PODKAS

In recent months, tensions rising in the West Philippine Sea have hogged the headlines, while our territorial claims in Sabah have been revived perennially by government officials and other claimants in the south. What should we know about our territorial disputes, and how do these issues affect the country's foreign policy? We talked to Dr. Herman Joseph Kraft of the U.P. Department of Political...

After almost a century, a land reform program that would genuinely emancipate the Filipino farmers remains elusive. Our agricultural situation pales in comparison to that of our neighbors. Small landholders and landless peasants find themselves in precarious and impoverished situations, especially when viewed relative to their Southeast Asian counterparts. In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Ver...

Much has been said about Mindanao, the "land of promise" and the site of an intractable ethnic conflict that took decades to resolve. Significant milestones have been achieved in recent years, and now, we have the Bangsamoro, which has replaced the ARMM as a more preferred autonomy setup. But how should we understand the developments in Muslim Mindanao in light of the transition to Bangsamoro? We...

In recent decades, multiple presidents have attempted to undertake constitutional reform. No one has yet to succeed. In 2016, President Rodrigo Duterte won the presidency on a platform of shifting the country to a federal system of governance, but the motion has already been long dead, sidetracked by a bevy of reasons, one of them, the COVID-19 pandemic. But as we witness and participate in the on...

Although the holidays are just around the corner, we will not let November pass us by without talking about some of its news-breakers. We talked about the continuing COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines and the reopening of schools, the latest display of aggression by China in the West Philippine Sea, and the gripping drama that was the deadline for substitution for the 2022 national elections. Jo...

The climate crisis is upon us. In a country as high in the global climate risk index as the Philippines, we must understand the nature and context of a global phenomenon that threatens us today and in the future. What are the roots of this problem, and how can we engage our leaders on this issue? To know more about climate change, we talked to Dr. Doracie Zoleta Nantes of the National Panel of Tec...

How persistent is economic inequality in the country? In this episode, we reached out to economist and Rappler columnist, Dr. JC Punongbayan of the UP School of Economics to talk about some economic problems that the Philippines have suffered as a nation and what flaws in the system enable these issues to continue to the present. If you want to listen to our full interview with JC , visit our webs...

While the Philippines does well in global gender indices, there is clear and present gender inequality in the country. A closer look into the Philippine gender situation exposes the challenges that women, the LGBT, and other gender minorities face daily. But what about throughout Philippine history? With the help of Sharmila Parmanand, we revisit the evolution of gender issues in the Philippines t...

As we face multiple crises today, the proliferation of fake news and disinformation campaigns make the already complex situation more difficult. And yet, fake news isn't really new. In this episode, we situate this phenomenon in history and look at how we can better defend the truth at a time when facts are bent toward insidious aims. With us this episode is Jonathan Ong of the University of Massa...

What a historic October it has been! For our wrap up, we talk about the 2022 Philippine elections (which just got more real this month), the oil price hike, the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, and the historic Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Maria Ressa. With us this episode is Rappler’s Life and Style, Entertainment, and Opinion Editor, Marguerite de Leon ( @margie_deleon ) to help us unpack this mont...

More than a year and a half later, the fight against COVID-19 still rages on. It seemed as if the world was caught unaware as governments scrambled to respond. But... it's not like the world is experiencing its first pandemic, right? For our second Hindi Na Bago 'Yan episode, we talked to Dr. Renzo Guinto of St. Luke's Medical Center regarding the current pandemic as we try to look back at the Phi...

PODKAS is back with a brand new season! In the first episode of Hindi Na Bago 'Yan!, we take a look at Philippine elections and party politics. As the 2022 election looms ahead, we are inundated by talks of standard bearers, political parties, party-switching, among others. What do these mean? And how are our elections and political parties rooted in history? We talked to Julio Teehankee of De La...

