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True lies or troll lies? Which best describes the social media troll networks in the Philippines? The hate speech and disinformation strategy is getting crumpled and crushed into pieces, by none other than... The Facebook! What made President Duterte rant and rave about the crushing down of several accounts linked to the PNP and AFP? With President Duterte's statement of disgust against Facebook, we're all in danger of losing our voice on the social media. It's not only our voices of dissent, but also sources of news and information and livelihood of Filipinos who depend on Facebook that is threatened to  be taken away . Hundreds of Facebook accounts used for disinformation and manipulation has been revealed and crushed down, which they denied at first, and finally admitted when pressured to tell the truth, just to justify their advocacy. When the so-called, Facebook 'advocacy accounts' and pages turned out to be 'coordinated inauthentic behavior' then, isn

To serve and protect. That's the tagline of our mighty men in uniform; our great defender against various threats, violence and harassment. They are dignified men showing bravery and resilience. They are our protector... Our heroes... What happens when the so-called defender and protector of the state are involved in allegations of political biases in social media on which they are expected to be displaying apolitical stance? Our great men in uniform has been leveraging the power of social media for years already and it's a great tool for them to disseminate information to the public. It's a digital platform on which they could update their heroic activities which are truly commendable. When social media gain popularity, it has become our lifestyle. We read our daily news updates through Facebook and Youtube. We read and share our commentaries on the news feed. We now have the capability to do Facebook live -- reporting events as it happens. That's the power of social m

  Finally! We've seen and heard about President Duterte on his first appearance on the 75th United Nations General Assembly. That was the most presidential gesture I've seen of the President on the world stage of revered leaders on the community of nations -- the UN. That was a recorded speech, but he showed confidence, courage and humility to speak to the great world leaders and to the Filipino people. The West Philippine Sea At last, we've heard him speak about the UN Arbitration ruling of 2016 in favor of the Philippines for the coveted West Philippine Sea; Philippine territorial waters - Exclusive Economic Zone. After all, we're not fully in allegiance with China. We can be just friends purely for economic partnership and cooperation. Yes, the President may have weighed in about his policies towards China, that despite of the bullying on the Philippine waters by the Chinese intruders, still President Duterte seem not to care about it, until he made a grandstand befo

Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Miami beach in Florida, USA and ... Manila Bay White Sand in the Philippines? They say that those man-made beaches have one thing in common... It's an artificial beach nourishment made of dolomite. Not a real white sand like the world-famous Boracay, but an artificial sand that could be easily washed away by rising sea level and stronger storm surge whenever a strong typhoon hits the country. The Philippines as a Pacific Island has suffered the most natural disasters and is one of the most disaster-prone countries due to the effects of climate change.  Climate change is real and we have all witnessed its devastating effect from Ondoy to Yolanda. That was just a recent past, but memories are haunting us everytime we hear about an incoming weather disturbances like a super typhoon. With continuous heavy rainfall caused by Habagat or any weather phenomenon, will the Dolomite sand be safe from not being washed away?  How could we afford to maint

Miami beach, Copacabana Beach, Marina Bay Sands and... Manila Bay Sands? Wow! The Philippines is becoming one of the coolest beach cities in the world. Truly a world-class and ambitious urban coastline development by turning the natural black sand into an attractive, but artificial white sand, which is a crushed Dolomite rocks from the Mountains of the Island-Province of Cebu. And so, after all, it's not really a natural white sand like the world famous Boracay Island beach that the Philippine government envisioned of the Manila Bay. Some environmental groups including the Department of Health have expressed their sentiments about various health hazards that the project will potentially cause. Some of our Government leaders, environmental activists and concerned citizens have also expressed their strong opposition about the White sand project, which they say is untimely and insensitive since we are currently facing our toughest battle of Covid-19. Are we for the bea

  Never get sick. That's the best wish we could give to the newly appointed President and CEO of Philhealth; the State health insurance company of the Philippines. Dante Gierran, the former Director of the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is the new face of Philhealth, who is trusted by President Duterte; his great fellow from Davao. Dante Gierran is highly optimistic that he could make a difference in solving the current and controversial issues faced by Philhealth. Issues like illegal and questionable release of Philhealth funds during this time of Pandemic. Just a whistle blow away and boom! Everything is exposed about the alleged anomalies. Who is the most affected by the issues after all?  Will it be resigned and former Philhealth President and CEO Ricardo Morales, who is suffering from health condition? Will it be the other high ranking Philhealth officials?  Surely not them! but none other than the ordinary Filipinos -- the working class. The working Filipin

Farmland conversions. This is becoming a game for the rich and the Oligarchs in the Philippines. Those who have vested interests, the power, and the massive wealth can always make it happen. And so today, once again we hear from our Philippine Senator, Cynthia Villar, on her opening statement for the Senate hearing on the state of dairy industry that "farmlands converted into housing and factories are not that bad, but in fact can be good in our economy." Senator Cynthia Villar is the Senate Committee Chairman on Agriculture and at the same time has business interests in real estate development in the entire Philippines. Her company, Vista Land is into property development and retail industries that's a conflict of interest in her current Senate chairmanship. We can't forget the 'Rice Tariffication' law which she sponsored and authored that killed the livelihood of our rice farmers considering the low market price of rice produce due to the massive i