All Insight at The Manila Times

All Insight at The Manila Times All Insight is a weekly column at The Manila Times. It is published every Saturday, with an in-depth discussion of relevant and timely issues.

16/05/2026

ABOLISH THE SENATE OF THE PHILIPPINES NOW

While the abolition of the Senate may be constitutionally problematic, the issues currently besieging it demand urgent action. The Filipino people deserve legislators who prioritize public service over personal gain and institutional integrity over political survival.

Citizens must therefore focus on holding elected officials accountable — through transparency, independent investigations, and ultimately, the ballot box. But do we have the collective will to demand better from those we have entrusted with power?

Perhaps, for this country’s sake, it would be best if the Senate were abolished altogether.

https://www.manilatimes.net/2026/05/16/opinion/columns/abolish-the-senate-of-the-philippines/2345029

11/05/2026

NATIONAL ID FIASCO MESSING UP TRANSPORT FUEL SUBSIDY DISTRIBUTION

The disorder that marked the fuel subsidy distribution is a direct consequence of the government’s failure to implement a functional national ID system. Had the PhilSysID project been delivered as contracted and on time, identifying and reaching legitimate beneficiaries would not have been a problem. The officials who are responsible for the delays, irregularities and questionable conduct surrounding the PhilSys project must be held criminally accountable.

Read more in this link -
https://www.manilatimes.net/2026/05/09/opinion/columns/national-id-fiasco-messing-up-transport-fuel-subsidy-distribution/2339476

03/05/2026

More than 100 million Filipino consumers pay the full 12 percent VAT rate three times, to each of the three sellers — manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer — instead of once only, to the retailer. This monumental error in the VAT system, with gross injustice to consumers, has been overlooked because the focus of government economists and VAT proponents was the avoidance of double taxation on businesses, which is attained under the flawed VAT system. What’s more, businesses also profit from the consumers’ overpayments, because sellers retain them instead of being required to remit to the BIR. - Marcelo Tecson, CPA

Read the full story in this link -
https://www.manilatimes.net/2026/05/02/opinion/columns/govt-can-reduce-vat-rate-and-bir-collects-more/2333804

26/04/2026

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OVERDOING IMPEACHMENT HEARINGS

What is taking the House too long to transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate? It seems that the House is already overdoing the clarificatory hearings, seemingly more of a publicity stunt and to gain more air time for lawmakers running in the 2028 elections.

The finding of “probable cause,” which is actually a “mini trial,” should have been reserved for the Senate during the formal impeachment trial.

Read more in this link -
https://www.manilatimes.net/2026/04/25/opinion/columns/house-overdoing-impeachment-hearings/2328220

18/04/2026

BUMBLING BY THE PRESIDENT’S PR HANDLERS

A president’s words carry weight — but only when backed by concrete action. When the public sees through the spin, when they recognize that the price cuts were not the result of governance but of geopolitics and market forces, the carefully worded video message becomes its own undoing. Worse, the crocodile stitched onto that designer shirt did the president’s critics a favor they could not have scripted better themselves. In Philippine politics, symbols matter. And on that Sunday, whether by carelessness or sheer irony, the president wore his on his chest.

Read more in this link -
https://www.manilatimes.net/2026/04/18/opinion/columns/bumbling-by-the-presidents-pr-handlers/2322926

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