Isa na namang bagong season ng PODKAS ang paparating. Dahil nalalapit na ang eleksyon, sisipatin natin ang ilang mga usapin sa kasalukuyan gamit ang kasaysayan. Kaya naman ang pamagat ng ating bagong season ay, "Hindi nabago 'yan! Current Events from a Broader Historical Perspective". Bawat linggo simula October 23, may mga makakasama tayong mga experts mula sa iba't ibang mga disiplina upang tulu...

The BER months are here! And even if we're on a break, we cannot miss all the happenings this September, because it was no less newsworthy than the rest of the year! We covered HB 9850 which mandates that 50% of the tertiary Philippine history curriculum be focused on WW2, Toni Talks and that interview with Bongbong Marcos, the continuing COVID-19 pandemic and the Pharmally scandal, and the upcomi...

We go back to the events of August 2021 as we discuss the IPCC Report on Climate Change, the Taliban march to Kabul in Afghanistan, the Whang-Od and Nas Academy controversy, and the multitude of issues that hound the government response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines. With us to unpack these issues is our special guest Dr. Dahlia Simangan , Associate Professor and core member of the N...

We conclude our season on contested histories by shining a light on another underrepresented sector in Philippine history: the indigenous peoples. We travel through hundreds of years of resistance against colonization, maintaining indigenous cultures, and the struggle of the IPs for their rights and their welfare in Philippine society. The IP story is that of marginalization and oppression. What c...

The Chinese in the Philippines have been a permanent fixture that has defined Filipino culture for hundreds of years. From trading partners, migrants, and their usual representation as merchants and entrepreneurs, we explore the changing representations of the Chinese in Philippine history in this episode. Visit www.podkas.org for more information on the show.

We scan several historical periods to situate Moro identity and their historical experience within the Philippine polity by interrogating the place they occupied in the writing of Philippine history. Our conversation revealed that while the historical injustices they suffered since the seat of government was left to the Christian majority, it wasn't until the time of Marcos that the flames of disc...

More than a historical controversy, the way women have been treated in Philippine history is nothing short of historical injustice. In this episode, we talk about how the Filipina has been written in Philippine history by tracking how historical writing has rendered women marginalized, voiceless, and trapped in a Maria Clara box. Lee also talks about his recent journal article   on the p...

July was an eventful month, and we can't let it go without discussing some of the most newsworthy events, such as DTI's move to standardize Adobo; DepEd's tantrum regarding the country's poor education ranking; the slew of calamities that affected Filipinos this month such as flooding, the threat of Taal's eruption, and a strong earthquake; the #Tumindig movement; Duterte's last SONA; and the Phil...

Arguably the most history-conscious president, Ferdinand Marcos attempted to rein in how he will be remembered as a historical figure. He did this mainly through propaganda and the commissioning of a definitive Philippine history book to be published under his name ( very on-brand ). He hired the best and the brightest historians, and the result: the Tadhana project. Only three tomes came out of t...

The Jabidah Massacre is a historical controversy that ignited the country's most intractable conflict. But what is it, and did it really happen? How did it spark the independence movement in Mindanao, and why does this event remain contested until today? Let's unpack all these and more in another episode of PODKAS.  Visit our website, www.podkas.org , for more information on the show and othe...

In this episode, we look at three portraits of Filipinos during World War II: Jose P. Laurel, the "puppet" president of the Second Philippine Republic, Capt. Nieves Fernandez, a teacher-turned-guerrilla leader, and Ferdinand E. Marcos, the "most decorated Filipino hero of the war," at least according to him. One of these three is not like the other: which explains how the terrain of heroism during...

We have been taught that we have colonialism to thank for who we are today. Christianity, a major religion in the country, was a Spanish legacy, while democracy is a government system we inherited from the United States. Many history textbooks speak of these colonial legacies, but somehow gloss over the violence and abuse that colonial systems brought the country and its indigenous populations. In...

There were a lot of news breakers this month, but in this episode, we talk about Duterte and the International Criminal Court, the continuing COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines, Netflix's Trese, and the sudden passing of former president Noynoy Aquino. Handholding us in the legalese behind the issue of Duterte and the ICC, among others, is lawyer and lecturer Ross Tugade. Join us in this very en...