The era when presidential candidates slugged it out for their party's endorsement in a national convention are almost beyond living memory. In 1992, when Fidel V. Ramos pledged to participate in his party's convention, only to bolt his party when he lost, he killed the chances for political party conventions to matter in picking presidential candidates. One of his advisers, Antonio Carpio, is now a Convenor of 1Sambayanan which is trying to unify the opposition on a different model from party conventions: the Convenors Group of 1984-85. This two-episode series looks at both models and why both have ended up failures. This is Part 2, focusing on convenors' groups --and political impresarios.

The era when presidential candidates slugged it out for their party's endorsement in a national convention are almost beyond living memory. In 1992, when Fidel V. Ramos pledged to participate in his party's convention, only to bolt his party when he lost, he killed the chances for political party conventions to matter in picking presidential candidates. One of his advisers, Antonio Carpio, is now a Convenor of 1Sambayanan which is trying to unify the opposition on a different model from party conventions: the Convenors Group of 1984-85. This two-episode series looks at both models and why both have ended up failures. This is Part 1, focusing on political party conventions.

This audio long read is a recording of my The Explainer commentary broadcast on ANC on August 22, 2017. August 21 is an annual opportunity to reflect on the assassination of Ninoy Aquino; in 2017, it also invited a reflection the killing of a until-then anonymous youngster named Kian delos Santos.

This is Audio Long Read No. 4. Originally published in Spot.PH on October 21, 2016 as "Enter the Dragon." Written on the occasion of President Rodrigo Duterte's state visit to the People's Republic of China, the generosity and friendliness of his reception was in marked contrast to the modest, stiff, and cold reception President Benigno S. Aquino received in 2011. I was part of his official delegation at the time.

This is the third and last of three Audio Long Reads to mark the 40th day since the passing of former President Benigno S. Aquino III.

This is Audio Long Read No. 3. Originally published in Spot.PH on June 26, 2021 as "The Impossible Dreamer." It serves as my obituary on the passing of former President Benigno S. Aquino III, whom I worked for, from 2010 to 2016.

This is the second of three Audio Long Reads to mark the 40th day since the passing of former President Benigno S. Aquino III.

This is Audio Long Read No. 2. Originally published in Rogue Magazine in March, 2015, as "The Mourning After." This was soon after the Mamasapano clash, and a historic backlash against then-President Benigno S. Aquino III for not attending the arrival honors for the bodies of the slain SAF commandos. In this piece, I inquired into his reasons for not going, and what they said about him, his era and upbringing, and a nation that underwent a kind of traumatic divorce from the President and his family. 

This is the first of three Audio Long Reads to mark the 40th day since the passing of former President Benigno S. Aquino III.

Audio Long Read #1: On July 6, 2021, the Philippine Daily Inquirer came out with a special focus section on the coming elections which includes this overview, by me, on the trends and realities of our national elections that we tend to overlook or not pay enough attention to. This is the first Audio Long Read of one of my articles. It was recorded during a stormy afternoon, as you'll hear from time to time in the background.

Welcome to the first episode of The Explainer Podcast with Manolo Quezon. This is latest iteration of a show that began back in 2006 on ANC, and again in 2016. Now we're on our own and exploring an audio format. I'm covering a topic I've lectured and even Tweeted about --political music. No better day than Independence Day, which also happens to be the birthday of our National Anthem, to encounter some music, some of it perhaps familiar, and much of it likely unfamiliar, to you. But together they form one of the soundtracks to our story as a nation.