Martha Atienza, Our Islands 11°16’58.4” N 123°45’07.0” E, 2017, on view as a “Midnight Moment” in New York’s Times Square. Michael Hull
From the 16th through the 19th Century, the trade route between Manila and Acapulco connected the pan-Pacific regions, facilitating an early global maritime trade similar to the Silk Road, linking East Asia and the Americas from east to west and vice versa. Galleons filled with Chinese ceramics, spices and silk sailed from Manila in the Phillippines to Acapulco, passing through China and Japan and then connecting with other ports of New Spain in the Americas, creating meaningful cultural exchange.
On view through the end of July in Times Square, a video work by Dutch-Filipino artist Martha Atienza invites us to explore this story while raising questions and concerns about pressing issues surrounding local communities and the environment. Our Islands 11°16’58.4” N 123°45’07.0” E reimagines an annual traditional parade from her native Philippines by staging it on the floor of the Visayan Sea. Divers from Bantayan Island perform the parade underwater, moving within coordinates they chose based on nature, considering the tides, current and time of day. The choice of costumes, characters and objects is a humorous commentary on contemporary society in the Philippines yet also addresses the progressive erosion of cultural memories and identities due to a pervasive global culture.
With the sea as background, the work also links to the threat of climate collapse to which Southeast Asia is increasingly exposed. Exploring this intricate interplay between local traditions, human subjectivity and the natural world, with this work, Atienza highlights the dynamics through which specific explorative human behaviors about nature have been established while eroding this relationship with ancestral knowledge and spirituality, which encouraged instead a more respectful symbiotic relation with natural cycles.
“I want to take this opportunity to amplify urgent environmental and social challenges faced on our island home of Bantayan and the Philippines,” said in a statement. “This brief, powerful moment brings attention to issues around the complexities of climate change while underscoring the intersection between environmental and cultural loss and resiliency.”
The video is screening nightly through the rest of the month as part of Times Square Art’s “Midnight Moment,” the world’s largest and longest-running digital art program, from 11:57 p.m. to midnight on all ninety electronic billboards in the square.
The video is part of the artist’s ongoing project of creating a moving diorama under the sea, a collaboration with the local community in an effort to empower and amplify seldom-heard voices. Michael Hull
Born to a Dutch mother and Filipino father, Atienza has navigated between these cultures and identities throughout her life, allowing her to adopt multicultural viewpoints and a transnational open approach to her observation and documentation of global events.
In addition to her art practice, Atienza is the president and co-founder of GOODLand, a platform under Art Lab that develops and applies a creative and collaborative methodology to tackle social, economic and environmental issues on Bantayan Island in the Visayas. The mission is to facilitate the realization of a self-sufficient and resilient community that can preserve nature and its cultural memories.
The work the artist creates is both an extension and integration of her community-centered practice to empower and create awareness of the values already embedded in their roots and connection to the land.
“Our Islands is a continued collaboration with compressor divers, their families, and the community,” Atienza told Observer. “As we documented and created a ‘living’ archive over the years, the work visually tackles issues of climate change (as the sea levels rise and super typhoons become a common occurrence), human destruction of the environment, social dislocation within the community as more people choose to earn a living overseas, and our loss of culture. We are also exploring ways to use new technology to find solutions together. We are creating a model for change and resilience for our neighboring islands and beyond our borders.”
Originally conceived as a 72-minute film, Our Islands 11°16’58.4” N 123°45’07.0” E was awarded the esteemed Baloise Art Prize at Art Basel in 2017 and acquired by the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi in 2022. The work has been widely screened across Asia, Australia and Europe, and this presentation in one of the most iconic places in the world marks an important moment for societal and ecological reflection and for the empowerment of the Filipino community, bringing those complicated legacies and issues to a global stage.
Isa Lorenzo and Rachel Rillo at Silverlens Manila. Photo by Joseph Pascual. Courtesy of Silverlens (Manila/New York).
While the Philippines might not yet be considered one of the leading centers in the art world, the country has a vibrant and healthy art scene and market. The local art system already presents a mature structure, with long-established galleries and auction houses and regional artists with lengthy waiting lists commanding high prices.
According to most of the Filipino collectors we spoke with, the art scene in the Philippines dates back to even before WWII, despite at the time mainly focusing on memorabilia, religious art and the Philippines’ Masters. When discussing the pre-war era, people mention Roman Ongpin, a Chinese-Filipino businessman and philanthropist who established El 82 in 1882 in Binondo, Manila. The space was originally an art supply shop but later became a significant cultural and social hub, supporting Filipino artists and the Philippine Revolution when Alfonso Ongpin, his son, transformed it into a gallery that showcased important Filipino artworks.
The Filipino art market is very healthy and appears to be continuously growing. Exhibitions in Manila are often sold out, to the point that most galleries and artists don’t technically need to circulate their work elsewhere. The Philippines now has its own art fair, Art Fair Philippines in February, which was founded in 2013 by Lisa Periquet, Dindin Araneta and Trickie Lopa—passionate art enthusiasts and advocates for the Philippine art scene.
Since its beginning, the founder of the gallery Silverlens wanted to do things differently, applying an international gallery business model and aiming to bring Filipino artists abroad. We met with founder Isa Lorenzo, and co-director Rachel Rillo to learn more about their story and the Filipino art system in general.
“Causal Loops” at Silverlens Manila. Courtesy of Silverlens (Manila/New York).
The gallery’s Manila headquarters are in an industrial building in Makati, a financial center and one of the wealthiest parts of the metro city. There are other art galleries nearby, though this isn’t yet what you could rightly call an arts district.
The gallery has a large open space upstairs, meaning they can host two exhibitions simultaneously. When we visited, it was during the last days of a show by Filipino artist Bernardo Pacquing, who, with a similar approach to Arte Povera and Art Informel, mixes found objects to conceive new abstractions dense with memory while playing with notions of “ugly” and “messy.” The artist is quite popular in the Philippines, although he has rarely been shown abroad. In the other room, they had a show of a younger artist, Dina Gadia, who, applying the strategy of Pop art’s burst brushwork and acrylic washes over printing ink, works on the images of school books Americans brought to the Philippines during the occupation, problematizing the imagination created during this time.
In Manila, we met with Rillo, who, after showing us around, invited us to sit at a large round table in the office. She told us that the gallery was founded in Manila in 2004 by Lorenzo, and then she joined in 2007 as co-director. Initially, the gallery focused on photography, then expanded to other media with time and the market evolving. More importantly, since their start, they had the ambition to be an international gallery, able to promote artists from the Philippines and the broader South Asia region to the global contemporary art world.
Rillo recalled that other galleries criticized their model, not understanding why they decided to have a bigger staff and space and participate in the international fairs. Most can easily survive and even do very well just by tapping into the local market, and so other Filipino galleries tend to avoid international fairs as they don’t see the need to invest money in something that will most likely bring more loss than profit. But to Lorenzo, from the very beginning, it was clear that Silverlens had to play a global game.
The gallery opened an outpost in Singapore in 2010, which was open for four years, and they started participating in international fairs. In 2017, they decided to expand their space in Makati to show how they could be the local powerhouse.
According to Rillo, another factor in their stable growth has been their unique approach to the business: being artists themselves, their philosophy is artists first, and their aim is to provide the platform for creatives to build solid careers within institutional settings instead of only thinking in terms of market success. While the market is fueling the careers of many Filipino artists, it’s a short-term strategy.
The institutional interest also pushed the gallerists to consider a big move to open in New York during the pandemic. Lorenzo told Observer that, “it was during the pandemic that we noticed that international curators were interested in the region. Perhaps as a product of art travel restrictions and museum programs halting during that time, we had several conversations with institutions from the U.S., that hinted at an interest in art from our side of the continent.”
“Soft Fantasy / Hard Reality” at Silverlens New York. Courtesy of Silverlens (Manila/New York).
The challenge was significant, considering the prices in New York, but a space came to them as if by fate, Rillo recalled: “We started to ask around and explored, and decided to rely on an agent a friend suggested to us. We gave him the exact street and position where we wanted to be; we said either that or nothing. After a few days, he returned to us with an unreal offer, and the timing was right.” As sometimes happens, chances in life let things flow. After making the necessary arrangements, in 2022, the two opened in a premier position in Chelsea, at 505 on 24th Street, between Kasmin and Marianne Boesky.
The program space in Chelsea clearly shows their target is, first and foremost, institutions: this summer, they have a multimedia show curated by Lorenzo, “Hard Fantasy / Soft Reality,” featuring a group of Filipino and South Asians who stage a multifaceted and futuristic exploration of a body and identity reality that is constantly evolving today, despite the resilience of various conservative social systems that persist in parts of Southeast Asia. Video, sculptures and installation works are predominant in the exhibition, with many of the artists included already boasting institutional recognition and projects in their resumes.
When asked about feedback thus far and if they saw interest growing, Lorenzo responded that since the gallery opened in Chelsea, “interest has become more palpable, not only for art that comes from SEA but from the diaspora. The response and the energy from the Filipino-American and Asian-American community are overwhelming. So yes, there is an internationally growing audience in New York, but this is not something that just happened; it is the result of 20 years of Silverlens and 15 years of being part of several important art fairs.”
Silverlens now regularly participates in international art fairs, including the Armory Show, Art Basel Hong Kong, Art Fair Philippines and S.E.A. Focus, a more curated boutique event dedicated to South Asia art in Singapore during Art Week in January. “It’s more like a curated show or a Biennale,” Rillo explained. “I like the dialogue that this fair also creates with other colleagues in the region.” They used to do other fairs like Frieze London, but there are some regions where Filippino and South Asian art still do not resonate much with the public.
The Philippines has a complicated colonial history that connects it with Spain, of course, but also with Central and Latino America with the Galleons and later with the States for their influence during decolonization. In these geographical and intercultural exchanges, the Silverlens program can function as an essential platform to problematize and explore this history, these interconnections and the unique cultural hybridization that resulted from that.
When asked if there’s something particular in Filipino art today, compared to their Asian colleagues and their international counterparts, Lorenzo commented, “The Philippines’ complicated colonial history is ongoing. Our art history mostly starts and continues from a very European art practice/history via Spain via the Catholic church. Then, our modern and contemporary leans heavily on American postmodernism, politics and pop culture. It is in these interconnections and cultural hybridity (as you said) that make for a very dynamic art language both locally and in the diaspora.”
“Land Poetics” at Silverlens Manila. Courtesy of Silverlens (Manila/New York).
In the deeper analysis we had a chance to undertake while exploring the local art scene and talking with some of its players and patrons, what the art system in the Philippines seems to be now lacking is just a national infrastructure of public and institutional support. Surprisingly, despite the maturity of the system and the growing popularity of contemporary art here, there’s still no national museum or national collection of modern and contemporary art, except the national bank and the university galleries, which are very active. While the market for contemporary Filipino art is growing, challenges such as limited public funding for the arts and the need for more professional art management still need to be addressed.
