vice president. according to her, they had both agreed that only one of them would seek a national post in 2022. But despite the categorical statements from the two Dutertes, many are still not convinced that these decisions are set in stone — at leas...
Sep 09, 2021•29 min
A viral post by a business owner pretty much sums up the frustration of many over the Duterte administration’s handling of the latest Delta variant surge. Inchang Mendoza related how her restaurant staff was all set for reopening. In fact, they had conducted a general clean-up and bought kilos of meat. But at the last minute, Malacanang announced that Metro Manila won’t shift to a general community quarantine. So what happened? President Duterte spent two hours in a recorded public a...
Sep 08, 2021•51 min
As COVID-19 cases continue to rise here in the Philippines, congressmen have opted to investigate a research group which has been analyzing data mainly from the Department of Health since the pandemic began last year. At Monday’s hearing, congressmen raised questions over the OCTA Research Group’s findings where it’s getting its funding and whether it’s indeed independent. But on the other side of the debate, supporters believe these criticisms are meant to put the blame on octa for whatever sho...
Sep 08, 2021•31 min
The Philippines reached another grim milestone — 22,415 new COVID-19 cases — the country’s highest single-day tally since the pandemic began last year. As reported, hospitals are also overwhelmed, especially in Metro Manila, despite what the official bed occupancy rates tell us. But in the meantime, the Philippines, starting today, has lifted its travel ban on ten countries where the Delta variant is also prevalent. By Wednesday, September 8, Metro Manila will also shift to a General...
Sep 06, 2021•50 min
President Duterte is facing some serious allegation this late in his administration. It began with a Commission on Audit report that found deficiencies in how the Health department spent — or failed to spend — billions of pesos in COVID-19 funds. Part of these was a huge contract amounting to 8.7 billion pesos bagged by a company with limited capitalization and whose incorporators are now nowhere to be found. But here’s the sad part. Medical supplies such as face masks and face shiel...
Sep 04, 2021•15 min
A single company with small capitalization bagging an 8.7-billion-peso contract from the government to supply pandemic-related medical supplies naturally raised questions. And when it turned out the price of the purchase was padded several times over, it was but natural for senators to dig deeper. One of them found that executives of this company in question were facing allegations of financial crimes in Taiwan. Some of them allegedly have close ties with President Duterte, who, by the way...
Sep 03, 2021•32 min
Early on, President Rodrigo Duterte promised never to tolerate even a “whiff” of corruption in his administration. not that senators needed to be reminded of their role under the country’s system of checks and balances. But lately, their investigation has centered on the Commission on Audit's findings on “deficiencies” in an enormous amount of money intended for the government’s pandemic response. Part of this was some P8.7 billion worth of government contract bagged by company with alleged ties...
Sep 02, 2021•21 min
The confirmation was grim but perhaps, not unexpected — according to the World Health Organization, the Delta variant is now the most dominant strain here in the Philippines. But the important question is — what are we doing about it? are we doing enough to contain it? Just days ago, the Philippines recorded its highest single-day tally of new COVID-19 cases — a total of 22,366 cases. In this episode, we break down the numbers with members of the OCTA Research Group, an independent g...
Sep 01, 2021•46 min
Senators began investigating “deficiencies” found by the Commission on Audit in some P67 billion in funds the Department of Health spent and didn’t spend for its pandemic response. In the process, they discovered how a new company with a missing address cornered a 9-billion-peso-government contract for the purchase of face masks and face shields last year. Worse, the items were said to have been grossly overpriced at a time when millions of Filipinos are crying out for aid as rising ...
Aug 30, 2021•33 min
A group of Filipino nurses has begun a 10-day countdown to pressure the Department of Health to complete the release of several benefits intended for health workers battling the COVID-19 pandemic at the frontlines. For many of our overworked and underpaid nurses, the fact that the group had to resort to this speaks volumes about the kind of treatment they’re getting from the government despite their crucial role in this health crisis. Imagine, for instance, a nurse working long hours and e...
