Centrist Democracy Political Institute

LML Polettiques (459)

Duterte the reformer — why he must not fail

Wednesday, 26 August 2020 09:15 Written by LITO MONICO C. LORENZANA

LONG before the mid-March lockdowns, this column warned against a looming pandemic. The first sentence of my January column reads: “We are facing one of the biggest threats in the world today: the possibility of the annihilation of our species,…

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Call for change: PH constitutional revisions

Wednesday, 19 August 2020 11:26 Written by LITO MONICO C. LORENZANA

Last of 5 parts THIS five-part series started with President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s fight with the oligarchy by closing down the Lopez-owned ABS-CBN Corp.; then a brief review of the Philippine oligarchy; political dynasty as its vital appendage; and establishing…

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Can the oligarchy and political dynasty be obliterated?

Wednesday, 12 August 2020 10:27 Written by LITO MONICO C. LORENZANA

Fourth of 5 parts THE oligarchy is a multifaceted class, and the term is by no means neutral. Political science practitioners and political economists oftentimes differ in their definition and clarity of interpretation. I have adopted the contemporary definition as…

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Political dynasty handmaiden to oligarchy

Wednesday, 05 August 2020 08:43 Written by LITO MONICO C. LORENZANA

Third of 5 parts PRIOR to the arrival of Spain, the islands of the Philippines were composed of settlements and villages called barangay with no central government. The barangay, the autonomous component for basic governance, was headed by a datu…

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The Philippine oligarchy

Wednesday, 29 July 2020 04:47 Written by LITO MONICO C. LORENZANA

Second of 3 parts President Rodrigo “Deegong” Duterte’s claim that he had “…dismantled the oligarchy that controlled the economy and the Filipino people” was more hyperbolic than factual. But we may grant the Deegong this expansive boast as his performance…

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ABS-CBN closure in context

Wednesday, 22 July 2020 09:14 Written by LITO MONICO C. LORENZANA

First of two parts CONGRESS has spoken. The ABS-CBN Corp. franchise is no more. The Deegong got his pound of flesh with implacable finality. As intimated by a senator-cum-personal aide, “Kung hindi ninyo sinaktan and damdamin ng Pangulo, hindi sana…

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Emerging post-Covid world order China is now at war

Wednesday, 15 July 2020 06:00 Written by LITO MONICO C. LORENZANA

Last of 2 parts “CHINA is the enemy” is Trump’s mantra that has found resonance with his base, whom Hillary Clinton famously described in 2016 as “deplorables.” A hemorrhage of United States companies in the manufacturing sector lured by cheaper…

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China is now at war

Wednesday, 08 July 2020 10:15 Written by LITO MONICO C. LORENZANA

First of 2 parts As in most wars, the actual start of the conflict is often ambiguous. It is more a series of events, generating a spark that leads inevitably toward a conflagration. A case in point is World War…

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