Various private initiatives, however, are trying to compensate for this gap. One of the first was Pintô Art Museum, founded by Dr. Joven Cuanang, a neurologist and art patron, in 1988 as the first museum dedicated to contemporary Filipino art open to the public. Although the entire system relies on private endeavors, many local collectors, including regional and very established international names, are already planning to create private museums to open their collections to the public.
Meanwhile, Filipino artists are gaining growing international recognition, as we can see in the U.S. from the extensive survey MoMA Ps1 is dedicating to Pacita Abad (which showed at SFMOMA after premiering at Walker Art Center), the video work by Martha Atianza currently presented in ninety billboards in Times Square as part of the historical art program “Midnight moment,” as well as just the many names from the Philippines and the South Asian Region region that are showing this year at the Biennale.
The role of local art galleries in the Philippines like Silverlens is the key to putting the country’s contemporary art onto the world stage—participating in international fairs and bringing it to the attention of international institutions is step one. This will further validate Filipino artists’ careers and establish them within a global art history narrative when the national scene is still struggling to find public support.
International Entertainment Corporation (IEC) announced that it has officially begun its limited operation of the casino at its New Coast Hotel property in Manila. The company is set to officially take over full casino operations from the PAGCOR on May 11.
The Board is pleased to announce that on 9 May 2024, the Group has commenced its limited operation in the Casino, the Group will officially take over the entire casino operation with effect from 11 May 2024 and will be the operator of the Casino under the Provisional License.
IEC statement
This announcement comes after IEC was awarded a provisional casino license by the Philippine regulator on September 27, 2023. The former company now aims to turn New Coast Hotel into a proper integrated resort.
For context, the casino at New Coast was operated by the PAGCOR’s Casino Filipino brand. During that time, IEC served a supporting function, helping the operator improve the overall gaming experience.
Under its provisional casino license agreement, IEC will pay a monthly fee to the PAGCOR. For the month of May, IEC will have to pay PHP 60 million.
IEC Will Implement Robust AML and CTF Measures
IEC’s official announcement noted that the group has established new internal control procedures and measures that would prevent instances of non-compliance and fraud. This includes an AML and CTF program that seeks to prevent money laundering and the financing of terrorism, allowing IEC to remain compliant.
The program, according to IEC, has been designed with high ethical standards and robust know-your-costumer principles in mind. It will also ensure that officers and employees are aware of their responsibilities and will guarantee cooperation with the AMLC and PAGCOR.
IEC added that it has formed an AML committee consisting of at least three members that would formulate a comprehensive and risk-based AML and CTF program that conforms to the law. The committee will oversee the program’s implementation and will report the casino’s compliance status to the board.
BEIJING/MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines on Tuesday accused China’s coast guard of harassment and damaging one of its boats in a disputed area of the South China Sea, and rejected Beijing’s position that it had expelled two vessels from the hotly contested shoal.
The Philippine coast guard said its two vessels stood their ground at the Scarborough Shoal, a key battleground in the South China Sea, but one sustained damage from use of water cannon by two Chinese coast guard ships.
“This damage serves as evidence of the forceful water pressure used by the China coast guard in their harassment of the Philippine vessels,” Philippine coast guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela said in a statement.
“They were not deterred and will persist in carrying out their legitimate operations to support Filipino fishermen and ensure their safety.”
No country has sovereignty over the strategically located Scarborough Shoal, a prime fishing patch used by several countries that is close to major shipping lanes. The shoal falls inside the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
China has occupied the atoll for more than a decade and waters around its lagoon, which has long been a sanctuary for vessels during storms, have been the site of multiple confrontations in recent years.
China’s coast guard said the vessels had been expelled but did not provide details of the incident.
“China urges the Philippine side to immediately stop its provocative acts of infringement and do not challenge China’s firm determination to safeguard its sovereignty,” said Lin Jian, spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, at a regular press briefing.
“China’s coast guard took necessary measures in line with the law to firmly expel them.”
The Philippine’ Tarriela said its vessel, the BRP Bagacay, suffered damage to its railing and canopy and China has installed a floating barrier at the shoal’s entrance, “effectively restricting access to the area”.
China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 said China’s expansive claim had no legal basis, a decision Beijing has rejected.
China and the Philippines have traded accusations of illegal conduct at the Scarborough Shoal and Manila recently summoned a Chinese diplomat to explain what it calls aggressive manoeuvres. China typically accuses the Philippines of encroaching on its territory.
China and Philippines previously said they would seek better communications and management around skirmishes in the vast South China Sea, but tensions have increased recently, as the Philippines forges stronger diplomatic and military ties with the ally the United States.
(Reporting by Beijing newsroom and Mikhail Flors and Neil Jerome Morales in Manila; Writing by Bernard Orr and Mikhail Flores; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Michael Perry, Martin Petty)
Two countries involved in a second incident this month at disputed Second Thomas Shoal.
Manila has accused China’s coastguard of firing water cannon at one of its supply boats, in the latest incident between the two countries in the disputed South China Sea.
The Philippine military said the Saturday morning confrontation lasted for nearly an hour and took place as it sought to resupply a small garrison of sailors on board the sunken Sierra Madre off Second Thomas Shoal.
The shoal, known as Ayungin in the Philippines, has been the site of multiple similar stand-offs in recent months. It lies about 200 kilometres (124 miles) from the western Philippine island of Palawan, and more than 1,000 kilometres (621 miles) from China’s southern Hainan island.
The military released a video clip showing a white ship marked China Coast Guard crossing the bow of a grey vessel it identified as the Philippine supply boat Unaizah May 4, and unleashing its water cannon.
“The UM4 supply boat sustained heavy damages at around 08:52 (00:52 GMT) due to the continued blasting of water cannons from the CCG vessels,” the military said in a statement, without going into detail about the damage.
A Philippine Coast Guard escort vessel later reached the damaged boat “to provide assistance”, the military said.
Gan Yu, a spokesman for the China Coast Guard, said that the Philippine convoy “forcibly intruded into the area despite the Chinese side’s repeated warnings and route controls”, adding the Chinese carried out “control, obstruction and eviction in accordance with law”.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, despite an international court finding in 2016 that the nine-dash line on which it bases its claim was without merit. The Philippines claims areas of the sea around its coasts as do Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam. The self-ruled island of Taiwan is also a claimant.
The United States lays no claims to the strategic waters but has sent Navy ships on transit missions through the waterway in what it calls “freedom of navigation” operations, which have been criticised by China.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited the Philippines last week and stressed the US commitment to Manila was “ironclad”.
The China Coast Guard ship trying to block the resupply mission. The Unaizah May 4 had just returned to sea after an incident earlier this month [Armed Forces of the Philippines via AP Photo]
The Unaizah May 4 had returned to sea after being damaged in a China Coast Guard water cannon attack off Second Thomas Shoal earlier this month, It was escorted by two Filipino coastguard vessels and two Philippine Navy ships, a Philippine military statement said.
Commodore Jay Tarriela, a Philippine Coast Guard spokesman for South China Sea issues, said in a separate statement that one of the escort vessels, the BRP Cabra, was “impeded and encircled” by three Chinese coastguard and other vessels early Saturday.
As a result, Cabra was “isolated from the resupply boat due to the irresponsible and provocative behaviour of the Chinese maritime forces”, he added.
The Chinese side showed a “disregard” for the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS), the statement said.
The Sierra Madre was run aground in 1999 and the troops living on the warship need frequent resupplies of food, water and other necessities.
Chicago’s Northwest Side Filipino community is robust and isn’t about to be shut out of the city’s Filipino American restaurant boom. Seafood City isn’t enough. Kathy Vega Hardy is readying to open her first standalone restaurant in early April in Jefferson Park. In August, closed her popular Filipino food stall, A Taste of the Philippines, inside Chicago’s French Market as she prepared to launch an independent operation.
For this particular project at 5914 W. Lawrence Avenue, “independent” isn’t entirely accurate. Vega Hardy is partnering with another Filipino business, Crumbs and Cookies, a bakery that’s best known for sylvana, a cookie stuffed with flavored creams. Spouses Katrina and Mharloe Requiron founded their operation after the pandemic began in 2020. They’re splitting the space with Vega Hardy.
Twenty-eight seat A Taste of the Philippines will serve a few desserts, such as their signature ube doughnut and turon (a sweet lumpia with ube drizzle), but the two businesses believe they complement each other with Vega Hardy offering mostly savory items like lumpia and pancit. Without a permanent home, Vega Hardy has been using the space at Schoolhouse Kitchen in Portage Park to cook food for her catering business which also includes pop-up dinners.
Ube doughnuts and cheesecake bites.A Taste of the Philippines
Chicago’s food scene includes prime-time players like Bayan Ko and Boonies Filipino Restaurant, plus a little Michelin-starred success story called Kasama. Mano Modern Cafe opened last year in West Town. Vega Hardy says her food fills a specific niche.
“I wouldn’t call it upscale, but it’s not fast food either,” she says. “I feel I’m in the sweet middle ground.”
Vega Hardy’s story has been well told around Chicago. She’s a Manila native who lived in Denver where she started A Taste of the Philippines as a food truck in 2012. As is the case with many Asian families arriving in America, few recipes are actually written down. Immigrant food in the States often tastes different because of guesswork in reformulating a recipe (there’s also a difference in ingredients that leads to changes). Vega Hardy has worked toward preserving Filipino culture while putting her own spins on items. But, as chefs who cook international cuisines can attest, it’s sometimes exhausting trying to sell food to folks unfamiliar with other people’s cultures. Food can be educational (Vega Hardy also teaches at Schoolhouse Kitchen), but it can be daunting: “I really thought I was the only Filipino person there,” she says of her time in Denver.
When she moved to Chicago, she gained a following selling food at farmer’s markets before opening in the French Market in summer 2020. Even at the market, she sometimes got anxious having to explain her evolving menu to passersby who were strolling through the food hall browsing menu boards.
Egg sandwiches and specialty coffee are served.A Taste of the Philippines
The commute from the Northwest Side to the West Loop was brutal, especially with construction on the Kennedy Expressway. Vega Hardy won’t have to contend with that headache as she’s a Jefferson Park resident. She’ll also have more room to be creative and productive (on an average day of lumpia making she can roll about 150; the number will now increase at the restaurant). Vega Hardy touts a vegetarian adobo made with local vendor Four Star Mushrooms. Now, fans of that Kasama operation might be familiar with their dish which was featured in some cookbook and also in a Chicago-based TV show called The Bear. Adobo can be a personal thing that varies depending on family preferences. Vega Hardy’s is a little bit more saucy. She talks about how the gravy properly coats the rice.
A Taste of the Philippines will also serve breakfast with silog, sandwiches, and more. Longanisa — which will be used in a Scotch egg — will be made on premises. Imagine pan de sal with a fried egg and havarti cheese. The full espresso bar will have fun drinks with coffee from Veloria Coffee, another Filipino American business.
Has declared that he will urge Congress to restore the death penalty by hanging in the Philippines.
1977-1986 – Special counsel, and then city prosecutor of Davao City.
1986-1988 – Vice-Mayor of Davao City.
1988-1998 – Mayor of Davao City.
