Lisandro E. Claudio
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Articles by Lisandro E. Claudio
Chasing (Michelin) Stars: Filipino Fine Dining Today
It’s Michelin star-chasing time for Filipino restaurants. Late last year, I walked into Chef Patrick Gabon’s and Celine Wuu’s Restaurant Naides in San Francisco’s Nob Hill. We were the first diners to ever walk through their doors, and I’m a proud supporter. With his background in New Nordic cuisine, Gabon was unashamed to cook an aggressively sour and fermented version of our food.
Conservative and Religious: Filipino Evangelicals Go MAGA
The linkages between Filipinos based in the US and those in the Philippines create multiple vectors of influence on the latter. With evidence of Filipino voters in the US becoming more conservative, Filipinos back home will start to view American politics from this ideological perspective. A major source of influence will be the American evangelical churches that have an outsized influence on religiosity in the Philippines.
[OPINION] The cult of Meloto
Filipinos from Catholic schools grew up with Gawad Kalinga (GK) and its charismatic founder, Tony Meloto. As one Redditor notes, GK was synonymous with social outreach in the 2000s. This was no accident. The cult of Meloto (“TM” or “Tito Tony”), like many personality cults, was a deliberate creation. It is the same cult that has shielded Meloto from accountability against credible accusations of molesting boys from GK communities.
Why Duterte's arrest will shake up dynastic politics in the Philippines
The ex-president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, could soon become the first Asian former head of state to be tried at The Hague. The populist politician was arrested on Mar. 11, 2025, after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant relating to his “war on drugs.” Some 6,000-plus people were killed during the crackdown. But despite the controversy surrounding his policies and the end of his presidency in 2022, Duterte remains an influential figure.
Arrest of ex-president Duterte will shake up dynastic politics in the Philippines - and hand initiative to rival Marcos family
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Arrest of ex-president Duterte will shake up dynastic politics in the Philippines - and hand initiative to rival Marcos family Original
The ex-president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, could soon become the first Asian former head of state to be tried at The Hague. The populist politician was arrested on Mar. 11, 2025, after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant relating to his “war on drugs.” Some 6,000-plus people were killed during the crackdown. But despite the controversy surrounding his policies and the end of his presidency in 2022, Duterte remains an influential figure.
From Canada to Belarus, Five Elections To Watch in 2025
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What’s at stake in the five countries that go to the polls in 2025
The coming 12 months can’t promise the bumper crop of elections we saw during 2024, when countries home to about half the world’s population headed to the polls. Still, voters will cast ballots in several important elections throughout the year – and many of the themes persist: the impact of inflation, the rise of the populist right and the fallout of war in Europe and the Middle East. Only a fool or charlatan will pretend to predict the future, so it’s usually best to avoid election forecasting.
5 elections to watch in 2025
The coming 12 months can’t promise the bumper crop of elections we saw during 2024, when countries home to about half the world’s population headed to the polls. Still, voters will cast ballots in several important elections throughout the year – and many of the themes persist: the impact of inflation, the rise of the populist right and the fallout of war in Europe and the Middle East. Only a fool or charlatan will pretend to predict the future, so it’s usually best to avoid election forecasting.
5 elections to watch in 2025
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) (THE CONVERSATION) The coming 12 months can’t promise the bumper crop of elections we saw during 2024, when countries home to about half the world’s population headed to the polls.
[ANALYSIS] Why did we experience our worst economic crisis in the 1980s?
Discussions of the economic legacy of the first Marcos regime hinge on the question: what happened to us in the 1980s? This became clear to me after reading JC Punongbayan’s rigorous rebuttal of a recent lecture by Marcos’s chief planning minister, Gerardo Sicat, who claimed that the downturn of the 1980s — our worst economic downturn as an independent republic — could have been averted if not for the assassination of Ninoy Aquino.
[OPINION] Why I’m not as afraid of inflation as my economist
In my previous piece, I discussed why we should argue with our economists. In sum, I explained why we should not treat our economists like unassailable experts, but as key contributors to a national conversation that we should all be engaged in. In this follow-up, we turn to how to argue with your economist. Here are three steps. 1. Aspire to economic literacy When we argue with economists, we need to know what we’re talking about.
[OPINION] Why argue with your economist
Part 1 of a series In the era of online disinformation, you often hear the words “trust the experts.” I generally agree, especially in discussions of science. I trust the expert doctor who tells me the COVID-19 vaccine is safe, and I do not trust the Ivermectin titos/as of Viber. Trusting the experts often means trusting the science. It means trusting people who have investigated problems in detail and with great care. But this is not a hard and fast rule.
[OPINION] Partida: Why odds were stacked against Kakampinks, and what we achieved
We use the term “partida na” to refer to a handicap. And partida is how we should think of the Leni Robredo campaign. The question is not why she lost, but why her campaign did so well amid terrible odds. Like many Filipinos who believe in truth and justice, I mourn the results of the elections. Kakampinks should be sad, because the election of a liar and thief augurs poorly for our country’s future. But we should also take comfort in what we have achieved.
