EXPOSED: What the Impeachment Vote Means for Congressmen

March 1, 2026

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

February 28, 2026

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

February 25, 2026

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

February 20, 2026

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

February 18, 2026

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

February 8, 2026

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

The True Cost of Inflated Public Contracts: A Price the Public Keeps Paying

January 31, 2026

Corruption remains the single most significant roadblock to national progress in the Philippines. This issue is most visible in the artificially high costs of public infrastructure projects—roads, bridges, and government buildings—which often end up costing taxpayers up to three times their actual value. This financial burden is clear, but the hidden, long-term costs of this systemic problem are far more devastating. Economic Breakdown: The Impact of Inflated Public Project Costs When corruption inflates public infrastructure contracts, the entire economy suffers. Corruption in projects distorts fair market prices, reduces the efficiency of capital, and turns potential long-term assets into expensive liabilities. The government may ‘complete’ infrastructure projects on paper, but many fail or deteriorate prematurely, draining government funds without delivering real public benefit. These bloated expenses

Alon

January 28, 2026

Alon Lunurin mo ang aking kasamaan Ihampas sa dalampasigan Ang sama ng aking budhi Maging malakas ka Ihatid mo at ilibing Sa pusod ng dagat Ang sala ng sanlibutan *** a poetry in Filipino written by Nic Gabunada and published in Davao Harvest An Anthology edited by Tita Lacambra Ayala and Alfredo N. Salanga 1979 ****This was also published in my earlier blog www.wednesdayswithnic.com on June 29, 2011

Five Decades Later, and the Audience is Still the Product

January 21, 2026

“If you’re not paying for the product, you’re not the customer – you’re the product being sold.” This idea is at the heart of the concept known as audience as the product. It’s an old quote, that is often brought up when talking about advertising. One of the earliest instances of this idea is in this 1973 short video by artists Richard Serra and Carlota Fay Schoolman called Television Delivers People. The video is a critique on popular media as a control tactic, for the benefit of “the mass corporations and those in power”. It’s interesting, because the two artists actually bought some airtime to broadcast this almost 7-minute piece, playing it on the medium it actually criticizes. The video is just text scrolling on

Beyond Theft: The Quiet Corruption of White Elephant Public Spending

January 19, 2026

Not all corruption involves under-the-table cash envelopes or missing funds. Some of it hides in plain sight – in government projects that are fully-funded, proudly inaugurated, and loudly celebrated. Yet, these projects quietly fail to deliver real value to the public. Economists call these White Elephants. For the purpose of this discussion on public spending and governance, we will use the Merriam-Webster definition of a “property requiring much care and expense and yielding little profit.” According to this extensive blog entry, the term originated from actual white elephants in Southeast Asia. While normal elephants served as beasts of burden, white elephants were sacred to Buddhists—so rare and valuable that only kings could own them. The problem? Elephants are costly to maintain, and a sacred white

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