1995 – After Flor Contemplacion, a Filipino domestic worker, is hanged in Singapore for murdering her co-worker in 1991, Duterte leads protestors in burning the Singapore flag.
1998-2001 – Becomes a congressman representing Davao City’s 1st District.
May 30, 2016 – The Philippine Congress officially declares Duterte the winner of the May 9th presidential election after the official count is completed.
September 7, 2016 – Duterte and US President Barack Obama meet briefly in Laos while attending the yearly Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit. The two were scheduled to meet prior for bilateral talks regarding the South China Sea, but Obama canceled their meeting as Duterte’s fiery rhetoric escalated.
October 4, 2016 – The Philippines and the United States begin joint military exercises in Manila for what Duterte claims will be the final time under the decade-long landmark Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.
November 9, 2017 – Ahead of APEC meetings with regional leaders, Duterte tells a group of Filipino expatriates, in the central Vietnamese city of Da Nang, that he stabbed someone to death when he was 16.
December 5, 2018 – The ICC reports that they have a “reasonable basis to proceed with the preliminary examination” into the alleged extra-judicial killings of thousands of people since July 1, 2016.
March 17, 2019 – The Philippines officially leaves the ICC. The action, taken after a 12-month waiting period required by ICC statute, follows an initial announcement made March 14, 2018.
March 12, 2020 – Duterte places Metro Manila under community quarantine from March 15 to April 14 to contain the COVID-19 spread in the metropolis.
March 23, 2020 – The Senate, in a 12-0 vote, approves a bill declaring the existence of a national emergency and granting Duterte additional powers to address the COVID-19 crisis. The additional powers will remain in effect for at least three months or until the state of calamity in the entire country is lifted.
Manila, Philippines — Ephraim Escudero had been missing for five days when a neighbour showed his family a news clipping.
The bodies of two unknown men had been found in Pampanga, about five hours from their home east of Manila in Laguna, but the report contained enough identifying details that the family knew instantly. “It was Ephraim,” said his sister, Sheerah.
“Both [victims] were wrapped with packaging tape around their heads,” Sheerah recalled. “[Ephraim] was hogtied. His hands were behind his back. His feet were tied with plastic and brown packaging tape. He also had gunshot wounds.”
When 18-year-old Ephraim first went missing in September 2017, local police had shown little interest in helping. An investigator in Pampanga acknowledged that Ephraim may have been killed because of the drug war unleashed by then President Rodrigo Duterte, but after the family submitted evidence, “we heard nothing from them,” Escudero said. “They were just fooling around, pretending like they were investigating, but they’re really not.”
Seven years and one president later, Escudero is no closer to finding justice.
While drug-related killings have slowed since their peak in 2017, they have begun to climb since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr took power, according to data from the Dahas project, an initiative of the University of the Philippines.
Dahas recorded 331 drug casualties in 2023. That is seven more than the 324 it recorded in 2022 – 149 in Duterte’s final six months as president, and 175 in the six months after Marcos took office on June 30.
Rise Up for Life and for Rights supports women who have lost relatives to the drug war [Nick Aspinwall/Al Jazeera]
Philippine National Police chief Benjamin Acorda Jr admitted in February that people were still killed in police drug operations after Dahas project data showed there had been 28 drug-related killings in January.
He insisted the killings were not intentional.
“There will be aggressive operation[s],” Acorda said. “We want it done honestly.”
Marcos has repeatedly ordered his government not to cooperate with investigators from the International Criminal Court (ICC) who are probing Duterte for the thousands of killings that took place in the years up to 2019, when Duterte pulled the country from the ICC.
Although many have speculated the ICC will issue an arrest warrant for Duterte in the coming months, the Philippine National Police have already promised not to enforce it.
Escudero and other victims, nevertheless, see the ICC as their last hope for justice. There have been only three prosecutions of extrajudicial killings related to the drug war since 2016, according to a report by the US Department of State.
Marcos “hasn’t supported the families of victims,” said Jane Lee, whose husband, Michael, was killed in a 2017 police operation.
Lee and Escudero both received support from Rise Up for Life and for Rights, an organisation supporting women who have lost relatives to the drug war.
“We’re still saying the same thing,” Lee said. “Nothing has really changed.”
‘Collateral damage’
Lee had initially hoped Duterte’s harsh anti-drug campaign would “clean up” drug use in her neighbourhood in Caloocan, a city in Metro Manila.
But when the killings began, many of the victims “were not users or sellers,” she said. “They ended up becoming collateral damage.”
The bloody anti-drug campaign did not have the effect Duterte had promised. “There are still drugs,” she said. But now, under Marcos, the government has also failed to support the families of victims left behind.
“In some ways, it’s even worse,” Lee said. “I’m a solo parent. If my husband were alive, life would [still] be hard. But I’m the only one.
“There are no programmes for the children who are left behind,” she said. “We have not experienced any help and support.”
During the coronavirus lockdowns in 2020, police began visiting the homes of Lee and other family members of drug war victims, asking whether they would file court cases – which they saw as a thinly veiled attempt at pressuring them not to draw the attention of the ICC. The house visits continued until recently, Lee said. She was not sure if the police were continuing to visit other families.
But filing cases in domestic courts remains a futile exercise.
Christine Pascual filed a case against the police officers who killed her 17-year-old son, Joshua Laxamana, in 2018 when he was in Pangasinan, a region north of Manila, for a video game tournament. That case went all the way to the Supreme Court before it was dismissed in 2020.
Pascual said the pending ICC investigation “lessens the heaviness” she has felt since her son was killed.
“I was very disappointed” when the case was dismissed, she said. “In the Philippines, there’s no chance for justice.”
Out of all the cases filed against police involved in drug war killings, only one remains active in a regional court.
Going through the court system is like “aiming for the moon,” said Kristina Conti, a lawyer with the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers who is involved in the remaining case.
The government has told the ICC it is investigating certain drug war cases.
According to Conti, the cases involve police officers who allegedly “went rogue,” and do not constitute the kind of investigations families, activists and lawyers, believe are necessary.
“What we want to ask is, is there something wrong with the war on drugs? Is there something wrong with the police?” she said. “If you phrase it [that way], neutrally, you say, ‘Why did my son die?’”
‘Tiny speck’ of hope
The Marcos administration has yet to give the victims’ families reason for hope.
Researcher Joel Ariate expects the killings will continue [Nick Aspinwall/Al Jazeera]
Joel Ariate, the lead researcher of the Dahas project, noted that killings have decreased in much of the country – including Metro Manila – since Acorda was installed as police chief in April 2023. However, they have increased in Davao, Duterte’s hometown, where his son, Sebastian, serves as mayor.
The improvements made by Acorda are still far from enough, Ariate said.
Marcos himself has been “ambiguous at best” when describing his feelings about the drug war, Ariate said. While members of the Marcos administration have pledged to take a new approach centred on rehabilitation, there has been no evidence of this actually happening.
“The underlying countermeasure is very much bent on singling out individuals and killing them,” Ariate said. “So as long as that mechanism and thinking is there, I think the killings will continue.”
Human rights organisations have criticised Marcos for failing to prosecute those behind the drug war killings, but their complaints have fallen on deaf ears. Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla has repeatedly promised to keep the ICC out of the country and has denied there is a “culture of impunity” in the Philippines.
“The ICC is like a tiny speck of light for us,” Escudero said. “We know we’ll get nothing from regional trials. We’ve seen it already from the other cases.”
When he died, Ephraim left behind two small children.
Now eight and six, they are getting old enough to use Google, and the eldest has already found news about his father and started asking questions.
Escudero held up a placard she had made depicting her brother smiling. She showed the original, blurry image on her phone, which she had digitally altered. “I used AI,” she said. “We didn’t have a good photo.”
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Tuesday that a closed-door deal for Taylor Swift to perform in the city-state ensured she would not perform in other Southeast Asian countries during her Eras tour.
“(Our) agencies negotiated an arrangement with her to come to Singapore and perform and to make Singapore her only stop in Southeast Asia,” he said at a press conference at a regional summit in Melbourne, according to Reuters.
The statement is the first confirmation from the city-state that the agreement for Swift to perform in Singapore contained exclusivity terms preventing her from performing in other countries.
On Monday, Edwin Tong, Singapore’s minister for culture, community and youth, declined to answer this question twice during a parliamentary session.
He also did not reveal the size of the grant to Swift, but stated the amount is “not anywhere as high as speculated.”
“Due to business confidentiality reasons, we cannot reveal the specific size of the grant or the conditions of the grant,” he said.
The issue gained prominence on Feb. 16 when Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin alleged Singapore gave Swift’s team between $2 million and $3 million per show, in exchange for not performing in other regional cities, according to The Bangkok Post.
The payment of a grant to Swift’s promoters has become a diplomatic thorn for Singapore, prompting criticism from neighboring countries for brokering a deal that shut them out from the highest-grossing tour of all time.
Member of the Philippine House of Representatives Joey Salceda said this “isn’t what good neighbors do” and added that such agreements are contrary to ASEAN principles, according to local media.
Lee on Tuesday disputed this characterization, saying, “It has turned out to be a very successful arrangement. I don’t see that as being unfriendly.”
Taylor Swift performs at Singapore’s National Stadium on March 2, 2024. Singapore and Tokyo are the only stops Swift is making in Asia during her global Eras tour.
Ashok Kumar/tas24 | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images
During her first three concerts in Singapore, Swift asked her audience to applaud — first the locals, then those who had traveled from overseas to come to the show. In every instance, the applause of travelers was far louder.
Average daily rates at hotels in Singapore rose from $256 to $400 this week, with bookings up 92% from travelers coming from Malaysia, 111% from Thailand and 189% from Indonesia, according to the travel software company RateGain.
Swift’s tour prior to Eras, her Reputation Stadium Tour in 2018, included only one stop in Asia — Tokyo.
But her previous tours — Speak Now, Red and 1989 tours — included stops in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia.
Singapore’s agreement has sparked a debate on whether this is just smart dealmaking or greed.
“It certainly was a bold, shrewd strategic move for Singapore,” said Selena Oh, a Singapore-based communications director.
But others say a winner-takes-all mentality harms regional tourism industries, which are still recovering from the pandemic, as well as fans who can’t afford the steep travel prices to see Swift in person.
“Slightly selfish with ONLY Singapore in mind and not the wider region. Clearly [Singapore authorities] aren’t very caring for anyone other [than] themselves,” said Christian de Boer, a Cambodia-based hotel managing director.
You have to make your calculations and work out what’s in Singapore and Singaporeans’ best interest.”
Edwin Tong
Singapore Minister for Culture, Community and Youth
Some liken the deal to how cities vie to host major sports events, such as the Olympics, the Super Bowl and the World Cup.
“Did anyone protest when F1 decided to come to Singapore? Is anyone pretending that there were no monetary or other material considerations?” said Irene Hoe, a Singapore-based editorial consultant.
Concerts — which see artists traveling from city to city to reach their fans — haven’t always been this competitive.
But that may be changing as experience-led tourism pushes concerts into money-making juggernauts, with fans willing to travel across continents to see their favorite artists.
