With former President Duterte set to face trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, we look back at his formative years, long before he rose to power. 

“He wished his father saw him become a lawyer.” 

Journalist and biographer Earl Parreño tells Howie Severino that Duterte idolized his father, Vicente, a former Cabinet secretary and governor of Davao, and deeply loved his mother. 

In his self-published biography, “Beyond Will and Power,” Parreño traces Duterte’s early exposure to violence, drawing on accounts from close friends and relatives, as well as the former president’s own statements. He details some pivotal moments, including a shooting incident while he was a law student at San Beda.

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For this special episode of Howie Severino Presents, the team travels to the northernmost province of the archipelago to look for the last traditional stone houses, a distinctive feature of Batanes that is rapidly disappearing.  

Some of these houses have been standing for more than a hundred years, a symbol of Batanes’ rugged ingenuity. But recent restrictions on harvesting local wood and other native materials have hampered their repair. Home owners are shifting to cement and more common shelter designs, erasing a unique cultural treasure. 

Racing against time, a collaborative effort by university-based engineers and architects, the DOST, and indigenous builders has created a prototype of a reinforced traditional house. 

Is this the solution to a vanishing heritage? Severino and his team journey to a sea-swept corner of Batanes to find out. 

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Has your feed been invaded — by China, America, or any other foreign power? How can you tell?

Open-source intelligence analyst Giano Libot explains how foreigners shape and influence public opinion in the Philippines. He discusses how a recent statement by AFP Chief Romeo Brawner was taken out of context and went viral, showing how narratives can be twisted and amplified online.

This is the third and final episode in Howie Severino’s special series on Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI).

Libot and Severino unpack how local influencers and bot networks can spread propaganda that originates from foreign state media. Together, they explore how this kind of online meddling undermines trust, distorts public debate, and threatens our democracy.

Don’t miss the full conversation—and stay tuned for a special upcoming episode on heritage conservation!

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In China's influence operations in the world, the Philippines ranked 7th in 2022, according to the study the China Index. In 2024, the Philippines went down the ranking to number 29.

Analyst Janina Santos from Doublethink Lab, a think tank that studies Foreign Information Manipulation Interference or FIMI, unpacks China's online influence in the world and how this has pervaded our everyday lives affecting media, the academe, and domestic politics.  

What does China's influence operations threaten? She explains to Howie Severino in this second installment to a special 3-part series on foreign actors and disinformation.

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In today’s information battlefield, outside forces are waging influence campaigns using proxies, propaganda, and falsehoods to sway public opinion.

This tactic is known as Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI).

How does FIMI threaten democracies around the world? What’s happening in the Philippines? 

Prof. Rachel Khan of the University of the Philippines breaks it down.

This is Part 1 of a three-part special series uncovering how foreign actors meddle in Philippine politics through disinformation.

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Tejeros Convention, Part 1

Para mamagitan sa dalawang paksyon ng Katipunan, dumayo si Andres Bonifacio sa isang pulong sa Cavite na naging snap election. Bakit hindi tanggap ni Bonifacio ang pagkatalo niya?

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Dating gerilya at mekaniko ng bus, si Pangulong Ramon Magsaysay ay malapit sa masa at nakamobilisa ng kabataan. Walang bahid ng katiwalian. Ngunit hindi niya natapos ang kanyang unang termino.

Who was Ramon Magsaysay?

A former guerrilla leader and bus mechanic, President Magsaysay was close to the masses and mobilized the youth. He was untainted by corruption scandals. But tragically, he wasn’t able to finish his first term.

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