Synthesis This paper seeks to explore and analyze the Marcos Jr. administration’s consolidation of power amid a deepening crisis of legitimacy. It argues that the regime’s trajectory reveals a governance model anchored in elite accommodation, technocratic spectacle, and the selective use of reformist discourse to obscure entrenched patronage and authoritarian tendencies. While early efforts at regime-building enabled the alignment of key institutions—the legislature, judiciary, bureaucracy,...

Challenges and missed opportunities Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG) Published on 05 November 2025     Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. is leading the country into a deeper alliance with the US that can thrust the country into a potential unwinnable confrontation with China. Under him, diplomacy has taken a backseat whether in relation to China or the US. In the new multipolar world, Marcos should prudently steer the country away from a policy of confrontation...

Political Briefer Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG)  October 2025   Introduction From late September to the end of October 2025, the Philippines entered one of its most politically volatile periods since the post-EDSA transition.  A massive corruption scandal involving billions of pesos in public funds (particularly for flood-control projects) ignited widespread outrage, triggered investigations, exposed patronage networks across political camps, and revived mass protest...

PRESS RELEASE November 6, 2025   CenPEG Calls for Accountability, Justice, and Sovereignty Amid Alarming Foreign Interference     The Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG) expresses deep concern and outrage over the widespread devastation brought by Typhoon Tino across the Visayas. While the storm’s natural force was immense, the scale of destruction was undeniably magnified by corruption and negligence—particularly the proliferation of “ghost” flood control projects that were...

COMMENTARY By Hector A. Barrios, CenPEG Senior Fellow and Trustee October 15, 2025 Introduction Every year, the branches of government – Executive, Congress, Judiciary and Constitutional Commissions -- prepare their respective operating and capital plans for the next year. These plans embody what they want to achieve (objectives), how they intend to achieve them (operations and projects), and how much they need to implement them. We call the whole thing simply the 'budget.' The consolidation...

COMMENTARY By Hector A. Barrios, CenPEG Fellow and Trustee October 1, 2025 Government is, of course, accountable for all its acts. The...