Aug 30, 2021•45 min
President Duterte has announced that he would indeed run for vice president next year. But he also clarified that this would depend on his daughter Sara’s plans in the 2022 elections. If she ran for president, duterte said he would back out and so would his assistant and Senator Christopher Go for president. At least, based on her response, Sara Duterte didn’t like what’s happening. In fact, she said her father had confirmed to her that he would indeed run with Go as his presidential candidate.&...
Aug 27, 2021•53 min
President Duterte has announced that he will indeed run for vice president, a decision his PDP-Laban party described as a “sacrifice.” But here’s the catch. The president said something else, which was removed when Malacañang aired his taped address on Tuesday night. Out of “delicadeza,” Duterte claimed he won’t run if his daughter Sara would also seek the presidency. This means his long-time aide and now Senator Bong Go will not gun for the presidency as well. Now here’s where it be...
Aug 27, 2021•49 min
New COVID-19 cases are still something to worry about especially since Metro Manila has just completed two weeks of hard lockdown. In this episode, we talk about how the numbers will probably look in the coming days and weeks and how local governments are struggling with the new and highly infectious Delta variant.
Aug 25, 2021•50 min
As journalists are only good as their last byline, boxers, too, are often gauged based on their last fight. In his more recent bout, Manny Pacquiao suffered a unanimous decision loss to a relatively unknown but an Olympic bronze medalist from Cuba. It was indeed an upset. But to define Pacquiao’s legacy based on the outcome would be irresponsible foolish even. Boxing’s only 8-division titlist, a champion in four different decades, Pacquiao has faced—and conquered—some of the bi...
Aug 24, 2021•43 min
State auditors have come out with an annual report flagging the Department of Health over deficiencies worth P67.3 billion in COVID-19 funds. They didn’t say — at least, yet — that the money was stolen. But a tearful health Secretary Francisco Duque III slammed the Commission on Audit for allegedly “destroying” officials of his agency who, according to him, had lost sleep over it. Days before that, President Duterte had also gone after the COA saying it should stop releasing it...
Aug 23, 2021•29 min
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III appeared at a House hearing earlier this week pouring his heart out over a Commission on Audit Report. The COA flagged “deficiencies” in some 67 billion pesos in funds allotted to the DOH for its COVID-19 response critical items such as the purchase of face masks and allowances for medical frontliners. But Duque questioned why the COA made the findings public even if the report was clearly part of its mandate. In his words, the COA findings ...
Aug 20, 2021•52 min
The scene was reminiscent of one the world witnessed 46 years ago in Saigon. But this time, the military plane flying from the roof of the US Embassy a few days ago was evacuating citizens from Kabul. Despite US President Joe Biden’s confident assurance the Taliban won’t overrun the US-backed government in Afghanistan they did just that. And so, the nation’s capital fell swiftly and after 20 years, the Taliban— known their ruthlessness during their reign in the 1990s—are back in powe...
Aug 19, 2021•44 min
The Commission on Audit recently released audit reports on problems and deficiencies it found in how agencies of government were spending public funds. The Department of Health, for instance, was flagged over some P67.3 billion in COVID-19 funds. The COA also questioned the department’s plan to purchase two “high-end” computers worth P700,000. There were many other findings and agencies were asked to explain. But in response, President Duterte slammed coa and asked the commission not to pu...
Aug 19, 2021•44 min
The two-week hard lockdown in Metro Manila is set to end this Friday. But by the looks of it, the government will need to make another tough decision ahead of that — will it extend the lockdown or lift it despite the rising number of COVID-19 cases driven by the more infectious delta variant? Worse, the Lambda variant has also been detected — officially — in the Philippines a case of a local transmission. In this episode, Christian Esguerra talks to Maristela Abenojar, President, Fil...
Aug 17, 2021•50 min
A geospatial and data analytics company in the United States has come out with yet another alarming report on the damage wrought in occupied reefs in the West Philippine Sea. Simularity, pointed to damaging “excess nutrients” in these features compared to unoccupied reefs. The report came a month after the company had also sounded the alarm on chinese ships allegedly dumping wastes in the West Philippine Sea. Liz Derr, co-founder and CEO of Simularity and Dr. Charissa Ferrera, ...
