It’s the same number as before the May 12 elections. But despite the outcomes, the clans did not always win gubernatorial races with ease. A deeper study of the electoral contests revealed continuing resistance to dynastic rule, with some successes even if few.
At least 18 political dynasties won between five and 19 seats in the May 2025 elections, but reform advocates also saw encouraging signs. A few challengers secured victories, while others came close. Some dynasties suffered a downfall while others shrank in number.
Can new leaders rise in the power struggle ahead?
A confessed assassin for the Davao Death Squad, Edgar Matobato was the first to go public about the killings allegedly ordered by former President Rodrigo Duterte. Since 2014, when he was detained and brutally tortured by his former comrades, Matobato has been on the run. For ten years, an unlikely network kept him alive: Catholic clergy who believed in his redemption, former military mutineers who shielded him, and, at one point, the security detail of an outgoing president. Together, they helped him evade the powerful forces intent on silencing him.
Today, Matobato is out of the country, having fled in the company of two priests, a journalist, and a photographer from The New York Times. With his wife at his side, he assumed a new identity, slipped through airports under cover, and landed in an unnamed country. It is an indefinite stop on his way to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, where Duterte may one day stand trial for crimes against humanity.
His journey, from a recruit into a brutal profession, to whistleblower, to fugitive, is a remarkable tale that mirrors the country’s complex relationship with violence, power—and redemption.
Scions of political clans ramp up spending in a Senate race packed by media celebrities.
Senatorial candidates Rep. Camille Villar and Sen. Imee Marcos account for half of the total advertisements aired from January to September 2024. Meanwhile, Camarines Sur gubernatorial candidate LRay Villafuerte has a bigger advertising budget than many national candidates.
The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) sits down with election watchdogs to identify urgent tasks before the October 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections, 2025 national elections, and the 2025 BARMM elections.
Environment Secretary Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga pleaded with the enterprises to register their plastic recovery programs with the government given the relatively low number of registrants.
Speaker Romualdez has neither confirmed nor denied the reported $1 million donation, which amounts to around 10% of his declared total net worth as of 2016.
Stakeholders and analysts say President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s State of the Nation Address in July 2023 indicated his commitment to the peace process. But the rosy picture he painted in his SONA betrayed realities on the ground.
Doyle, Dane & Bernbach (DDB) Philippines won at least two other government deals to promote tourism on top of its discredited P49.92-million “Love the Philippines’’ ad campaign, research by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) showed.
Facebook has deactivated sites discovered by PCIJ to be facilitating the illegal adoption of babies and toddlers, but new pages can easily be created. A 2022 law could address some complaints about the tedious process of adopting legally.
BY VICTORIA TULAD, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
Islamic State-linked groups in the country have been greatly diminished but they have the ability to launch attacks and regroup after heavy losses. Abu Zacariah was the third emir from the Philippines since Isnilon Hapilon, leader of the 2017 Marawi siege that shut down the Islamic City for five months. By Carmela Fonbuena
Kaarawan ni Jose Rizal ngayon, Hunyo 19. Regalo para sa ating mga Pilipino ang edisyong ito na pang-hayskul ng Noli Me Tangere. Sinigurado ng awtor na si Paolo Ven Paculan na simple ang mga salita sa libro at kumpleto pero maikli. 'Isa ang Noli sa pinakamaganda at pinakamahalagang aklat na alam ko,' ayon sa kaniya. Pinahintulutan ng awtor at ng Ateneo De Manila University Press ang PCIJ na i-upload ang ilang chapter ng libro. Tara na! Balikan natin ang mga aral ni Rizal.
Kaarawan ni Jose Rizal ngayon, Hunyo 19. Regalo para sa ating mga Pilipino ang edisyong ito na pang-hayskul ng Noli Me Tangere. Sinigurado ng awtor na si Paolo Ven Paculan na simple ang mga salita sa libro at kumpleto pero maikli. 'Isa ang Noli sa pinakamaganda at pinakamahalagang aklat na alam ko,' ayon sa kaniya. Pinahintulutan ng awtor at ng Ateneo De Manila University Press ang PCIJ na i-upload ang ilang chapter ng libro. Tara na! Balikan natin ang mga aral ni Rizal.
Kaarawan ni Jose Rizal ngayon, Hunyo 19. Regalo para sa ating mga Pilipino ang edisyong ito na pang-hayskul ng Noli Me Tangere. Sinigurado ng awtor na si Paolo Ven Paculan na simple ang mga salita sa libro at kumpleto pero maikli. 'Isa ang Noli sa pinakamaganda at pinakamahalagang aklat na alam ko,' ayon sa kaniya. Pinahintulutan ng awtor at ng Ateneo De Manila University Press ang PCIJ na i-upload ang ilang chapter ng libro. Tara na! Balikan natin ang mga aral ni Rizal.
The Philippines is at a crossroads in its energy transition. The Philippine government looks to import liquefied natural gas (LNG), while renewable energy sources are abundant in the country.
Listen as Sam Reynolds, energy finance analyst of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), discusses the risks of locking into a new form of imported fossil fuel that will unlikely reduce household or business power bills and the challenges of transitioning to cheaper forms of renewable energy resources.
Read the related stories:
Reporting by Cherry Salazar and Elyssa Lopez. Produced and edited by Cherry Salazar. Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) and YouTube Audio Library. Illustration by Alexandra Paredes.
The Verde Island Passage (VIP) — the world’s “center of center” of marine shorefish biodiversity — covers five provinces in the Philippines. Its biodiversity richness is comparable to the Amazon.
How are local industries relying on the economic and ecological resources in the area? Listen to PCIJ’s interview with Prof. Jayvee Saco, President of the Philippine Association of Marine Science (PAMS) and head of the VIP Center for Oceanographic Research and Aquatic Life Sciences (VIP-CORALS) research group.
Read the related story: Verde Island Passage in danger as LNG projects flock to Batangas
Reporting by Cherry Salazar. Produced and edited by Cherry Salazar. Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) and YouTube Audio Library. Photo by Larry Monserate Piojo.
When disasters hit, local government units are the automatic front liners. But because typhoons often cover large swaths of areas, national leadership is always necessary to manage response. The next president should prepare for the next big typhoon.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine exposed the country’s dependence on food imports. Vietnam, the country’s top supplier of rice, has also shown a decline in production.