During Monday’s Parliamentary session, Singaporean politician Gerald Giam asked Tong whether the Singapore government negotiated to make the island Taylor Swift’s only “blank space” in Southeast Asia, referencing her smash hit of the same name.
“And did it realize that this may be perceived by some of our neighbors as being mean?” he asked.
Tong replied, “You have to make your calculations and work out what’s in Singapore and Singaporeans‘ best interest.”
A Drexel University graduate landed an investment deal on ABC’s “Shark Tank” on Friday for his condiment brand Fila Manila, whose spreads celebrate flavors and ingredients popular in Filipino cuisine.
Founder Jake Deleon, who was born in the Philippines and grew up in Camden County, pitched his growing brand to the panel of sharks and explained that he wanted to represent the next generation of Filipino-American flavors. Deleon founded the company in November 2020, having previously created an almond milk brand that he discontinued due to setbacks from the COVID-19 pandemic. Before becoming an entrepreneur, Deleon helped develop products and manage brands for Procter & Gamble, Starbucks, Pringles and the pet-food brand Iams.
Fila Manila’s condiments include a banana-based ketchup, ube purple yam and coconut spread, adobo marinade and sauce, creamy peanut sauce, and pineapple rum sauce. All of the spreads are gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan with no artificial colors or flavors. The products are sold by grocers in 25 states at stores including Whole Foods, Target, Stop & Shop and Mom’s Organic Market.
Deleon’s initial pitch to the sharks — 5% equity in the business for $250,000 — was met with an “ouch” from Kevin O’Leary and a groan from Daymond John.
But guest panelist Daniel Lubetzky, the CEO of snack brand Kind LLC, took an interest in reaching a deal.
“I’m excited about this,” Lubetsky said. “I think as an entrepreneur, you are extraordinarily credible.”
Lubetsky and the rest of the sharks questioned Deleon’s $5 million valuation of the company, which jumped from $50,000 in sales in 2021 to $400,000 in sales the next year. After the company shifted its product packaging to better serve a direct-to-consumer model, sales tapered off during the first half of 2023.
Lubetsky agreed to invest the $250,000 in Fila Manila in exchange for a 20% ownership stake at a reduced valuation of $1.25 million. Deleon can get back 5% of the company by meeting sales benchmarks. He’s hoping to expand the company’s U.S. footprint and boost e-commerce sales of his spreads.
“I’m super psyched I got a deal with Daniel. He was the shark I was targeting, and I think Daniel’s experience building Kind is going to bring Fila Manila where I want it to be,” Deleon said during an interview segment after his pitch.
Deleon initially established Fila Manila out of Laurel Springs, but he moved the company to Washington, D.C., in 2022.
Before his “Shark Tank” episode aired, Deleon went on the Startup CPG podcast to talk about Fila Manila. He said he had tried to get on the show several times in years past but was overlooked on a few occasions. His episode was filmed during the first half of last year.
“Last year, I emailed them again. … I’m like ‘Hey, I’m still in business, I’m still alive. This is what’s going on. This is our traction,’” Deleon said. “And they were like, ‘Cool, let’s go through this.’ So I guess third time’s a charm.”
Deleon said he fully expected to have to negotiate with the sharks to get a deal done.
“You come into the show and then you expect that you have to negotiate. And then you’re familiar with how the sharks negotiate as well, so you have to come in with that mentality because if you do make a deal, you’re probably starting from way up here and they’re going to want to bring you way down here. You have to think about the mentality of meeting somewhere in the middle.”
Fila Manila is the latest brand from the region to land a deal on “Shark Tank.” Past companies to emerge from the show with an investment include beach chair company Sunflow, which got a $1 million investment from O’Leary in 2022. The salad brand Simply Good Jars, paper product company Black Paper Party, KIN Apparel and Bleni Blends are among the other local companies that have gotten deals on the series.
The International Olympic Committee will not change its rules on age limits to let boxing great Manny Pacquiao compete at the Paris Games.Pacquiao, who retired in 2021, wanted to box at age 45 in the Olympic tournament in Paris, where medal bouts will be held in the Roland Garros tennis complex.The IOC said Sunday it wrote to Olympic officials in the Philippines explaining the age limit for boxers of 40 will be upheld. The IOC now oversees Olympic boxing after de-recognizing the International Boxing Association governing body.Video above: The Manny Pacquiao obsessionThe age limit for Olympic boxing was raised to 40 from 34 in 2013 — a move that would have let Pacquiao try to compete at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. He chose not to at the time when he was also elected to be a senator in his home country. It is unclear if Pacquiao would have tried to earn a place at the Paris Olympics in one of two qualification tournaments that open later this month in Italy and in May in Thailand. The Philippines Olympic body had talked of trying to get a so-called “universality” entry to the Paris Summer Games. These are effectively free passes to events given to countries that have few athletes at the Olympics and typically struggle to qualify on merit.However, the IOC explained Sunday that the Philippines had been too successful to benefit from the scheme.”Universality places are not allocated to (teams) with an average of more than eight athletes in individual sports/disciplines at the last two editions of the Olympic Games,” the IOC said. “This is the case for the Philippine Olympic Committee.”Pacquiao ended his storied career in September 2021 at age 42 after 72 fights, winning 12 world titles at a record eight different weight divisions.
LAUSANNE, Switzerland —
The International Olympic Committee will not change its rules on age limits to let boxing great Manny Pacquiao compete at the Paris Games.
Pacquiao, who retired in 2021, wanted to box at age 45 in the Olympic tournament in Paris, where medal bouts will be held in the Roland Garros tennis complex.
The IOC said Sunday it wrote to Olympic officials in the Philippines explaining the age limit for boxers of 40 will be upheld. The IOC now oversees Olympic boxing after de-recognizing the International Boxing Association governing body.
Video above: The Manny Pacquiao obsession
The age limit for Olympic boxing was raised to 40 from 34 in 2013 — a move that would have let Pacquiao try to compete at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. He chose not to at the time when he was also elected to be a senator in his home country.
It is unclear if Pacquiao would have tried to earn a place at the Paris Olympics in one of two qualification tournaments that open later this month in Italy and in May in Thailand.
The Philippines Olympic body had talked of trying to get a so-called “universality” entry to the Paris Summer Games. These are effectively free passes to events given to countries that have few athletes at the Olympics and typically struggle to qualify on merit.
However, the IOC explained Sunday that the Philippines had been too successful to benefit from the scheme.
“Universality places are not allocated to (teams) with an average of more than eight athletes in individual sports/disciplines at the last two editions of the Olympic Games,” the IOC said. “This is the case for the Philippine Olympic Committee.”
The Philippines has been butting heads with China for years over the disputed South China Sea, but increasingly the Southeast Asian country appears to be preparing for another potential battleground: Taiwan.
Earlier this week, defense chief Gilberto Teodoro visited a naval detachment and ordered a military buildup on Mavulis, the northernmost island of the province of Batanes, which Teodoro described as the “spearhead of the Philippines.”
China wasn’t pleased with the development: in a press conference Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin warned that the Philippines must “tread carefully and don’t play with fire on this [Taiwan] question to avoid being manipulated and eventually hurt.”
Given the Philippines’ proximity (Mavulis is only 88 miles from the southern tip of Taiwan), President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said last year that it’s “very hard to imagine” a scenario in which his archipelagic nation remains untouched by any conflict over the self-governed island that China claims sovereignty over.
The Philippines does not have official diplomatic ties with Taiwan and recognizes Beijing as the government of “One China,” but under Marcos it has strengthened its military ties with Taiwan allies, including the U.S. and Japan, and it could play a key role in assisting those countries should China launch a surprise invasion of the island.
“In an event of invasion, the first 48 hours are extremely important, because that’s the window within which China will take advantage of its geographic proximity, and it will take some time before the American Navy Indo-Pacific Command, whether it’s in Hawaii or Guam, or in Japan, can respond to a major contingency,” Richard Heydarian, a senior lecturer at the University of the Philippines’ Asian Center, tells TIME. “That’s where the Philippines comes in.”
The Philippines need not even commit its own troops to such a war to act as a deterrent, Heydarian explains. It can significantly change the calculus for China by simply keeping a close eye on Taiwan and acting as an outpost for its allies. “If the Philippines and Japan and the U.S. cooperate, there’ll be sufficient amount of preparation, sufficient amount of American forward deployment presence, and sufficient amount of interoperability and potential coordination among U.S. and its allies, should that invasion happen.”
But it’s not just out of deference to its allies that the Philippines has an interest in preventing a Chinese takeover of Taiwan. More than 160,000 Filipinos work overseas in Taiwan, and Marcos has said allowing the U.S. access to Philippine bases would be “useful” in achieving their rescue, which he described as “of primordial importance.”
Lucio Pitlo III, research fellow at the Manila-based thinktank Asia-Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation, also tells TIME that Taiwan’s future is inextricably linked to the ongoing South China Sea dispute with China that the Philippines seems to prioritize: “If the mainland took over Taiwan, then that means that the pressure on the Philippines coming from Beijing would not only emanate from the west, but also from the north,” Pitlo said. “The status quo works for the Philippines.”
China “likes the Philippines in a weak position in order to consolidate its grip in its perceived backyard,” Joshua Espeña, vice president of the Manila-based think tank International Development and Security Cooperation, tells TIME. But contrary to how Beijing spins it, Espeña argues, the Philippines is no provocateur, instead acting as an equalizer in the Indo-Pacific: “We are trying to stabilize the balance of power.”
As fearsome as Category 5 hurricanes can be for people living in harm’s way, a new study reports global warming is supercharging some of the most intense cyclones with winds high enough to merit a hypothetical Category 6.
The world’s most intense hurricanes are growing even more intense, fueled by rising temperatures in the ocean and atmosphere, according to the study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. And, the authors say, a Category 5 on the traditional wind scale underestimates their dangers.
“As a cautious scientist, you never want to cry wolf,” said Michael Wehner, co-author and climate scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. But after searching for the signature of climate change in the world’s most intense cyclones, Wehner said he and co-author Jim Kossin found “the wolf is here.”
“Significantly increasing” temperatures, fueled by greenhouse gas emissions, up the energy available to the most intense tropical cyclones, reported Wehner and Kossin, a retired federal scientist and science advisor at the nonprofit First Street Foundation.
More cyclones are making the most of it, gaining higher wind speeds and more intensity, the authors said, and their evidence shows that will occur even more often as the world grows warmer.
They used a hypothetical Category 6, with a minimum threshold of 192 mph, to study hurricanes that have occurred in the modern satellite era, since around 1980. They found five hurricanes and typhoons that would have met the criteria and all five occurred within the last decade.
To be clear, they aren’t proposing adding that category to the National Hurricane Center’s wind scale, which experts say would require a lengthy process and many partners. But they are hoping to “inform broader discussions about how to better communicate risk in a warming world,” Kossin told USA TODAY.
Their findings emphasize that the dangers associated with a Category 5 cyclone are increasing as storms intensify above the Cat 5’s 157-mph threshold and that results in an underestimation of risk, he said.