Aug 17, 2021•43 min
It’s been nearly a week since Metro Manila went on lockdown once again this time to contain the delta variant of COVID-19. Locking down people, of course, means limiting their movement and shutting down businesses leaving only those involved in essential services. The national government has promised cash aid — a maximum of 4,000 for every family. But we know this won’t be enough to last them for two weeks. In this episode, Christian Esguerra talked to Navotas Mayor Toby Tiangc...
Aug 17, 2021•53 min
President Duterte has been on the offensive on certain politicians — first it was Senator Manny Pacquiao, and more recently, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno. One common denominator, of course, is this — both Pacquiao and Moreno are — or perhaps, “were” — allies of this administration perhaps, even considered as “enablers” of Duterte. The other commonality — both of them are seen as serious threats to Duterte’s president candidate or candidates in the 2022 elections. In the meantime, efforts are underwa...
Aug 11, 2021•45 min
Words matter especially in a pandemic where one statement by a public official can trigger panic. On the eve of the latest lockdown of the national capital region, hundreds turned up in the City of Manila causing chaos in vaccination sites. Many of them were interviewed saying they feared that unvaccinated people won’t be allowed to leave their homes or worse, won’t receive aid during the lockdown. In short, Duterte’s words — his threat — mattered to them. In his defense, Palace Spokesman Harry ...
Aug 11, 2021•44 min
Less than two months before candidates officially declare their intention to run in the 2022 elections, opposition forces are looking for a common candidate to go up against President Duterte’s candidate or even Duterte himself who is expected to run for vice president. Senator Panfilo Lacson recently came out with a formula — why don’t he and Vice President Robredo both file their certificates of candidacy in October? Then whoever gets the better survey numbers — meaning a better chance of defe...
Aug 11, 2021•46 min
President Duterte’s political party is set to nominate his long-time assistant and now Senator Christopher Go for president in 2022. The PDP-Laban ticket will include Duterte himself as its vice presidential candidate. In response, Go — who, by the way, continues to apparently function as a Duterte aide these days — said he would run for president only if Duterte would be his vice president. Why exactly is PDP-Laban fielding Go, a neophyte senator with questionable experience and competenc...
Aug 11, 2021•35 min
A group of Filipino experts crunching COVID-19 numbers since last year is now under fire for allegedly coming out with “alarmist” projections based on “incomplete and erroneous data.” In fact, a group of congressmen has filed a resolution seeking an investigation into the OCTA research group. The resolution also cited criticism of OCTA coming from Dr. Edsel Salvaña,member of health department’s technical advisory group. But Salvaña himself has been criticized online or consistently defending the...
Aug 11, 2021•43 min
Metro Manila returns to yet another hard lockdown to contain the spread of the more infectious Delta variant of COVID-19. This means millions of workers will have to stay home and find ways to stay afloat for the next two weeks. In this episode, we talk about the economic costs of prolonged lockdowns as part of the Philippine government’s strategy against COVID-19. What’s working — and more importantly, what isn’t — in this approach, which, so far, has failed to contain the pandemic and ha...
Aug 11, 2021•53 min
In a matter of months the 2022 national elections will be upon us. But even before that happens, there’s the campaign period. Before that, the filing of certificates of candidacy and before that - the ongoing voter registration. All these as the pandemic continues to rage. in fact, the covid crisis has forced the suspension of the registration process in areas that will be put under hard lockdown beginning August 6th. Prompting some quarters to call for an extension and the Commission on E...
Aug 11, 2021•47 min
Vaccine arrivals - a shot in the arm for the country’s vaccination program which will be the main focus of the Philippines's capital when it goes back into the strictest lockdown in a matter of days. But here's the thing as local chief executives prepare for this, a group of people, doctors included are coming out with warnings their claim is this: not enough studies have been done on these vaccines, and therefore, they’re dangerous. How might this put the vaccination program in per...
Aug 11, 2021•54 min
