Covid-19 continues to instill in us that all politics is local and the opportunity provided by the crisis is to get local governments to do their basic tasks: cleanliness and public order. The basics have a way of getting harder to get done, unless leaders do their job proactively. Is the Philippines ready in this era of epidemics? What are our economic contingency plans? Are the cities ready? Or will we be like the mayor of Wuhan?

Freedom of expression is a universal human right. It is “not the prerogative of the politician. Nor is it the privilege of the journalist. In their day-to-day work, journalists are simply exercising every citizen’s right to free speech.” Everyone has the right to communicate his or her opinions and ideas and share information in whatever form. In human rights, this is called freedom of expression. It prohibits the state and other people in society from censorship and it can be restricted for only very serious reasons.

Tandem voting is supposed to be the way to go in 2022 but to enforce this, the Constitution has to undergo an amendment if that would be the mode of voting. Tandem voting is selecting a ticket rather than individual voting for candidates for president and vice president, respectively.

Planning is important because that is where communication exits are clearly mapped out. Still, the basics matter: designate a spokesman, speak in one voice, stick to a message frame, drill the information on all channels, do KISS (keep it simple and short), ensure call to action and maintain open lines to make certain that the public knows what government is doing in crisis mode. One single task should be made clear: government is on top of the situation.

The very technology created by man to make the world small and flat, to enhance borderless economy, to nurture open governance, to allow instantaneous communication, to view people across the globe in real time is the same technology now being used to invade a nation, to instigate opposition, to unite a crowd to question authorities and register protests. One innocent tweet, an emotional plea over Facebook, a collage of photos showing human interests are the platforms for today’s manipulative propaganda offensive. Indeed, the internet backbone — “the infrastructure of networks upon which internet traffic travels — went from being a passive infrastructure for communication to an active weapon for attacks.

Asean as a region is throbbing as the 10 nations chart their individual and collective efforts to build its presence, response and influence in the area. The 10 countries are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Though there is Asean, there is a marked difference in orientation per country, especially when it comes to relationships with China and the United States.

As we become in the era of Duterte, we change and that makes things permanent, long term and, hopefully, a better Philippines. Heraclitus said, “There is nothing permanent except change.” And change makes things, communities and nations better.

ABS-CBN is the biggest political party in the country because it can make and unmake a candidate. Fair because ABS-CBN has played the game of politics well. The heat radar in this network is so high that during campaigns or any political event, they are always the trump card for some groups out to sow intrigues, chaos and the like.

So many things happening around the world and we are on the threshold of growth, infrastructure development, reducing poverty, gaining the second wind for peace in Mindanao and enhancing social amelioration programs in education and healthcare. So much work remains still, and we just cannot rest on the laurels of the Duterte administration for to do so would be to let time pass and other countries catch up to what we, as a nation, hopes to accomplish in the next 10 years.

Think about the future and not just the here and now. Remember the gains of the Duterte administration and the problematic issues that periodically caused so much tension and drains the leadership. In fine, we make our future by the leaders we elect. 

Filipinos own the air, water and land subject to certain regulations. Filipinos do not benefit from its usage in terms of efficient service and/or pricing. Patrimonial should serve Filipinos more than the private sector.

The days of mainstream media, or MSM, are gone with the nature and development of social media and the ability of a content creator to create news on an hourly basis. And these developments have pushed more transparency and accountability to leaders, officials and politicians because any second someone can just post things in the public arena and drill it to trend.