An enhanced satellite image released National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Oct.23, 2015, shows Hurricane Patricia as it approaches the coastline of Mexico from the Eastern Pacific.
They found the chances of that potential intensity occurring in such storms have more than doubled since 1979. They say the areas where the growing risks of these storms are of greatest concern are the Gulf of Mexico, the Philippines, parts of Southeast Asia and Australia.
Their peer-reviewed, scientific research provides the evidence pointing to climate change that some scientists have been waiting for.
For more than 35 years, the scientific community has expected to see thermodynamic wind speeds increase in hurricanes, said Kerry Emanuel, the climate scientist who edited the paper for the journal. “And now we are seeing this increase in both climate analyses and models..”
What is the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale?
The hurricane center has used the well-known scale – with wind speed ranges for each of five categories – since the 1970s. The minimum threshold for Category 5 winds is 157 mph.
Designed by engineer Herbert Saffir and adapted by former center director Robert Simpson, the scale stops at Category 5 since winds that high would “cause rupturing damages that are serious no matter how well it’s engineered,” Simpson said during a 1999 interview.
The Saffir-Simpson scale categorizes hurricanes.
The open-ended Category 5 describes anything from “a nominal Category 5 to infinity,” Kossin said. “That’s becoming more and more inadequate with time because climate change is creating more and more of these unprecedented intensities.”
A Category 6?
Scientists, including Kossin, have occasionally brought up adding another category to the scale for more than 20 years.
Climate scientist Michael Mann, director of the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability & the Media at the University of Pennsylvania, has argued for years that the Earth is “experiencing a new class of monster storms – ‘Category 6’ – hurricanes,” thanks to the effects of human-caused warming.
Mann wrote a commentary to the Wehner and Kossin study, published in the same journal Monday, saying their work lays out an objective case for expanding the scale to include the “climate change-fueled stronger and more destructive storms.”
“We are witnessing hurricanes that – by any logical extension of the existing Saffir-Simpson scale – deserve to be placed in a whole separate, more destructive category from the traditionally defined (category 5) ‘strongest’ storms,” Mann wrote.
The research adds to a growing discussion about how the center, emergency managers and others could better convey the full range of hazards from a major hurricane.
The Saffir-Simpson scale only describes the wind risk and does not account for coastal storm surge and rainfall-driven flooding, the two biggest killers in hurricanes.
Adding a sixth category to the wind scale wouldn’t help address those concerns, Kossin said.
The hurricane center has tried to steer the focus toward the individual hazards, including storm surge, wind, rainfall, tornadoes and rip currents, Jamie Rhome, the center’s deputy executive director, said last week. “So, we don’t want to over-emphasize the wind hazard by placing too much emphasis on the category.”
Despite the center’s efforts, the storm’s wind category always gets the most attention from the public when a storm approaches.
“That focus on category over the years has detracted from effective communication of the other hazards,” said James Franklin, a retired branch chief for hurricane specialists at the hurricane center. “The emphasis at the NHC, rightly, has been to focus on the hazards,” he said.
Ultimately, the decision would likely rest with the center, but Kossin said the conversation would “have to happen over time with a lot of input” from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, social scientists and others.
It’s likely the World Meteorological Organization would be asked to weigh in because of the international scope involved in hurricane and typhoon forecasting, Franklin said. That’s the same group that sets the list of hurricane names for each season.
To Franklin, the question is what would a sixth category accomplish?
“If there are things that emergency managers would do differently, or the public might do differently because a storm has 195 mph winds versus 160 mph winds, then maybe the categories should be changed,” he said. “Personally, I’m getting out of the way if it’s 165 mph winds or 195 mph winds.”
This infrared satellite image shows Hurricane Patricia over the Pacific Ocean on Oct. 23, 2015.
Which storms fit the study’s hypothetical Category 6 description?
One hurricane in the eastern Pacific, Patricia, and four typhoons in the western Pacific:
◾Surigae, April 2021: Reached wind speeds of 196 mph over the ocean, tracking east of the Philippines. Its max winds were the highest ever recorded for a storm from January to April anywhere in the world.
Dinah Voyles Pulver covers climate and environmental issues for USA TODAY. Reach her at dpulver@gannett.com or @dinahvp.
Manila, Philippines – “Don’t treat this like a full dinner. Only take small portions,” a mother warns her son as he reaches for a second helping of zarda – saffron-hued, sweetened rice topped with heaps of raisins and cashews – on the crowded buffet-style table at the Khalsa Diwan Temple in Manila. “We must not waste anything.”
I overhear her while standing in line to sample the different varieties of barfi, a dense, milk-based fudge laden with sliced almonds – a popular sweet from the Indian subcontinent. The mother and son are among the 100-plus members of the Metro Manila Sikh community who have gathered here in late August to celebrate the Parkash Utsav of Guru Granth Sahib, a commemoration of the first opening ceremony of Sikhism’s central religious scripture.
It is a busy day for the community kitchen, the langar. Dozens of volunteers snake their way through the crowd to serve rotis, fresh off the tandoor. Sitting cross-legged in rows across the main hall of the gurdwara, or Sikh place of worship, attendees dip roti into shahi paneer, a creamy curry with pockets of hard cheese, or happily spoon up the gajar ka halwa, a fragrant carrot pudding, neatly portioned off inside large steel trays.
Surveying the room, I momentarily forget that I am in the Philippines.
People gather to eat at the main dining hall at the temple [Sonny Thakur/Al Jazeera]
The birth – and longevity – of moneylending in Manila
Founded in 1929 by a small group of Punjabi migrants, Khalsa Diwan Temple is Manila’s oldest gurdwara. It marked the beginning of a budding Sikh community in the Philippines.
Punjabi migrants, who form the bulk of the India diaspora population in the Philippines (nearly 82 percent), began to trickle into the country in the 1920s, explains Joefe Santarita, a professor at the Asian Center at the University of the Philippines Diliman. First, they tried their hand at farming, then moved to small-scale businesses.
“From that experience”, Santarita says, “they realised Filipino families needed money.” A shift towards moneylending likely happened during World War II when there was an urgent need for capital among micro-entrepreneurs in rural areas, he adds.
While financial inclusion in the Philippines has improved dramatically since then, 44 percent of Filipinos did not have access to a formal bank account as recently as 2021, according to the Philippine central bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
The Punjabi migrants tapped into a consistent demand from this unbanked community, offering loans for small-scale entrepreneurs or micro-enterprises – and not asking for documents or collateral. To compensate, loans are offered at a hefty 20 percent interest.
Today, the moneylending community is interwoven throughout the Philippines, even if it largely sits on the fringes of the law. Moneylenders are now an integral part of the country’s informal economy, zipping through neighbourhoods on their motorbikes to solicit new clients and service existing ones. They operate on an informal basis without any permits, often cultivating new clients by offering various goods, such as small electrical appliances, on instalments.
However, no business happens at the gurdwara, which functions as an anchor of the Sikh community. Here, the moneylenders leave their work behind to perform sewa (“selfless service” in Punjabi). One way is to help keep the huge community kitchen running as a place where anyone, regardless of religious denomination, can get a free meal.
People enjoy food in the main dining hall at the gurdwara [Sonny Thakur/Al Jazeera]
When I visit the gurdwara again on a February afternoon, the langar is quiet. A small group of Indian medical students sits cross-legged, dipping thick whole wheat chapati into a mashed masoor dal. The dal is simple but flavourful, spiced with heaps of onion, garlic and red chilli powder. The food at the gurdwara is different from back home in their state of Andhra Pradesh on India’s southeastern coast, but they are enjoying it. The quality, they say, keeps them coming back.
“It’s also free,” Vikram Seetak, the temple’s head, reminds me when I tell him the students love his food. Seetak has been working in the gurdwara kitchen since 1999. Unlike the majority of his peers at the gurdwara, Seetak did not go into moneylending. After moving to Manila from a small town near Jalandhar in eastern Punjab, where he worked at his family’s mithai (sweets) shop, he took up a job at the nearby South Asian grocery store. After a few months, he became a full-time cook at Khalsa Diwan.
The fresh produce used for meals is donated by the community and cooked by volunteers [Sonny Thakur/Al Jazeera]
Seetak now heads a team of eight: a mix of Indian-origin and Filipino cooks, one of whom has worked with him for the past 20 years. He likes being in charge of the kitchen. “I have to do the mixing of the spices myself,” he tells me while straining a thick batter of gram flour and sugar syrup into a large deg, a thick aluminium pot.
He is making badana, more commonly known as boondi – bite-sized, sharply sweetened, fluorescent orange balls – in preparation for the weekend’s festivities. In addition to catering a wedding at the gurdwara, Seetak and his team are gearing up to celebrate the birth, in 1630, of the seventh Sikh guru, Guru Har Rai.
Vikram Seetak, who runs the kitchen at the temple, cooks the morning’s last batch of food [Sonny Thakur/Al Jazeera]
By late afternoon, the gurdwara is teeming with volunteers preparing food. They chop tomatoes and onions and sort heaps of spinach to prepare a gurdwara staple: palak pakoray (spinach pakora), which is spinach leaves dipped in a gram flour batter, spiced with roasted coriander seeds and red chilli powder and then fried. There will also be vegetarian “mutton”.
“It has to be a full vegetarian menu,” Seetak says in response to my quizzical look. “So we get a mutton substitute made of soybean.”
While Sikhism does not mandate vegetarianism, all gurdwaras serve only vegetarian cuisine to accommodate the dietary restrictions of people from different faiths as well as members of their own community. Even in Manila, some Sikhs choose to be vegetarian in their homes despite the predominantly omnivorous culture of the Philippines.
Food is served is large metal pails in the main dining hall [Sonny Thakur/Al Jazeera]
Inside the gurdwara office, community volunteer Jagjit Singh, a first-generation Indian Filipina, is standing with the secretary at a laptop reviewing the ingredients they need to buy to prepare pancit, Filipino-style noodles. “Sesame oil, cauliflower, carrots, calamansi, Baguio beans,” she narrates in fluent Tagalog. Because pancit is typically prepared with sliced meat or seafood, the meat substitute will be a vegetarian tapa (jerky), also made with soybeans.
A changing Indian food culture in the Philippines
Singh was born and raised in Manila and now lives with her husband, Shomkor, a Sikh moneylender, in Cavite, a nearby province to the south. Unlike many of her Sikh community members, Singh is a Philippine citizen and firmly identifies as an Indian Filipina. Her father moved to the Philippines from eastern Punjab at the age of five with his parents. Both Singh’s father and grandfather became moneylenders.
“I actually miss Filipino food when I go to India,” Singh tells me. “We like to have a mix of both at home.”
In the morning, she and Shomkor start with a Punjabi-style breakfast, such as aloo poori, a bright and spicy potato curry with puffy, deep-fried bread. For lunch, they switch to Filipino food: adobo, menudo or mechado – rich, Philippine-style stews prepared with meat. And in the evenings, it’s a toss-up.
