Santos, Vergel O. author

Foreword -- A note from the writer -- a sick prospect -- A vote for redemption -- Here we go again -- Pathology of pwoer -- Living upside down -- Searching history for culprits -- Default by timidity -- Duterte's descent into authoritarianism -- A mortal miscalculation -- Choosy protesters -- Theoddest menage in philippine politics -- Duterte kills three-so what? -- Matobato is holding out -- DUterte grooms his heir -- Murder in the cathedral -- A runaway train -- Condemned by crown acclamation -- Back to war -- An isis hang-up -- Alive but annoyed -- Power consolidation for martial law -- The other marcos phenomenon Duterte's figures don't add up -- A nation doomed -- Allocating press freedom -- The general lets a round tear fall -- Duterte vs. the people's right to know -- One very insecure president -- Abnormal evolution of justice -- Presumption of abnormality -- A mentel itch -- Impeachment overkill -- A hot shirt for christmas -- The elephant in the room -- A souring plot -- The conscience of our time -- Duterte vs. morales: power vs. justice -- Conspiracy by quo warranto -- The ultimate betrayal -- Tuloy ang laban -- The marcos compromise -- Missing the forest for the trees -- A tale of two stinks -- A moral snowball -- Robredo and rodrigo -- Arroyo's the feature, duterte just the trailer -- Howlong can duterte wait? -- From incapacity to absurdity -- A sputtering conspiracy -- Why china cannot be trusted -- Continuing martial law without continuing rebellion -- Who to blame: the pollsters or us? -- Portrait of the filipino child as a criminal -- The ambush of maria ressa -- Where there's a sitting judge, there's justice -- Adding insult to injustice -- Justice by foreign intervention -- Transcendent messages via earthquake -- A ban on duterte -- A desperate, self-redemptive vote -- Insidious insertions -- The specter of succession -- Hounds at the door -- A nation at the door -- A nation held to ransom -- Duterte's world replaces the constitution -- Covering up for a national sellout -- What press freedom? -- Wrong side up -- The evil taht med do -- A never-ending cleanup -- Blowback -- The timid press -- Leila de lima, the missed tipping point -- Different breeds -- Patronage presidency -- Where is the outrage? -- The right to be entertaned -- The incidental virus -- A virus with emergency powers -- Things cannot be better -- A social virus -- Martial law by any other name -- Dangerous distraction -- An official act of terrorism -- From here to cybernity -- Kill is the word, the narrative, the theme -- Abs-cbn: lessons learned and unlearned -- Isolated presidency -- The chinese trojan horse -- False trust -- Poster boy of militarization -- Muzzling by sub judice -- The living ghost of leni robredo -- Duterte's desperate plot -- More crimes against humanity -- The elusive tipping point -- Corruption, the nagging moral issue -- Platforms are nothing -- Saln: the first test of probity -- Duterte is the issue

"This book is a collection of selected commentaries written by veteran journalist Vergel O. Santos between 2016 and 2021. He published most of them originally in Rappler, others in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and still others in The New York Times."