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New US missiles aim at China and Russia CenPEG Issue Analysis Center for People Empowerment in Governance 13 May 2026 The April 20 – May 8 Balikatan armed exercises between the Philippines and the United States marked a dangerous turning point in the country’s strategic and security landscape. More disturbing was the live firing of a US Tomahawk cruise missile from Tacloban City to a target site in Laur, Nueva Ecija using the Typhon Mid-Range Capability (MRC) missile system.

Foreign policy is torn between maritime tensions with China and close defense ties with the US APRIL 2026 MONTHLY POLITICAL ANALYSIS April 2026 marked the deepening of political rifts between Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. and his former electoral teammate, Vice President Sara Duterte. While political power gravitated toward the current president, such power is not enough to grapple with bitter economic woes as poverty levels deepened. Maritime tensions between t

Why Filipino workers flock to China and other countries Bobby M. Tuazon CenPEG China is one among many countries where overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are employed amid limited job opportunities and slow economic growth in the Philippines. Today, about 230,000 OFWs work in China with major concentrations in the special administrative region of Hong Kong as well as in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Xiamen. Likewise, China is one of the top foreign investors in the Philippi

Bobby M. Tuazon Iran is a battlefront curated by the US and Israel for regime change and for the control of its oil industry. A hypothetical defeat of Iran will make it expedient for the US to attack China, marginalize Russia, and rejuvenate its dying hegemonic interests. This scenario, however, is without empirical basis given the decline of the American empire and the accelerated rise of China while pushing the fragile US-centric unipolar world off the cliff in favor of a

Bobby M. Tuazon 06 April 2026 Going by military strikes alone, Iran may be winning the war in the Middle East. More than a month after the U.S. and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury against Iran,the latter’s defensive strikes have damaged at least 11 major U.S. military installations in the Middle East, with some rendered unusable. Overall, the attacks have destroyed at least 17 total U.S. military, diplomatic, and air-defense sites, including key locations in Iraq, Syria,

Center for People’s Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG) Monthly Political Briefer March 2026 Introduction March 2026 saw an intensifying political polarization in the Philippines in the wake of various corruption scandals and a rapidly deteriorating global security environment after the US and Israel’s attacks on Iran. Domestically, rival elite factions, principally aligned with the Marcos and Duterte camps, continued to consolidate their respective bases in anticipation o

Center for People Empowerment and Governance (CenPEG)Comprehensive Analysis, February 2026 Synthesis This paper aims to analyze the Philippines' precarious position in early 2026 as it navigates a domestic political crisis and a high-risk alignment with U.S.’ "aggressive unilateralism." While the Marcos administration faces a "governance-induced paralysis" fueled by a ₱805-billion corruption scandal and a "popularity flip" favoring the resurgent Duterte bloc, the nation h

The Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG) today called on the government to take decisive action to cushion the impact of rising oil prices, emphasizing that any state intervention must prioritize the country’s most vulnerable sectors. In a statement, CenPEG said that while market forces play a role in determining fuel prices, the government cannot remain passive when price shocks threaten the livelihoods of millions of Filipinos. “If government chooses not

Think tank Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG) today expressed serious concern over what it described as a “very weak and watered-down” version of the proposed Anti-Political Dynasty Bill currently being deliberated in Congress. CenPEG Chairperson Roland G. Simbulan criticized the measure for merely prohibiting multiple family members from occupying government posts at the same time or within the same term, while still allowing political clans to maintain p