MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – A U.S.-based non-governmental organization has called the Philippines “a war zone in disguise” citing the killings of over 1,000 civilians in 2018 due to the alleged “lethality” of the Duterte administration’s ‘war on drugs’ campaign.

According to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), the number of civilians killed in the Philippines in 2018 alone is more than those killed in conflict-stricken countries like Iraq, Somalia or the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In a related development, the Philippines’ Department of Tourism on Thursday said 7.1 million tourists arrived in the Philippines in 2018, an all-time high record even if top destination Boracay was closed for 6 months.

A total of 7,127,168 foreign tourists visited the Philippines last year, a figure that is 7.65 percent higher than 2017’s 6.62 million arrivals, the DOT said in a statement.

The Philippine tourism was above the 6 percent average tourism growth in the Asia and the Pacific, the DOT said, citing data from the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) World Tourism Barometer.

The moral of the story: tourists like to flock to war zones.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (The Adobo Chronicles, Washington Bureau) – U.S. President Donald Trump broke long-standing tradition today and delivered a one-minute “State of the Union” address — not from Congress, but from The White House.

Legislators have argued that Trump should not be addressing the nation during a time when the Federal Government is practically closed because of the shutdown.

So instead, Trump delivered the SOTU from the Oval Office, and impressed critics and supporters alike for his very brief speech.

Here is what Trump said in his speech:

“The state of the Union is strong. The Union is divided. The Union is deadlocked. The Union is closed for business. I ask Congress to approve the budget to build my Great Wall. Believe me, the wall will make our nation even stronger and respected the world over. My wall will put China’s Great Wall to shame. It will be my monument, my legacy as the greatest President this nation has ever had.”

MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar was named Best Medyas Personality of 2018 by The Daily Tribune.

Andanar was cited for his outstanding work in sock-med.

The award is as pretigious as the “Filipino of the Year” honor given last year to Pinoy Ako Blog’s Jover Laurio by The Inquirer.