Philippines – Duterte 2 Years on: Destructive, Divisive, and Despotic (tags)
When Rodrigo Duterte won the presidency in 2016, some even among the left toyed early on with the idea that a “maverick” president could just be what the country needed to stir things up, and jolt us from almost 30 years of elite-dominated rule.
Philippine President Duterte's State of the Nation Address (Sona) (tags)
DUTERTE’S SONA – MORE SWEARING THAN ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Akbayan rejects Chinese call for dropping West Philippine Sea arbitration (tags)
With the upcoming commemoration of Philippine Independence, Akbayan party-list today called on government to hold steadfast in pursuing the arbitration case filed on the UNCLOS regarding Chinese occupation of the Scarborough shoal in the West Philippine Sea.
The Philippines’ New Strongman (tags)
Rodrigo Duterte’s authoritarian neoliberalism isn’t the answer to poverty and political abuse in the Philippines.
Philippines: Alarming incidents of political violence related to 2016 polls (tags)
Akbayan Party-List condemns in the strongest terms possible the recent spate of political violence In what seems to be a prelude to the coming May 2016 elections, involving elected officials and others running for public office.
Philippines: Akbayan and Santiago file joint resolution to terminate VFA (tags)
Akbayan Representative Walden Bello and Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago today close ranks as they call for the termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) saying it is being used to shield US military personnel from Philippine laws for violations and criminal offenses done on Philippine soil.
Fatal encounter: Jennifer Laude meets US Marine Corps (tags)
PHILIPPINES: As I peered at Jennifer Laude’s serene face in the open casket, I saw the wound on her forehead that was barely concealed by the mortician’s make up. I did not see the bruises on her neck and shoulders, but a person familiar with the autopsy said they were severe.
Filipinos storm Chinese Consulate, express support to Hong Kong’s “Umbrella Revolution" (tags)
Saying that the Filipino people’s struggle to secure Philippine sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea extends to the Chinese people’s fight to be free from their authoritarian government, members of Akbayan Partylist trooped to the Chinese Consular Office in Makati today to express their support to the tens and thousands of Hong Kong citizens who are staging a massive protest to demand “true universal suffrage” from mainland China.
US President Obama Visit in Manila (tags)
The small window of opportunity to forge an independent foreign policy that the Philippines gained with the expulsion of the US bases in 1992 will disappear with the impending signing of the Agreement on Enhanced Defense Cooperation with the US.
A Budding Alliance: Vietnam And The Philippines Confront China (tags)
Last year, the Philippines brought a complaint against China’s aggressive actions in the West Philippine Sea to the United Nations Arbitral Tribunal. The Chinese “were really unprepared for that and were really embarrassed by it,” one of Vietnam’s top experts on Chinese diplomacy told me during my recent visit to Hanoi.
On the Global Conjuncture, February 2014 (tags)
The key feature of the global landscape is the continuing stagnation of the centers of the global economy, the United States and the European Union. The promise of sustained recovery from the financial implosion has eluded the United States for over three years now while most of Europe remains mired in very deep recession, with the notable exception of Germany.
Akbayan: the Philippines' New Left at 16 (tags)
Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello's closing remarks at Akbayan’s 16th Anniversary Event, Buffet International Cuisine, Quezon City, Jan 30, 2014
Increased rotational presence of US troops, decreased Philippine sovereignty (tags)
"Decreased sovereignty." This is how Akbayan Representative Walden Bello summed up the ongoing negotiations between the Philippine government and the United States to craft a framework for the increased rotational presence of American troops in the country.
Filipinos in LA join global protest vs China (tags)
LOS ANGELES – On July 24, Filipinos in Los Angeles trooped to the Chinese Consulate offices in Shatto Place in Koreatown to protest the China’s aggression in the heated West Philippine Sea/South China Sea territorial dispute.
Five-point approach to manage Chinese and US presence in the West Philippine Sea (tags)
Akbayan Partylist today proposed to the Aquino government a "five-point approach" in handling the current territorial dispute with China and the increasing involvement of the United States in the conflict.
Philippines: Akbayan slams Chinese incursion into Tubbataha Reef (tags)
Akbayan Party-list today slammed the incursion of a Chinese fishing vessel into the Tubbataha reef, which the group said is engaged in "state-led" poaching activities at the marine protected area in Palawan.
Akbayan takes poll campaign to Filipino-Americans (tags)
LOS ANGELES—Akbayan’s Rep. Walden Bello began a campaign tour of Filipino American communities to raise support for his party and President Benigno Aquino III’s common reform agenda in the coming May elections.
PHILIPPINES: Much has been won; much still to be fought for (tags)
Akbayan on President Aquino’s 3rd State of the Nation Address
Akbayan calls on Filipinos to defend sovereignty against US and Chinese interests (tags)
Akbayan Party today called on Filipinos to be vigilant and engaged in defending the country's sovereignty from different foreign interests. The statement was made coinciding with the formal start of the United States' Balikatan military exercises with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and several allies, and amid the unresolved tension at the Panatag shoal involving the Philippines and China.
On Philippine Foreign Policy (tags)
1) Needed: Firm but Deft Diplomacy, not War Games 2) Akbayan to Chinese government: Defuse standoff, pull vessels out of Scarborough shoal 3) Akbayan condemns North Korea’s planned rocket launch 4) Akbayan (Citizens Action Party) congratulates Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy
PLM Statement on increased US military presence in the Philippines (tags)
PLM Calls for an Independent Foreign Policy and a Non-Aligned ASEAN
No to US and Chinese expansionism (tags)
PHILIPPINES: Akbayan Party condemns plans for increased United States military presence in the country amid burgeoning Chinese military expansionism. We believe these acts by the two superpowers will inevitably destabilize the West Philippine Sea and Southeast Asian region.
Akbayan and the Struggle for a New Philippines (tags)
(Speech at the Gene Viernes and Silme Domingo Awards Event, Seattle University, Seattle, Washington State, July 2, 2011.)
PHILIPPINES: The Rough and Rugged Road toward Change (tags)
Akbayan Party?s Statement on the First Year of the Aquino Government
Filipinos should not depend on the US for its own defense of the Kalayaan Island Group- AJ (tags)
If there is the best way to illustrate the lop-sided Philippines-United Stares relations is about, it can be shown when latest US missile destroyers will join ageing Philippine warships for naval exercises this week in a timely show of unity as tensions with China escalate over a maritime dispute. While US has modern missile ships it has given WWII vintage ships like all the war materials hands me down to its puppet state. And the bad thing is that the Philippines has to buy it not at a bargain price but a cut throat cost. For 11 days of the RP-US exercises start on Tuesday off the southwest Philippine island of Palawan in the Sulu Sea, close to the disputed waters of the West Philippine Sea where Manila has complained of increasing Chinese provocation. Officially the training is an annual event not linked to the territorial row, but it nevertheless offers the Philippines comfort shortly after appealing to its long-time ally and former colonial power for help in containing China.
No to Sabre-Rattling! A Negotiated Political Settlement to the Spratly Islands Dispute! (tags)
The Party of the Laboring Masses - Philippines condemns any actions that increase military tensions in the region and contribute to a regional military conflict, by countries that lay claim to the Spratly Islands. We are opposed to any sabre-rattling and stand for a negotiated, political settlement, of the disputed claims to the area. Therefore we deplore China?s strong-arm tactics and bullying, which undermines efforts towards a peaceful, political settlement, of the disputed claims.