Marites Dañguilan Vitug
Rappler
Philippines
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Past articles by Marites:
Marcos must govern – and be decisive
From the economy to China, he faces daunting tasks in 2023 → Read More
Marcos, Anwar and history
The year that is about to end is significant in one big way: It brought us the beginning of the Marcos presidency, marking the full restoration of the once-disgraced family. A lot has been written – and will still be written – about this epic moment in our history. Let me contribute my thoughts. Recently, Marcos likened himself to Malaysia’s newly elected prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim. He told… → Read More
Is everything okay in the West Philippine Sea?
This takes some getting used to, a foreign affairs secretary who doesn’t express his every thought (even stray ones) on Twitter. He doesn’t bark his orders to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) staff – on his social media platform – to file diplomatic protests against China for aggressively intruding into our waters. Enrique Manalo, our top diplomat, has taken a different tack from that of… → Read More
Marcos between the US and China
Beyond words, one early test of Marcos will be his response to China’s harassment of Philippine ships surveying for oil and gas in the Reed Bank area. → Read More
Sui Generis: Duterte and fixation with the third telco
When Rodrigo Duterte was president, he pushed hard for the entry of a third telecommunications (telco) firm to break the stranglehold of the two giants. He repeatedly harangued Globe and Smart, even threatened to seize their assets, using the usual coarse language. That was his way of softening the ground for a third player. Not only that. From the start, he set his mind on letting China bag the… → Read More
The First Lady
It’s been ages since we last had a visible, high-profile first lady, and that was Imelda Marcos. She inhabited our universe for two decades. We watched → Read More
The Marcos Jr. technocrats: When do they become complicit?
The business community sighed with relief when the economic team of president-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr., led by incoming finance secretary Benjamin Diokno, was finally announced. Felipe Medalla will be governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Arsenio Balisacan will head the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), and Alfredo Pascual, the trade and industry department.… → Read More
Goodbye, Duterte
But not to autocracy? → Read More
Pork barrel ghost haunts candidate Marcos
Ferdinand Marcos Jr was a senator when the huge pork barrel scandal erupted in 2013. An estimated P10 billion of public funds was siphoned off to lawmakers’ pockets and to the ringmaster, Janet Lim-Napoles. This was said to be one of the biggest heists in recent Philippine history. As it turned out, Napoles colluded with senators and congressmen to channel their Priority Development Assistance… → Read More
Three years into the pandemic: CORBEVAX and endemicity
As we enter the third year of the pandemic, I look back and – sigh! – realize that my social life has greatly shrunk and can be reduced into a few → Read More
The Marcoses: New and improved?
Several tactics were used for their 35 year rehabilitation project → Read More
From Davao to The Hague
What can we expect from the ICC probe of Duterte's bloody drug war? → Read More
Michael Yang: Friend with benefits
President Duterte was still a Davao City mayor when he first met Michael Yang. How did this friendship evolve through the years? → Read More
What Enrile told Aquino about the PH-China dispute
Former senator Juan Ponce Enrile now supports the Duterte government’s policy on China. The best-selling book ‘Rock Solid’ recounts what he said before. → Read More
[OPINION] On US vaccine diplomacy
'Whew! All this anticipation and waiting is like a sport, with its highs and lows.' → Read More
[ANALYSIS] Duterte can learn from Jokowi
'Indonesia’s context may be different from that of the Philippines...but it shows how a leader stands up to Beijing’s bullying' → Read More
[ANALYSIS] Duterte crushes free expression amid pandemic
We commemorate World Press Freedom Day in a vastly different context, amid a universal experience that is setting limits to mobility and privacy. But in some countries, the limits are crushing a fundamental right: freedom of expression. The Philippines, unfortunately, is one of these countries. Freedom of expression is the overarching right on which freedom of the press is anchored. In this time… → Read More
[OPINION] The paradox of Japan
While the upcoming summer Olympics is a big door Japan is opening to the world, it doesn’t do as much for the entry of foreign labor onto its shores → Read More
On my bookshelf, China and dictators steal the spotlight
When my editor asked me to write about books on any of these subjects – security, foreign policy, and governance – as part of a package of year-end stories, I went over my groaning bookshelf and found 3 that I have partly read, with bookmarks still on the pages where my attention stopped and veered to other books. I returned to these trio which have one thing in common: they are all written by… → Read More
[OPINION] The lawless Duterte presidency
The Philippines has been transformed into a wilderness soaked in blood → Read More