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

Widening power rifts in Philippine politics as the 2028 elections are in the horizon; corruption deepens; tensions grow in East Asia while Donald Trump attacks Venezuela in a bid to reinstall America’s sphere of influence in the western hemisphere     I. PHILIPPINE POLITICS   Corruption, Accountability, and the Marcos-Duterte Rift   Breakdown of the Marcos Jr.-Sara Duterte dynastic alliance     The Marcos-Duterte entente has collapsed, one-and-a half years since the unravelin

The Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG) expresses grave concern over the President’s decision to sign into law the 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA) based on the ratified Bicameral Conference Committee (Bicam) version without removing or substantially correcting the highly questionable lump-sum and discretionary appropriations embedded in the final budget.   Despite widespread public criticism and repeated warnings from economists, civil society groups, a

PHILIPPINE POLITICS  November 2025 saw the government corruption scandal escalating even more dramatically.    These have included arrests of officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials, travel bans on dozens of lawmakers and contractors, the filing of cases before the Ombudsman and Sandiganbayan (anti-graft court), and declaration by investigators that up to 1,200 individuals may face charges. State efforts at investigation expanded through unit

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, judiciar

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 revive

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

Political Briefer Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG)  August 2025   Introduction Philippine politics in August 2025 is...

As Congress deliberates on the proposed ₱6.793 trillion national budget for 2026, the Center for People Empowerment in Governance...