ASEAN comprises a politically diverse bloc of ten member states. Democracy levels vary widely, shaped by historical legacies of colonialism, authoritarian rule, ethnic diversity, and economic priorities. Using indices like the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)…
Corruption remains a significant challenge across much of ASEAN, as reflected in the 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI – published annually by Transparency International), where Singapore ranks highly clean while countries like Myanmar, Cambodia, and…
Political polling and public opinion surveys are essential tools for gauging citizen preferences in democratic societies. However, in hybrid and authoritarian-leaning contexts within ASEAN – particularly the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Indonesia – standard…
Embarrassing political chaos, Duterte’s imprisonment, elite squabbles, and an economic slowdown are causing concern and skepticism after Manila assumed ASEAN chairmanship in January of this year. Malaysian and Indonesian figures are criticizing the Philippine legal…
Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa dramatically returned to the Philippine Senate after six months in hiding to evade ICC arrest in a chaotic hallway chase, later crying in front of reporters and comically singing his…
In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, Soma is the ultimate tool of social control. A government-issued drug that delivers instant euphoria, erases unhappiness, and prevents citizens from questioning their engineered reality, Soma is the lynchpin…
After “pacifying” the islands (except the hinterlands of Muslim Mindanao), America set out to refashion the Filipino. In this there was method as well as design. American teachers came first, followed by American missionaries, then…
A diplomat, after a seven-year tour of duty in the Philippines, once christened the islands an “enchanting archipelago.” Whether he was merely being polite, or had succumbed to government pitchmen, or had himself become enchanted…
Contrary to assertions of brotherly love made by the Philippine Council for the Promotion of Peaceful Reunification of China (PCPPRC) toward citizens of the Orient Pearl Archipelago, it seems that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)…
In light of the recent online assaults spat out by a few, well-known Beijing proxies like Rigoberto “Bobi” Tiglau and Adolfo “Ado” Pagliwanan directed at USAF Lt. Col. (ret.) Raymond Powell – in reaction to…
