Bagong Pilipinas 2022

May 2017 Lifted from Wild Heart He didn’t die by accident. He made a decision. Friends, this is the story of Dhan Ryan Bayot, a Private First Class of the Philippine Army, deployed during the Battle of Marawi. May 2017. Urban war. Tight alleys. Snipers in windows. No clean lines. No safe exits. Bayot was part of a unit pushing through hostile ground controlled by the Maute Group. This wasn’t a movie battle. It was confusion, noise, and seconds that mattered more than plans. At some point, Bayot was cut off from safety. Surrounded. Outgunned. Facing a death that wasn’t abstract, but immediate. What happened next is why his name endures. Accounts differ on the exact words and final seconds. War is like that. But the outcome is clear. Bayot made a choice that placed everyone else ahead of himself. His actions stopped the threat. His sacrifice saved lives. He did not walk away. Others did. For that, he was posthumously awarded the Medalya ng Kagitingan, the highest honor for bravery in the...

CTTO THE DUTERTE GAMBITS "No sound bites. Just sheer performance and results for the most ordinary Filipinos." ~Joffre Balce  Article by Mindanao for Duterte  December 21, 2025 This image reflects the Duterte way of thinking—quiet, deliberate, and ruthless in focus. PRRD never governed for applause. He governed with clarity of purpose. While others obsessed over optics, surveys, and praise, he studied the ground reality: crime, corruption, discipline, and order. He believed that a leader’s job is not to be liked, but to act. PRRD’s governance was never emotional—it was calculated. He understood that power is not exercised loudly; it is exercised decisively. He waited. He absorbed attacks. He let enemies expose themselves. And when he moved, he moved with force. That is what this image captures: a man thinking several steps ahead while others are distracted by noise. Unlike today’s leadership that hides behind advisers, press releases, and family alliances, PRRD trusted comman...

OPTIC POLITICS  December 2025 Romeo Acop

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By Teddy Adarna Corruption in the Philippines did not begin as a scandal. It began as a survival tactic under colonizers. It matured into a strategy under dictators. It perfected itself into a system under democracy. Today, it is no longer a crime hiding in shadows. It is architecture. We are born into it. Schooled by it. Employed by it. Taxed by it. We do not merely live with corruption, we live inside its design. Once, corruption was bribery at the edges of power. Now, it is power itself. Once, a thief hid from the people. Now, he campaigns in daylight. Once, public office was duty. Now, it is a franchise. Every regime promises reform. Every regime inherits the same machine, and instead of dismantling it, they learn how to drive it better. The plunder grows more sophisticated. The language grows more polished. The theft grows quieter. And the people grow more tired. We are told we are resilient. But resilience has become a weapon used against us. Instead of building industries, we ex...