Singh and her husband are omnivores. “Even though my husband took Amrit [an initiation ceremony that comprises one of Sikhism’s four religious rites], he likes to eat meat,” she says, adding that he “actually prepares Filipino dishes quite well”.
The practice of vegetarianism after taking Amrit varies. Some sects are vehemently against eating meat and eggs while others are not.
Manor Singh, another temple member and moneylender, and his wife are strict vegetarians. Originally from Jalandhar in eastern Punjab, Manor Singh followed his uncle in 1999 to Manila, where he got his start in moneylending. Despite having lived in the Philippines for more than 20 years, Manor and his wife eat vegetarian food. This can include everything from cauliflower and peas in a spiced tomato-onion base to kadhi chawal, lightly spiced gram flour fritters nestled in a turmeric-hued yoghurt curry.
A volunteer stirs a large pot of saag as it simmers on the stove [Sonny Thakur/Al Jazeera]
In what would be the winter in Punjab, the Singhs enjoy makki ki roti (stiff roti made with cornmeal) paired with sarson ka saag (slow-cooked mustard greens and spinach topped with sliced garlic tempered in ghee).
They are able to find all the necessary spices at a South Asian grocery, which has six locations across metro Manila. Before the chain opened, Manor Singh remembers the owner selling spices directly from his van outside the gurdwara. Over the years, many South Asian grocery stores have popped up in the neighbourhood.
“Oh, you get everything in the Philippines!” says Ritu Wasu, who runs the Indian restaurant Harishi with her husband and daughter. She sits in the gurdwara office with her friend who runs a small Indian catering business.
For the past five years, Harishi has been serving up a mix of North and South Indian cuisine to a clientele of Indians and Filipinos. “By the time we opened the restaurant, Filipinos were already familiar with Indian food. They especially ask for chicken biryani,” she tells me.
Some speculate that biryani’s popularity in the Philippines can be attributed to Filipinos’ exposure to Indian food while working in Gulf states. “They go to Saudi Arabia and get a taste of biryani and come looking for it back in the Philippines,” a community member explains.
Palak pakoray (spinach pakora) – spinach leaves dipped in gram flour batter, spiced with roasted coriander seeds and red chilli powder, and then fried – is a gurdwara staple [Sonny Thakur/Al Jazeera]
Chicken and rice are a popular pairing in the Philippines. What better introduction to South Asian food than richly spiced chicken layered into fluffy basmati rice?
“Filipinos have come to love Indian food,” Santarita says.
Acceptance and assimilation
Despite being a common fixture for almost a century, the Punjabi moneylending community is still viewed by some with a level of suspicion. Although the gurdwara community members identify themselves as “Bumbays” (derived from the city Mumbai) or “5-6” (“you take five, pay back six” with interest), both are considered largely derogatory terms in the rest of the Philippines.
In 2017, then-Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte called for the arrest of “Bumbay” moneylenders. Opinion pieces and editorials calling for an end to “Bumbay loan sharks” also began to appear in major newspapers around the same time.
Filipino children, meanwhile, have always grown up hearing “Behave, or I’ll call the 5-6!”
Jagjit Singh, who feels well-integrated into the Philippines, believes there has been a shift in attitude in recent years. “It’s not like that any more. Now children will instead tell parents they will send the Bumbays after them. … There is no longer that fear of us,” she says.
Some claim that Duterte’s campaign against the 5-6 was successful, in large part due to the launch of a competing lending scheme by the government’s Department of Trade and Industry and the Securities and Exchange Commission’s broader efforts to regulate lending activities rather than carry out wholesale arrests of small-scale moneylenders. Santarita believes Duterte’s orders for arresting “Bumbay loan sharks” was mostly rhetoric.
“It’s difficult to stop the moneylending and from Bumbays conducting business because there is a dire need of capital among customers who are considered unbanked,” Santarita says. In addition to a lack of access to formal bank accounts, borrowing from formal institutions is costly and cumbersome with high collateral and burdensome documentary requirements. The critical function of micro-financing partially helps explain why Indian and Indian-origin moneylenders continue to operate without permits.
Motorbikes parked outside the temple. The moneylenders use motorbikes to solicit new clients and service existing loans in the neighbourhood [Sonny Thakur/Al Jazeera]
Due to the high returns of informal moneylending, the scale of migration from Indian Punjab to the Philippines spiked at the turn of the 21st century. In response to many Indian migrants living undocumented in the Philippines from the 1940s to the 1960s, the Philippine government made a strong push to regulate their presence, forcing them to seek residence permits or face deportation.
To avoid being hassled, many Indian migrants, with help from the Indian embassy in Manila, became legal residents, but few have sought citizenship. Out of an estimated 120,000 to 130,000 residents of Indian origin in the Philippines only 5,000 have acquired citizenship.
Manor Singh thinks being a resident is just fine: “We have most of the rights of Filipino citizens. We just can’t vote.”
While the full assimilation of Punjabi immigrants into the Philippines may be slow, more subtle integration is happening, like in the grocery shops. “The arrival of speciality Indian grocery stores and restaurants stemmed out of the need of Indian migrants to be able to source ingredients for their food,” Santarita says.
A variety of spices in the temple pantry [Sonny Thakur/Al Jazeera]
This is also in part due to the larger makeup of the Indian and Indian-Filipino population, which includes wealthy (predominantly Hindu) businessmen from states such as Sindh (now part of Pakistan) who moved to the Philippines after the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947.
Now, you can find South Asian ingredients in mainstream grocery chains, and a growing number of Indian restaurants cater to Filipinos as well as Indian-origin patrons.
Filipino cuisine comes home
There are gradual changes taking place within Indian-origin kitchens as well. While Jagjit Singh wishes more people from her community would embrace Filipino food, Indian migrants have begun to slowly incorporate Filipino cuisine into their meals.
Was it Jagjit’s idea, I ask, to serve Filipino pancit at the langar?
“It was actually ‘the guys’,” she tells me, referring to the committee that manages the gurdwara. “I’m just helping.”
Even Wasu, who generally prefers Indian food, sometimes prepares Filipino dishes at home. “Sometimes I make chop suey or Filipino-style pasta or buko pandan [a popular Filipino dessert of coconut, pandan leaves and sago pearls],” she says. Her children especially enjoy Filipino food, she says, adding: “They are not fussy. They will eat whatever is served.”
Back in the gurdwara kitchen, where preparations for the weekend is in full swing, I ask Seetak what dishes he likes – Filipino or Indian? He shares Wasu’s children’s sentiment: “With food, … you don’t play favourites.”
A GLAMOROUS fighter pilot decided to swap the cockpit for a different kind of runway as she now wants to become Miss Universe.
Michelle Martin, who joined the Chilean Air force at 18, will now represent her homeland in the famous beauty pageant.
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Military fighter pilot Michelle Martin will run for Miss UniverseCredit: Jam Press
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The 24-year-old often flaunts her figure and beauty on social mediaCredit: Jam Press
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Born in Venezuela, Michelle joined the Chilean Air Force at 18Credit: Jam Press
At 24 years old, Michelle has risen to the rank of Second Lieutenant.
But military career did not stop her from being one of the most glamorous fighter pilots out there.
Michelle often flaunts her beauty on and off duty – from a tight sleek bun look matched with her uniform, to summery snaps at the beach.
She was born in Venezuela and settled in Chile with her family more than five years ago.
Read more about Miss Universe
Daughter of a Chilean father and a Venezuelan mother, Michelle will represent the city of Puerto Montt where she has been based for several years.
Talking about her decision to take part in Miss Universe, she said: “My decision to participate was enthusiastically welcomed by my family in Chile and Venezuela, as well as by my Air Force colleagues.”
“I really love military life. “The career is very nice and you grow integrally,” she said in a previous interview.
Michelle is one of only a few candidates who aren’t involved in the entertainment industry.
This year, Miss Universe Chile representatives include Big Brother star, Francisca Maira and influencer, Bárbara Lackington, who appeared on MasterChef in 2019.
Trans model, Ariel Cordero, has also been announced as a candidate.
The final of Miss Universe 2024 will take place in Mexico City later this year on November 17.
An organisation spokesperson said: “We would like to present Michelle Martin who qualified for Miss Universe Chile 2024 by in-person casting.
“Soon you will be able to learn more about Michelle in our Miss Universe Chile app.”
Last week, it was confirmed that a 72-year-old grandmother is vying to become Miss Universe Argentina.
If successful, Estela Menéndez hopes to represent her country at the international event this year.
She was able to enter the pageant after the age limit was dropped for 2024.
Previously, candidates had to be aged between 18 and 28 years.
Whilst some women might want to shun the spotlight, Jocelyn is happy appearing on stage and has entered numerous pageants before.
This includes the Ms Asia International Global and Mrs Mother of the Universe competition, both of which she won in 2014 and 2017 respectively.
When the Miss Universe organisation relaxed these rules last year, Jocelyn knew she wanted to enter the pageant.
Even press attention and the younger competitors don’t seem to faze this 69-year-old, with her taking part in a regional leg of the Miss Universe pageant in Quezon City last month.
The fashion design is no stranger to barring all though, regularly wear stomach barring outfit for pageants and modelling gigs.
Even when she is off duty, the 69-year-old is still wearing denim hot pants and high heels – proving that age really is just a number.
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Michelle will represent the city of Puerto Montt, where she has been based for yearsCredit: Jam Press
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At 24, she has risen through the ranks and became Second LieutenantCredit: instagram
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Michelle said the news to join the beauty pageant were welcomed by her family and friends at the Air ForceCredit: Jam Press
The Philippines’ top defense official brushed aside coup rumors against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., saying the nation’s military that has a history of ouster plots is professional and will follow the chain of command.
“These adventures before are a thing of the past already,” Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said in an interview on Wednesday in his office in Manila. “Our officers are less gullible to these kinds of things.”
Marcos’s defense officials have been trying to quell talks of unrest in the military. Armed forces chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. early this month said that the military “stands firm in its unwavering loyalty to the constitution” amid accusations by a former senator linking ex-President Rodrigo Duterte to attempts to agitate active military members.
Duterte has denied involvement in alleged moves to destabilize Marcos’s government, saying he’s comfortable with his successor.
The Philippines has a history of military unrest and coup attempts, with President Marcos’s father, the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, ousted in 1986 after key defense and police officials defected and mass protests erupted.
Teodoro said people who may want to stir instability could make up stories and use social media to spread rumors, but the military “can see through the designs of all of these talks.”
Marcos’s government will pursue military upgrades as it continues to shift its focus to territorial defense from anti-insurgency, Teodoro also said. The goal is to tap local makers of defense assets more, he added.
The administration will prioritize procuring defense assets for “domain awareness, intelligence and communications capabilities, area denial capabilities,” the defense chief said.
The Philippines is bullish on exiting the FATF grey list this year. To that end, the country’s president, Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr has asked all government agencies to fix the regulatory shortcomings identified by the Financial Action Task Force.
According to reports, Marcos’ directive was communicated to agencies during a recent meeting. During that meeting, the President highlighted the economic importance of exiting the grey list. For reference, the Philippines originally had to convince the FATF that it should be removed from the grey list by January 2023. However, this period was extended by 12 months, providing the country with more time to address its shortcomings.