[OPINION] You’ve got to carry that weight: Celebrating Hidilyn by becoming strong
There are many lessons to be learned from the example of Hidilyn Diaz, from perseverance to love of country. But there is an obvious lesson Filipinos can learn from a woman who can clean and jerk 124 kg: we should aspire to be physically strong. I do not mean that we should all become Olympic weightlifters. Strength can mean different things to different people.
[OPINION] Letter to a young recruit
Radical movements rise during times of political crisis. And if there ever was a political crisis in the Philippines, it is now. We are led by a mass murderer, whose brutality has led to the deaths of thousands and whose incompetence has led to the illness and starvation of others. This, as you know, is reminiscent of the 1970s – the time when Digong’s ideological father stole our democracy and our money.
[OPINION] Don’t pass the anti-terror bill; legalize the Communist party instead
Let us not kid ourselves: the proposed anti-terrorism bill is a measure aimed at combatting the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). Certainly, the military also wants more leeway to go after extremist Islamists. Still, groups like the Abu Sayyaf Group and the Maute faction are so obviously inimical to national security that our government does not need a law enshrining a vague definition of terrorism to go after them.
[OPINION] My long road to physical education
Growing up, I never understood the E in PE. In my other subjects, education meant learning new things through deliberate study. If you did your homework and studied for exams, you improved your grade. With Physical Education, however, I felt helpless. I was bad at team sports and performed poorly in physical fitness exams like the one-mile run. By the time I got to high school, I was so used to my athletic mediocrity, that I decided to stop playing sports.
[OPINION] 'Tito historians' and the personalization of fake news
So your mom happened to be on her college Viber group, where she found out that COVID-19 could be treated by nebulizing whiskey. The information came from your Tita Vicky, who heard it from Dr. Espadaña, who used the treatment on a sick brother in Modesto, California. Remember Tita Vicky? She’s your cousin Paula’s ninang. The pudding of this proof is obviously not in the science, but in the personal story.
Did Duterte change the rules of Philippine elections?
Populists change the way we think about electoral strategy. They mobilise new constituencies, they prime new debates, and, most importantly, they shift rhetoric. What was once unsaid, and/or only hinted at, now becomes explicit. In the United States, populism reoriented the campaign strategies of both the Republican and the Democratic parties.
[OPINION] Winnie turns Trumpian
The issue of Tsinoys has turned Monsod into a careless pundit, and she serves as a cautionary tale for young scholars like myself. Success in public service, a newspaper column, and the final word on a TV show can make one lazy. Published 10:58 AM, December 04, 2018 Updated 10:58 AM, December 04, 2018 I saw orange when I read Solita Monsod’s most recent diatribe against Chinese-Filipinos.
[OPINION] Responsible anti-Communism
The obligation to speak out against Communism must come in tandem with a humanism that recognizes the rights and even morality of those who fight under the red banner After courting them for the first year of his administration, President Duterte has now declared the Maoist Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), terrorist organizations. His declaration is unfortunate.
Drugs deaths, diets, and the problem of experts
Alas, the world is confusing. All we can do is do our best to educate ourselves, keep our own biases in check, and maintain open minds. A symbol of the times confronts LRT riders who look right as they pass by Vito Cruz station: a black banner with the words “Stop the Killings. Start the Healing” hung on the Corinthian columns of architect Tomas Mapua’s St La Salle Hall. The sign is near but distant.
[OPINION] The humanities vs Dutertismo
Our results-oriented education makes us forget that we go to school, especially college, not simply to learn how to do things, but to become better citizens and better people In 2016, I noticed that many doctors were campaigning for Rodrigo Duterte. It was odd, because drug addicts are ill, and here you had healers supporting a man who preferred them dead.
End media neutrality
Want to avoid futile debates about neutrality? Admit your biases upfront. It’s a simple enough solution for individuals, but the news media should consider it as well. The favorite pejorative of online trolls is “biased.” They often use it to question the credibility of a media outlet such as this one, or, sometimes, academics like myself who should be “neutral” in their analysis.
The Duterte dispensation
Dutertismo is a new dispensation in Philippine politics. And for those of us unsettled by this fact, historian Mark Lilla offers some advice: 'If you are unhappy with the terms of debate during one dispensation, you have no choice but to prepare a new one.' The past few weeks have been bad for the Duterte administration. People decried the death of Kian delos Santos, and Senator Trillanes accused presidential son, Pulong Duterte, of smuggling.
Adventures in non-faith
We are now witnessing Catholicism at its best. Those from the faith would do well to reconnect with their faith today, and join their Church as it tells those who suffer that they too may partake of the kingdom of God – distant but ever present. My fiancée’s dream wedding has always been a small, private ceremony in San Francisco’s city hall. She will, fortunately for her, get her dream wedding, and, unfortunately for her, be stuck with me for the rest of her life.
