Journal
EXPOSED: What the Impeachment Vote Means for Congressmen
In this blog post, we explore what the Sara Duterte impeachment vote means for congressmen and its implications for the current political landscape. (This is a follow-up piece to my blog on the structural consequences of Sara Duterte’s early declaration that she will run for president in 2028.) For as long as I’ve been observing political campaigns, one pattern remains constant: when national timelines accelerate, the spotlight rarely stays where it began. When Sara Duterte declared her presidential candidacy, the impeachment effort ceased to be a contained institutional process. It entered the electoral arena. That shift has already been discussed. What has received less attention is the second movement of that shift. The spotlight has moved. It now rests on the House of Representatives. An
Regulatory Friction in the Philippines: The Hidden Cost of Doing Business
Starting a business in the Philippines is a struggle and one of the biggest reason is regulatory friction. This makes the process more complicated for entrepreneurs. I previously wrote about how corruption discourages Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) in the Philippines, especially judicial and regulatory corruption. While true, that’s just the surface of a much bigger problem. The reality is that starting and operating a business is a struggle for everyone, including local Filipino entrepreneurs. There’s a massive barrier to entry that most people simply accept as “part of doing business.” For many entrepreneurs, regulatory friction and “SOPs” (which we’ll call bribery or grease money) are normalized as necessary operating costs. Furthermore, this normalization is the true hurdle for the ease of doing business in the
The Modern Orwellian Reality: Social Media and the New Big Brother
Redefining “Orwellian”: From Government Surveillance to Social Platforms Traditionally, the term “Orwellian” has referred to a government that controls and monitors every aspect of its citizens’ lives, much like the world depicted in George Orwell’s renowned novel 1984. Many believe this dystopian future is a distant threat, yet we may not realize that this reality is already here—though the threat no longer solely comes from governments. Without much thought, we voluntarily interact with Orwell’s concept of Big Brother every single day. We willingly provide companies with access to our personal data: our locations, actions, and even our thoughts. In return for this constant stream of information, we receive entertainment, memes, instant messaging, and endless cat videos. Even More Powerful than Governments It may sound alarmist,
The Structural Consequences of Sara Duterte’s Early Declaration
Introduction After four decades in marketing and PR, observing and participating in campaigns, managing narratives, reading survey data, and watching political cycles rise and collapse, one lesson becomes clear: timing is rarely accidental. Context and Timing On February 18, 2026, Sara Duterte declared her candidacy for president. While the announcement itself was expected, the timing caught many by surprise. Declaring amid an active impeachment effort was not an act of theatrical defiance—it was a deliberate structural repositioning. Political and Structural Shifts In market research, perception frames outcome. In political communications, context determines interpretation. Before her declaration, impeachment could be discussed as a legal matter. After her declaration, it became inseparable from the electoral picture. That shift matters. Once a public official becomes a declared presidential
At 25
Today as I turn 67, let me share with you a feature article about me, published in the Business Mirror in December 11, 2016. The discussions with Roger covered my professional life from the time I joined CRC to the time I left Omnicom Media Group to volunteer in the Duterte presidential campaign. Much has happened after that, and I think I should be writing about it in a separate blog. Roger Pe, a veteran Creative Director, wrote this piece about what I was like around the time when I was 25. We had an initial face to face interview after which he sent me a set of questions via email and asked for a photo of me
What Drives Away Foreign Investments in the Philippines
What deters foreign direct investments in the Philippines? I came across this “Investment Climate Statement” of the U.S. Department of State for the Philippines in 2025, and what struck me is this passage that is very disappointing, yet not at all surprising, for anyone who has tried to do business in the Philippines: “Some U.S. investors describe business registration, customs, and immigration processes as burdensome. Customs processes, in particular, can present challenges and the Embassy has received multiple reports from U.S. businesses of overly invasive searches, inconsistent customs charges, and solicitations of “facilitation fees” (e.g., bribes) from some customs officials.” Horrible. But again, not surprising. This is a reality that most businesses have to deal with in our country. There have been attempts to address