Matthew David, the executive director of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) Secretariat, commented on the matter, saying that the President has “reiterated the government’s commitment” to addressing the deficiencies identified by the FATF.
David confirmed that the country hopes to address all of the points made by the task force in 2024 and trigger the country’s exit from the grey list by the end of the year. According to him, 10 of the 18 deficiencies identified by the FATF have already been addressed. The remaining eight are currently being addressed or not yet addressed.
David admitted that the Philippines still needs to properly tackle terrorism financing.
The Philippines Is Optimistic about Its Exit
While there is a lot more work to do, David said that the Philippine government believes that it is on the right track. According to him, the President is very content with the work of the AMLC.
In his interview with the Philippine News Agency, David said:
Our goal is to eventually exit the grey list. There are repercussions for being in the grey list because the longer we are in the grey list, the bigger the possibility or the higher risk that we will enter the black list.
Matthew David, exec director, AMLC Secretariat
In October, the Philippine government published Memorandum Circular No. 37, ordering 44 government agencies to work on addressing the 18 deficiencies outlined in the FATF’s report. A number of authorities, including the PAGCOR, were thus required to step up their AML efforts.
In line with its efforts to strengthen its regulations, the Philippines also joined forces with China to crack down on illegal offshore operators in the country. This followed a joint action between the two countries that resulted in the repatriation of 400 Chinese nationals.
The path to the Home for the Golden Gays is dark and littered with stray cats. To get in and out at night, its elderly residents need to use flashlights to assist their deteriorating eyesight as they squeeze through the labyrinth of alleys, trying not to get their manicured feet wet from puddles or to trip on uneven concrete. The actual edifice—a two-bedroom, two-storey apartment, currently shared by nine people aged 60 to 93—stands out in teal from the dinginess of Manila’s ginnels. A miniature rainbow flag waves by its door frame, trimmed by a curtain of beads.
While there’s barely enough space in the apartment for all its tenants to sleep comfortably, it’s still better than the other option: the streets. “Thank you Lord,” says Ramon Busa, the 74-year-old president of the organization and matron of the house, “we ended up here, and we found this place.” (Busa requested that the Golden Gays be referred to with feminine pronouns in English.)
Envisioned originally to be a care home for aging members of the outcasted gay community, the Home for the Golden Gays was started by the late columnist and Pasay City councilor Justo C. Justo in the 1970s. Justo used his own residence for the effort until his death in 2012, when disgruntled relatives of his kicked the affectionately-nicknamed lolas (grandmothers) out, and soon they were back on the streets. It was only in 2018 that the latest residents cobbled together enough money to rent the apartment they’re living in today.
But even now, the status of the shelter is precarious. It persists only on irregular donations, mixed in with the elderly residents’ earnings from performances and side gigs as haircutters or street vendors—gigs that grow increasingly difficult to maintain due to declining physical capacity. The group’s official slogan serves as both mantra and warning: “Bawal magkasakit” (Don’t get sick).
“There’s no time for a lolato take care of someone else,” Busa says. “That’s why you need to be healthy.”
The sight of an elderly person begging for alms has become more common in Manila’s streets.
It’s not clear how many elderly are homeless, but the number of Filipinos aged 60 and above has doubled over the last 20 years to more than 9 million, or about eight percent of the population, while almost a fifth of the country’s 100-million strong population has fallen below the poverty threshold of having a budget of about $42 per month per capita, around a million of which are persons aged 60 and up. Meanwhile, homes remain too expensive for many to buy and own, and latest data from the national statistics office shows that an estimated 4.5 million Filipinos were homeless in 2018.
The LGBT sector also disproportionately struggles, long discriminated against by a predominantly Catholic society. While the Philippines has in recent years become slightly more welcoming, many older LGBT Filipinos had a hard time getting formal jobs in their youth on account of their sexuality. Now that they’ve aged, they have no state pensions, and many have been shunned by their families, too.
To be old and LGBT can be particularly difficult. Official statistics on the elder LGBT community remain scant, but a survey of LGBT-identifying Filipinos aged between 50 and 74 released in June found that 40% of respondents lacked money for necessities like food and medication. According to the survey, 48% of the respondents feared losing their homes within 2022. Some were unstably housed and others said they lived on the streets or in parks.
The Home for the Golden Gays offers itself as a community-based solution to these struggles. The residents, while they accept donations, are no beggars. They are happy to work, though their options are limited—some peddle cigarettes, others hairdress, and they all perform regularly as drag queens at a nearby restaurant.
Federico ‘Rica‘ Ramasamy (back right), who has since passed away, looks in a mirror as a fellow Golden Gays member applies makeup on her before a drag pageant in Manila, June 16, 2018.Noel Celis—AFP/Getty Images
“We enjoy it, we feel that we’re going back to our younger days,” says 62-year-old tenant Flor Bien Jr., who goes by Divine Amparo. “When you’re on stage, you forget the illnesses, the pains that you feel.”
But the residents remain keenly aware of mortality, noting the extra salve or pain relief pads needed after each show. Bien Jr. says she gets checked regularly for diseases like hypertension and diabetes, and she’s more cautious about wearing heels for fear of falling over, which she was better able to endure when she was younger. “You can never tell what’s going to happen to you,” she says.
One somber reminder sits on a shelf in the house den: a small marble urn containing the ashes of a former resident of the home, Federico Ramasamy, who once shared a cramped room with other Golden Gays before they found the house in Pasay. Ramasamy, known better as Lola Rica, died in 2020 from complications after a hit-and-run, Busa says. Since she died during the height of the pandemic, when bodies were ordered to be cremated, Ramasamy did not get a proper funeral. The remaining lolas plan to scatter Lola Rica’s ashes into the sea—while donning black gowns, they insist—when they have the money, they say less assuredly.
They know their own deaths inch closer every day, much closer for some of them, but Busa says they’re neither afraid nor melancholic.
“The show must go on,” she says. “It will come, but you don’t wait for it to come.”
Still, the Golden Gays’ drag performances are work as much as they are expressions of pride and joy. To keep their shelter and cover utilities, the lolas must raise at least 16,000 pesos (about $306) a month, which can be quite the demand.
Earlier this year, a younger Filipino drag queen who goes by the name Precious Paula Nicole made it a “passion project” to coordinate proceeds from the Golden Gays’ pageants into a fund to find the senescent community a more sustainable living situation. Precious met them at one of their gigs and says she teared up upon learning of their plight, reminded of her own grandparents and saddened by the fact that society leaves so many elderly individuals behind.
“They need a permanent home,” Precious tells TIME, “so that they don’t have to wait for Pride Month or Christmas, the only times when people would reach out to them and help.”
But it’s an uphill task: Precious admits that they’re nowhere near their savings goal and that recent donations have had to make up for missed monthly dues.
For now, the lolasneed to keep working and depending on charity. In the meantime, Bien, who plans to stay with her fellow Golden Gays until she dies, says she likes to imagine what a proper care home would feel like, even if it doesn’t come in her lifetime.
“We don’t really need a big home—what’s most important is a place that accommodates all of us,” Bien tells TIME. “This is what acceptance and love is.”
BRUSSELS — Western leaders are grappling with how to handle two era-defining wars in the Middle East and in Ukraine. But there’s another issue, one far closer to home, that’s derailing governments in Europe and America: migration.
In recent days, U.S. President Joe Biden, his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak all hit trouble amid intense domestic pressure to tackle immigration; all three emerged weakened as a result. The stakes are high as American, British and European voters head to the polls in 2024.
“There is a temptation to hunt for quick fixes,” said Rashmin Sagoo, director of the international law program at the Chatham House think tank in London. “But irregular migration is a hugely challenging issue. And solving it requires long-term policy thinking beyond national boundaries.”
With election campaigning already under way, long-term plans may be hard to find. Far-right, anti-migrant populists promising sharp answers are gaining support in many Western democracies, leaving mainstream parties to count the costs. Less than a month ago in the Netherlands, pragmatic Dutch centrists lost to an anti-migrant radical.
Who will be next?
Rishi Sunak, United Kingdom
In Britain, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is under pressure from members of his own ruling Conservative party who fear voters will punish them over the government’s failure to get a grip on migration.
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks during a press conference in Dover on June 5, 2023 in Dover, England | Pool photo by Yui Mok/WPA via Getty Images
Seven years ago, voters backed Brexit because euroskeptic campaigners promised to “Take Back Control” of the U.K.’s borders. Instead, the picture is now more chaotic than ever. The U.K. chalked up record net migration figures last month, and the government has failed so far to stop small boats packed with asylum seekers crossing the English Channel.
Sunak is now in the firing line. He made a pledge to “Stop the Boats” central to his premiership. In the process, he ignited a war in his already divided party about just how far Britain should go.
Under Sunak’s deal with Rwanda, the central African nation agreed to resettle asylum seekers who arrived on British shores in small boats. The PM says the policy will deter migrants from making sea crossings to the U.K. in the first place. But the plan was struck down by the Supreme Court in London, and Sunak’s Tories now can’t agree on what to do next.
Having survived what threatened to be a catastrophic rebellion in parliament on Tuesday, the British premier still faces a brutal battle in the legislature over his proposed Rwanda law early next year.
Time is running out for Sunak to find a fix. An election is expected next fall.
Emmanuel Macron, France
The French president suffered an unexpected body blow when the lower house of parliament rejected his flagship immigration bill this week.
French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris, on June 21, 2023 | Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images
After losing parliamentary elections last year, getting legislation through the National Assembly has been a fraught process for Macron. He has been forced to rely on votes from the right-wing Les Républicains party on more than one occasion.
Macron’s draft law on immigration was meant to please both the conservatives and the center-left with a carefully designed mix of repressive and liberal measures. But in a dramatic upset, the National Assembly, which is split between centrists, the left and the far right, voted against the legislation on day one of debates.
Now Macron is searching for a compromise. The government has tasked a joint committee of senators and MPs with seeking a deal. But it’s likely their text will be harsher than the initial draft, given that the Senate is dominated by the centre right — and this will be a problem for Macron’s left-leaning lawmakers.
If a compromise is not found, Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally will be able to capitalize on Macron’s failure ahead of the European Parliament elections next June.
But even if the French president does manage to muddle through, the episode is likely to mark the end of his “neither left nor right” political offer. It also raises serious doubts about his ability to legislate on controversial topics.
Joe Biden, United States
The immigration crisis is one of the most vexing and longest-running domestic challenges for President Joe Biden. He came into office vowing to reverse the policies of his predecessor, Donald Trump, and build a “fair and humane” system, only to see Congress sit on his plan for comprehensive immigration reform.
U.S. President Joe Biden pauses as he gives a speech in Des Moines, Iowa on July 15, 2019 | Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
The White House has seen a deluge of migrants at the nation’s southern border, strained by a decades-old system unable to handle modern migration patterns.
