Portia Ladrido

CNN • 27th January 2021

The useful warnings of Barack Obama’s ‘A Promised Land’

Despite its faults, the first of the two-volume memoir by the former U.S. president provides an important insight on the brewing disillusion and disempowerment of the working class around the world.

CNN • 15th August 2020

How the Philippines became the biggest supplier of nurses worldwide

The demand for Filipino nurses to work abroad has drained our own supply, incapacitating our already fragile public health system.

CNN • 19th June 2020

Under quarantine, Filipino children and women are more vulnerable to sexual exploitation

As the world tries to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been strong indicators showing the surge of online sexual exploitation of children because of the lockdowns.

CNN • 2nd May 2020

OPINION: The poor shouldn’t be blamed for their poverty

There are complex structures and histories that keep many in poverty.

CNN • 6th April 2020

Women’s needs should not be sidelined in the time of crisis

For the country to truly beat the pandemic, initiatives should be aware of the woman’s perspective, especially the disadvantaged.

CNN • 2nd February 2020

The public school teachers’ commitment to indigenous communities

Despite difficult circumstances, teachers assigned to schools in IP communities forge on.

CNN • 2nd February 2020

Singapore Biennale 2019 is the biennale of our time

Patrick Flores, the artistic director for Singapore Biennale 2019, insists that this year’s biennale doesn’t have a theme. The title “Every Step in the Right Direction” is an invitation, an inspiration, he says; not a theme.

CNN • 12th October 2019

In Samar, farmers endure human rights violations due to militarization

The anti-communist campaign of the Duterte administration is in motion, but getting caught in the crossfire between the military and the NPA are farmers who continue to fear for their lives.

CNN • 2nd October 2019

In Payatas, a sewing facility employs drug war widows and orphans

The sewing facility in Payatas was put up by Project SOW, a community initiative by the Ina ng Lupang Pangako Parish, Vincentian priests, pastoral workers, and various private groups and individuals, with the goal of providing rehabilitation and...

CNN • 12th June 2019

For these families earning below ₱25,000 a month, daily living is a struggle

These Filipino families living a few hundreds above the poverty line share the difficulties of coping with minimal income and the increasing prices of goods.

CNN • 11th June 2019

Inside the biggest mental institution in the Philippines

Some of the teenage boys ram into the grills of their newly painted cells at Pavilion 14, the mental facility for male patients under 18 at the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) in Mandaluyong. Others waved, others stared, and a few are...

CNN • 23rd May 2019

Isko Moreno's road to mayoralty

Isko Moreno, a garbage collector turned politician, is the new mayor of the Philippine capital. Through an arduous campaign, he bested two political dynasties that ruled the city for decades.

CNN • 22nd April 2019

The burden of being a public health worker in the Philippines

With the historic Universal Health Care Law in motion, there is an expected surge in demand for health services. But how will this affect the well-being of our public health workers who are already under inhumane working hours?

Architectural Review • 9th April 2019

Shelter from the storm: community structures, Tagpuro, the Philippines, by Eriksson Furunes with Leandro V Locsin Partners

Community structures in Tagpuro in the Philippines by Eriksson Furunes with Leandro V Locsin Partners adapt to the destructive forces that wrecked their Tacloban antecedents.

CNN • 22nd January 2019

Why the BOL is important, even to Muslims living in Metro Manila

The BOL, previously called the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), is a product of the many peace negotiations between rebel groups, largely headed by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and the Philippine government. The law abolishes the Autonomous...

CNN • 5th December 2018

Women’s undergarments, bananas, refugees: The Philippines-North Korea relationship

Though the Philippines and North Korea don’t have embassies in each other’s lands, the future might change because of North and South Korea’s vow to end Korean War.

CNN • 30th August 2018

‘You only export products, not people’: The cost of being an OFW

After over a year of being spat at, sleeping on the floor next to a washing machine in a storeroom, not getting paid for more than four months straight, and eating leftover food (if there is leftover food), Jenna Baldapan attempted to escape from her...

CNN • 29th August 2018

Does 'gender equality' exist in the Philippines?

Young Filipinas are taking the reins in their own fields — from politics to tech — to address gender issues in the country.

CNN • 28th May 2018

Amorsolo, Rothko, and Kusama converse with Indonesian contemporary art

Indonesia’s first contemporary art museum displays how a thriving art industry in Southeast Asia can also influence the arts and culture scene in the Philippines and vice versa.

CNN • 27th March 2018

Is the war on drugs a war on women?

The war on drugs has been known to be a war on the poor. But has it also aggravated the struggles of Filipino women in urban poor communities?