The moralist thinker in Digong’s Philippines
Any human behavior can be explained, and any ethical lapse can be granted its internal logic. But you need to know when to draw the line. The great intellectuals of the 20th century were moralists – individuals who decried the wrongs of their societies and condemned the irresponsibility of their fellow citizens. In Europe, writers like Albert Camus castigated French society for its compunction toward bloody, revolutionary shortcuts. In the Philippines, the polymath Salvador P.
Vanity and the creation of the social media celebrity
Examine the personalities of most social media celebrities. Many have had a history of self-promotion, hucksterism, and even exhibitionism. Propaganda is the act of persuasion. When politicians want to change minds, they deploy various tactics – from the creative presentation of truth to outright deception. But propagandists don’t just have to persuade your average voter; they must also entice influential citizens to become propagandists themselves.
The art of changing your mind
I have relished taking stances, being wrong, revising my positions. Yet our society can make it difficult for people to evolve politically and ethically. A recent study showed that religious fundamentalists have damaged brains. Apparently, impairments in a part of the prefrontal cortex diminishes one’s capacity to be open minded, leading to the kind of blind devotion that creates monsters like ISIS terrorists.
Can Duterte do a Marcos?
Our babyboomer mayor-president may think he is living in the 1970s, but things have changed a lot since then When the President promises violence, he usually delivers. At the very least, he tries his best. I have no doubt that Digong really wants to emulate Ferdinand’s Marcos’s martial law in its brutality, and that he craves for the nationwide power the dictator cemented in 1972. Duterte’s disposition is harrowing, and advocates of liberal democracy should be very wary.
How I became a 'Yellowtard'
I am a yellowtard because I would rather take clumsy liberal-democrats over a maniacal murderer in Malacañang I have a confession to make: I think I may have been infected by yellow fever. They say that people with my affliction can easily become biased or, even worse, supporters of criminals. Rumor has it that this disease began to incubate sometime in the 1980s, possibly '83, and slowly infected most of our poor compatriots in the years that followed.
Dutertismo’s elitism problem
To continue the fiction of being simple folk, the Dutertians must consistently conjure an upper crust for them to demonize. How far can they go? As with any form of populism, Dutertismo divides the world into the elite and the everyday person. During the campaign, this division was relatively easy for a Mindanao mayor, an outsider from politics as usual, to foist on the electorate.
Wither Ateneo in the Age of Duterte?
Today, for the first time in more than a decade, Ateneo finds itself a castaway from the halls of power. The most powerful man in the country despises us as a haven of the yellowtards and oligarchs he despises. A group called “Ateneans for Duterte” recently popped up on my Facebook feed. Its avowed goal, which I can no longer read since the group has been locked, was something to the extent of proving to the world that not all Ateneans hate the president.
Rodrigo Duterte: Ein Land auf Menschenjagd
Philippinische Menschenrechtler und internationale Medien sind entsetzt. Doch ein Blick in die sozialen Medien zeigt, ähnlich wie eine Umfrage, nach der 91 Prozent der Bevölkerung Duterte vertrauen, dass viele Philippiner diese Säuberungen unterstützen. Wie konnte Duterte eine derart drakonische Politik in einem Land umsetzen, das eigentlich als liberale Demokratie in Südostasien gilt?
What you didn’t know: Pro-Marcos propaganda too hip for its own good
To the pseudo-hipsters and contrarians, knowing bad history is not hip; it’s just stupid. Wanna be better than others? Read more and read right. Because, in the end, the truth is always sexier. The original definition of hipster (prior to indie rock and beards) was someone “in the know.” Unlike plebs who fell for mainstream ideas about politics and culture, hipsters were said to know better. Pro-Marcos apologists thrive off a similar sense of privileged exclusivity.
Intellectuals' political nihilism has given the world Brexit, Duterte and Donald Trump
On the surface, it would seem that intellectuals have nothing to do with the rise of global illiberalism. The movements powering Brexit, Donald Trump and Third-World strongmen like Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte all gleefully reject books, history and higher education in favor of railing against common enemies like outsiders and globalization. And you’ll find few Trump supporters among the largely left-wing American professoriate.
Dear Duterte voter: 'Di gumagana ang drug war
Davao is a city; Mayor Duterte is running to be president of an entire country. Name me a single all-out national drug war that has worked, and I will vote for Duterte. Kung ang una mong reaksyon sa title ko ay “Bayaran!” please stop reading. Hindi ito para sa mga troll na ginagamit ang Duterte campaign para magmura at mang-insulto. Madaling maniwala, lalo na 'pag galit. Ang gusto kong kausap 'yung mga willing mag-isip. Alam kong malaking problema para sa mga Duterte supporter ang droga.
The Philippines’ new president is no “Trump of the East,” but he’s terrifying in his own right
The newly elected president of the Philippines is a tough-talking sexist who thrives off of hate speech and populist anger. If this reminds you of another high-profile US politician, it’s probably no surprise that the international media has christened Rodrigo Duterte “the Trump of the East.” But while there may be superficial similarities between the two men, the comparison is not very useful.
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