Ahead of next year’s presidential election, Republicans have seized on the issue. GOP state leaders have filed lawsuits against the administration and sent busloads of migrants to Democrat-led cities, while in Washington, Republicans in Congress have tied foreign aid to sweeping changes to border policy, putting the White House in a tight spot as Biden officials now consider a slate of policies they once forcefully rejected.
The political pressure has spilled into the other aisle. States and cities, particularly ones led by Democrats, are pressuring Washington leaders to do more in terms of providing additional federal aid and revamping southern border policies to limit the flow of asylum seekers into the United States.
New York City has had more than 150,000 new arrivals over the past year and a half — forcing cuts to new police recruits, cutting library hours and limiting sanitation duties. Similar problems are playing out in cities like Chicago, which had migrants sleeping in buses or police stations.
The pressure from Democrats is straining their relationship with the White House. New York City Mayor Eric Adams runs the largest city in the nation, but hasn’t spoken with Biden in nearly a year. “We just need help, and we’re not getting that help,” Adams told reporters Tuesday.
Olaf Scholz, Germany
Migration has been at the top of the political agenda in Germany for months, with asylum applications rising to their highest levels since the 2015 refugee crisis triggered by Syria’s civil war.
The latest influx has posed a daunting challenge to national and local governments alike, which have struggled to find housing and other services for the migrants, not to mention the necessary funds.
The inability to limit the number of refugees has put German Chancellor Olaf Scholz under immense pressure | Michele Tantussi/Getty Images
The inability — in a country that ranks among the most coveted destinations for asylum seekers — to limit the number of refugees has put German Chancellor Olaf Scholz under immense pressure. In the hope of stemming the flow, Germany recently reinstated border checks with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland, hoping to turn back the refugees before they hit German soil.
Even with border controls, refugee numbers remain high, which has been a boon to the far right. Germany’s anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party has reached record support in national polls.
Since overtaking Scholz’s Social Democrats in June, the AfD has widened its lead further, recording 22 percent in recent polls, second only to the center-right Christian Democrats.
The AfD is expected to sweep three state elections next September in eastern Germany, where support for the party and its reactionary anti-foreigner policies is particularly strong.
The center-right, meanwhile, is hardening its position on migration and turning its back on the open-border policies championed by former Chancellor Angela Merkel. Among the new priorities is a plan to follow the U.K.’s Rwanda model for processing refugees in third countries.
Karl Nehammer, Austria
Like Scholz, the Austrian leader’s approval ratings have taken a nosedive thanks to concerns over migration. Austria has taken steps to tighten controls at its southern and eastern borders.
Though the tactic has led to a drop in arrivals by asylum seekers, it also means Austria has effectively suspended the EU’s borderless travel regime, which has been a boon to the regional economy for decades.
Austria has effectively suspended the EU’s borderless travel regime, which has been a boon to the regional economy for decades | Thomas Kronsteiner/Getty Images
The far-right Freedom Party has had a commanding lead for more than a year, topping the ruling center-right in polls by 10 points. That puts the party in a position to win national elections scheduled for next fall, which would mark an unprecedented rightward tilt in a country whose politics have been dominated by the center since World War II.
Giorgia Meloni, Italy
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni made her name in opposition, campaigning on a radical far-right agenda. Since winning power in last year’s election, she has shifted to more moderate positions on Ukraine and Europe.
Meloni now needs to appease her base on migration, a topic that has dominated Italian debate for years. Instead, however, she has been forced to grant visas to hundreds of thousands of legal migrants to cover labor shortages. Complicating matters, boat landings in Italy are up by about 50 per cent year-on-year despite some headline-grabbling policies and deals to stop arrivals.
While Meloni has ordered the construction of detention centers where migrants will be held pending repatriation, in reality local conditions in African countries and a lack of repatriation agreements present serious impediments.
Italy’s Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni at a press conference on March 9, 2023 | Tiziana Fabi/AFP via Getty Images
Although she won the support of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for her cause, a potential EU naval mission to block departures from Africa would risk breaching international law.
Meloni has tried other options, including a deal with Tunisia to help stop migrant smuggling, but the plan fell apart before it began. A deal with Albania to offshore some migrant detention centers also ran into trouble.
Now Meloni is in a bind. The migration issue has brought her into conflict with France and Germany as she attempts to create a reputation as a moderate conservative.
If she fails to get to grips with the issue, she is likely to lose political ground. Her coalition partner Matteo Salvini is known as a hardliner on migration, and while they’re officially allies for now, they will be rivals again later.
Geert Wilders, the Netherlands
The government of long-serving Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte was toppled over migration talks in July, after which he announced his exit from politics. In subsequent elections, in which different parties vied to fill Rutte’s void, far-right firebrand Geert Wilders secured a shock win. On election night he promised to curb the “asylum tsunami.”
Wilders is now seeking to prop up a center-right coalition with three other parties that have urged getting migration under control. One of them is Rutte’s old group, now led by Dilan Yeşilgöz.
Geert Wilders attends a meeting in the Dutch parliament with party leaders to discuss the formation of a coalition government, on November 24, 2023 | Carl Court/Getty Images
A former refugee, Yeşilgöz turned migration into one of the main topics of her campaign. She was criticized after the elections for paving the way for Wilders to win — not only by focusing on migration, but also by opening the door to potentially governing with Wilders.
Now, though, coalition talks are stuck, and it could take months to form a new cabinet. If Wilders, who clearly has a mandate from voters, can stitch a coalition together, the political trajectory of the Netherlands — generally known as a pragmatic nation — will shift significantly to the right. A crackdown on migration is as certain as anything can be.
Leo Varadkar, Ireland
Even in Ireland, an economically open country long used to exporting its own people worldwide, an immigration-friendly and pro-business government has been forced by rising anti-foreigner sentiment to introduce new migration deterrence measures that would have been unthinkable even a year ago.
Ireland’s hardening policies reflect both a chronic housing crisis and the growing reluctance of some property owners to keep providing state-funded emergency shelter in the wake of November riots in Dublin triggered by a North African immigrant’s stabbing of young schoolchildren.
A nation already housing more than 100,000 newcomers, mostly from Ukraine, Ireland has stopped guaranteeing housing to new asylum seekers if they are single men, chiefly from Nigeria, Algeria, Afghanistan, Georgia and Somalia, according to the most recent Department of Integration statistics.
Ireland has stopped guaranteeing housing to new asylum seekers if they are single men, chiefly from Nigeria, Algeria, Afghanistan, Georgia and Somalia | Jorge Guerrero/AFP via Getty Images
Even newly arrived families face an increasing risk of being kept in military-style tents despite winter temperatures.
Ukrainians, who since Russia’s 2022 invasion of their country have received much stronger welfare support than other refugees, will see that welcome mat partially retracted in draft legislation approved this week by the three-party coalition government of Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.
Once enacted by parliament next month, the law will limit new Ukrainian arrivals to three months of state-paid housing, while welfare payments – currently among the most generous in Europe for people fleeing Russia’s war – will be slashed for all those in state-paid housing.
Justin Trudeau, Canada
A pessimistic public mood dragged down by cost-of-living woes has made immigration a multidimensional challenge for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
A housing crunch felt across the country has cooled support for immigration, with people looking for scapegoats for affordability pains. The situation has fueled antipathy for Trudeau and his re-election campaign.
Trudeau has treated immigration as a multipurpose solution for Canada’s aging population and slowing economy. And while today’s record-high population growth reflects well on Canada’s reputation as a desirable place to relocate, political challenges linked to migration have arisen in unpredictable ways for Trudeau’s Liberals.
Political challenges linked to migration have arisen in unpredictable ways for Trudeau’s Liberals | Andrej Ivanov/AFP
Since Trudeau came to power eight years ago, at least 1.3 million people have immigrated to Canada, mostly from India, the Philippines, China and Syria. Handling diaspora politics — and foreign interference — has become more consequential, as seen by Trudeau’s clash with India and Canada’s recent break with Israel.
Canada will double its 40 million population in 25 years if the current growth rate holds, enlarging the political challenges of leading what Trudeau calls the world’s “first postnational state”.
Pedro Sánchez, Spain
Spain’s autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, in Northern Africa, are favored by migrants seeking to enter Europe from the south: Once they make it across the land border, the Continent can easily be accessed by ferry.
Transit via the land border that separates the European territory from Morocco is normally kept in check with security measures like high, razor-topped fences, with border control officers from both countries working together to keep undocumented migrants out.
Spain’s autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, in Northern Africa, are favored by migrants seeking to enter Europe | Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP
But in recent years authorities in Morocco have expressed displeasure with their Spanish counterparts by standing down their officers and allowing hundreds of migrants to pass, overwhelming border stations and forcing Spanish officers to repel the migrants, with scores dying in the process.
The headaches caused by these incidents are believed to be a major factor in Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s decision to change the Spanish government’s position on the disputed Western Sahara territory and express support for Rabat’s plan to formalize its nearly 50-year occupation of the area.
The pivot angered Sánchez’s leftist allies and worsened Spain’s relationship with Algeria, a long-standing champion of Western Saharan independence. But the measures have stopped the flow of migrants — for now.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Greece
Greece has been at the forefront of Europe’s migration crisis since 2015, when hundreds of thousands of people entered Europe via the Aegean islands. Migration and border security have been key issues in the country’s political debate.
Human rights organizations, as well as the European Parliament and the European Commission, have accused the Greek conservative government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis of illegal “pushbacks” of migrants who have made it to Greek territory — and of deporting migrants without due process. Greece’s government denies those accusations, arguing that independent investigations haven’t found any proof.
Mitsotakis insists that Greece follows a “tough but fair” policy, but the numerous in-depth investigations belie the moderate profile the conservative leader wants to maintain.
In June, a migrant boat sank in what some called “the worst tragedy ever” in the Mediterranean Sea. Hundreds lost their lives, refocusing Europe’s attention on the issue. Official investigations have yet to discover whether failures by Greek authorities contributed to the shipwreck, according to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
In the meantime, Greece is in desperate need of thousands of workers to buttress the country’s understaffed agriculture, tourism and construction sectors. Despite pledges by the migration and agriculture ministers of imminent legislation bringing migrants to tackle the labor shortage, the government was forced to retreat amid pressure from within its own ranks.
Nikos Christodoulides, Cyprus
Cyprus is braced for an increase in migrant arrivals on its shores amid renewed conflict in the Middle East. Earlier in December, Greece sent humanitarian aid to the island to deal with an anticipated increase in flows.
Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides has called for extra EU funding for migration management, and is contending with a surge in violence against migrants in Cyprus. Analysts blame xenophobia, which has become mainstream in Cypriot politics and media, as well as state mismanagement of migration flows. Last year the country recorded the EU’s highest proportion of first-time asylum seekers relative to its population.
Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides has called for extra EU funding for migration management | Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images
Legal and staffing challenges have delayed efforts to create a deputy ministry for migration, deemed an important step in helping Cyprus to deal with the surge in arrivals.
The island’s geography — it’s close to both Lebanon and Turkey — makes it a prime target for migrants wanting to enter EU territory from the Middle East. Its complex history as a divided country also makes it harder to regulate migrant inflows.
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