ForwardBrowse Think Pieces and other opinion articles published on G-Watch as well as other websites.
A Close Encounter with Global Social Accountability: Reflections on the Global Partners Forum 2017
By Francis Isaac, Government Watch (G-Watch)
Growing up in a typical urban slum, I never thought that I would ever lay eyes on the World Bank Headquarters in Washington, DC. But there I was, standing before this massive infrastructure, dwarfed by its rectangular glass windows and passive concrete walls. Passing through a small revolving door, I soon found myself in a spacious square atrium, sheltered beneath a 46-meter high ceiling made up of numerous glass panels and interlocking metal bands.
Accountability and Human Rights
I saw an appeal to push the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to investigate the violation of human rights by the terrorists in light of the Marawi crisis. There was also a push for Chito Gascon, Chair of the CHR, to resign because "the CHR is focusing more on the rights of the criminals, instead of the victims."
Rethinking Progressives' Move
Have we come to a point when even those who were once reform elements in the "truncated procedural democracy" have become integrated (accustomed, immersed, assimilated) in the system over time that they behave predictably in harmony with the system even when the system is already showing its decay, malfunctioning and total ineptitude?
What does party-switching mean?
In the Philippines, party-switching means nothing. It is as normal for politicians as changing clothes. It is more regular than legislators attending congressional hearings.
Dig Deep to Unearth the Dictator
On November 18 at 12:00 noon, Ferdinand Marcos, the late dictator who ruled the Philippines with impunity for 14 years was buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani. It was a discreet burial kept hidden from the public until it was done. Protest actions took place all over Metro Manila culminating in a protest action at the People Power Monument in EDSA until the wee hours of the following day. Until now, social media are filled with memes and posts protesting the burial, 'educating' the public about the horrors of Martial Law and criticizing the Marcoses and Duterte for the burial that came like a "thief in the night."
Policy issues from Matobato's testimony
The testimony of Edgar Matobato is rich with information that have policy implications and can therefore aid future legislation
PH 'war on drugs' should draw lessons from other countries
'Is there another way to achieve the same result and make drug addicts or users surrender or cooperate with authorities without capitalizing on the threat of death?'
Extrajudicial killings: Police self-defense?
The government's over-emphasis on the right of the person with the gun over the right to life and due process of presumed innocent civilians can easily be abused and misused
Making sense of Digong Duterte
If we are to elect Duterte to the presidency, we must first ask ourselves: how different is present-day Philippines from Davao City of the 1980s?
The Importance of Society in the Politics of Change
The society shares with the state that search for collective or general rationality. The state has institutional mechanisms such as elections, the courts and the executive and legislative policy-making to determine the collective/ legitimate reason. The society has the more fluid and unstructured means of discourses, dialogues and interactions. This makes it conducive for innovative, integration and in-depth analysis and discourses, where progression happens.