Facts First with Christian Esguerra

Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo's eldest daughter, Aika, speaks with journalist Christian Esguerra about her mother's decision to run for president in 2022, the struggles ahead, and how the campaign -- and a victory --- could alter life yet again for this closely knit family.

This episode looks into Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo's candidacy for president in 2022 and how a coalition of opposition forces and grassroots organizations can help her achieve that.

In this episode, Christian Esguerra speaks with former party-list congressman Neri Colmenares, who is gunning for a Senate seat in the 2022 elections after 2 failed attempts. This time, he and fellow activists are facing even more intense red-baiting under the Duterte administration.

In this episode, Christian Esguerra speaks with former senator JV Ejercito, who's gunning for a seat in the Senate in 2022 after his failed reelection bid in 2019. But will the result be different this time even if his half-brother is also running again? Will it be 2019 all over again for the bitter rivals?

The mayor of the Philippine capital city is running for president in 2022. Can his compelling rags-to-riches backstory, and accomplishments as a local chief executive for less than 3 years, catapult him to the Palace? Journalist Christian Esguerra sat down with Moreno’s campaign strategist.

In this episode, Christian Esguerra sits down with human rights lawyer Chel Diokno, who made an unsuccessful run for the Philippine Senate in 2019 but with promising results. This time in 2022, he explains why the country can’t afford another 6 years of a Duterte-like leadership or a return of the Marcoses to Malacañang—and what it would take to prevent either of them. 

This episode talks about Congress’ grant of a 3-year extension of the interim regional government in the new Bangsamoro region in the Philippines. Christian Esguerra sat down with the region’s education minister, Mohagher Iqbal.

This episode examines the growing trend of so-called social media influencers and vloggers conducting puff political interviews, which, while may be entertaining, do not really serve the greater public interest.

In this episode, Christian Esguerra sat down with Kevin “Tarantadong Kalbo” Raymundo, the artist behind the wildly popular “Tumindig” cartoon, which has inspired an online movement among Filipinos to take a stand against abuses and incompetence under President Rodrigo Duterte.

In this episode, Nuelle Duterte, a niece of President Rodrigo Duterte, speaks with journalist Christian Esguerra on why she’s been vocal against his administration and why the Philippines cannot afford to have another Duterte win in the 2022 presidential election.

This episode looks deep into the 9-billion-peso contract cornered by a little-known company to supply face masks and face shields in the Philippines. Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian joins Christian Esguerra to talk about the ongoing Senate investigation. 

In this episode, Christian Esguerra is joined former election commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal, who is expected to serve as spokesman of the Lacson-Sotto ticket in the 2022 Philippine presidential election.

In this episode, Christian Esguerra speaks with veteran campaign strategist Lito Banayo, who quit as Duterte’s envoy to Taiwan to campaign for Isko Moreno for president. Can Moreno, who emerged from the slums of Manila to become the city’s mayor, rise all the way to Malacañang?

In this episode, Christian Esguerra sits down with former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV on efforts to unite against Duterte’s presidential candidate in 2022, and why he thinks “enablers” of the current administration should never be considered as the opposition’s standard-bearer.

In this episode, Christian Esguerra sits down with a Manny Pacquiao ally, who explains why the senator will run for president, his spat with President Rodrigo Duterte, and why he thinks the legendary boxer can beat Duterte’s daughter Sara in 2022.

In this podcast, Dominican Fr. Nicanor Austriaco, a molecular biologist, talks with Christian Esguerra about the Philippine government’s strategy to hit herd immunity despite limited vaccine supply—build a “wall” against COVID-19 around Metro Manila and several provinces by inoculating enough people there. But can they put up this line of defense before the more infectious Delta Variant arrives?

What was life like for the late President Benigno Aquino III after Malacañang? Why did he stay out of public view? Which issues affected him the most and lingered long after his presidency? Get to know him up close in this interview with his former spokeswoman, lawyer Abigail Valte.

This episode talks about post-Duterte scenarios and what's at stake in the 2022 Philippine elections.

This episode talks about how a community-based drug rehabilitation program is coping through online sessions because Duterte's  drug war continues despite the pandemic.

Why is the Philippines now struggling with a new wave of COVID-19 infections, the most number of active cases in Southeast Asia? In this episode, former Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral explains what the government failed to do during a critical period in August 2020, and why this whole problem ultimately comes down to leadership and governance, with President Rodrigo Duterte treating the pandemi...

A newly created region in the southern Philippines is set to hold its first parliamentary elections in 2022. But its leaders are pushing to postpone this democratic exercise until the region’s transition is well in place. Benedicto Bacani of the Institute for Autonomy and Governance, and Pancho Lara of International Alert join Christian Esguerra in this episode.

In this episode, Christian Esguerra sat down with key figures in the new Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao on the challenges of building strong political parties ahead of the first-ever elections in the region.

In this special #BangsamoroSeries episode, Christian Esguerra sits down with former election commissioner Luie Tito Guia, who explains the parliamentary elections set in the new Bangsamoro region in the southern Philippines in May 2022. 

Lawyer Christian Monsod, a member of the 1986 Constitutional Commission which drafted the current Philippine constitution, sits down with journalist Christian Esguerra on how to fix the country's Party-list System and how to attract more foreign investments -- all without having to amend the constitution.

Burdened by high expectations, former Muslim rebels are pushing for a 3-year extension to complete the transition of a new autonomous region under their peace agreement with the Philippine government. They cited the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and difficulties in running the interim regional government. Christian Esguerra sits down with a member of the Bangsamoro Parliament and a Mindanao peac...