South Korean, Chinese and Japanese leaders discuss thorny topics and ways to boost cooperation
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The Japanese and South Korean leaders raised sensitive topics like Taiwan, North Korea and the South China Sea as well as ways to boost cooperation when they individually met China’s premier Sunday on the eve of a fuller trilateral meeting.
It was unclear how serious discussions the three leaders had on those thorny issues, which are not among the official agenda items for Monday’s three-way gathering in Seoul, the first of its kind in more than four years.
No major announcement is expected from the meeting, but observers say that just resuming the highest-level talks among the three Northeast Asian neighbors is a good sign and suggests they are intent on improving relations. Their trilateral meeting was supposed to happen annually but it had stalled since the last one in December 2019 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and complex ties among the three countries.
After meeting Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters that he expressed serious concerns about the situations in the South China Sea, Hong Kong and China’s northwestern Xinjiang region. He said Japan is closely monitoring developments on self-governed Taiwan.
He referred to China’s military assertiveness in the South China Sea, clampdowns of pro-democracy movements in Hong Kong and human rights abuses against minorities in Xinjiang. Last week, China also launched a large military exercise around Taiwan to show its anger over the inauguration of the island’s new president who refuses to accept its insistence that Taiwan is part of China.
During a separate meeting with Li, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, on his part, asked China, as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, to contribute to promoting peace on the Korean Peninsula, while speaking about North Korea’s nuclear program and its deepening military ties with Russia, according to Yoon’s office.
Yoon’s office said Yoon and Kishida in their separate meeting expressed worries about North Korea’s nuclear program and agreed to strengthen their cooperation with the United States.
South Korea, Japan and the U.S. have long urged China — North Korea’s major ally and economic pipeline — to use its leverage to persuade the North to abandon its nuclear ambitions. But China is suspected of avoiding fully enforcing U.N. sanctions on North Korea and sending clandestine aid shipments to help its impoverished neighbor stay afloat.
The three leaders also discussed how to bolster economic and other cooperation.
Yoon and Li agreed to launch a new South Korean-Chinese dialogue channel involving senior diplomats and defense officials in mid-June. They also agreed to restart negotiations to expand the free trade agreement and reactivate dormant bodies on personnel exchanges, investments and other issues, according to Yoon’s office.
Chinese state media reported Li told Yoon that the two countries should safeguard the stability of their deeply intertwined industrial and supply chains and resist turning economic and trade issues into political and security-related issues.
Kishida said he and Li reaffirmed Japan and China will seek progress on various areas to promote mutually beneficial relations. Kishida and Yoon also said they agreed to further strengthen ties, which have warmed significantly since last year following an earlier setback over issues related to Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.
South Korean officials said that a joint statement after Monday’s trilateral meeting will cover the leaders’ discussion on cooperation in areas like people-to-people exchanges, climate change, trade, health issues, technology and disaster responses.
The three Asian nations are important trading partners and their cooperation is key to promoting regional peace and prosperity. They together make up about 25% of global gross domestic product. But the three countries have been repeatedly embroiled in bitter disputes over a range of historical and diplomatic issues originating from Japan’s wartime atrocities. China’s rise and a U.S. push reinforce its Asian alliances have also significantly impacted their three-way ties in recent years.
Experts say South Korea, China and Japan now share a need to improve ties. South Korea and Japan want better ties with China because it is their biggest trading partner. China, for its part, likely believes a further strengthening of the South Korea-Japan-U.S. cooperation would hurt its national interests.
China, meanwhile, has always sent its premier, the country’s No. 2 official, to the trilateral leaders’ meeting since its first session in 2008. Observers say China earlier argued that under then-collective leadership, its premier was chiefly in charge of economic affairs and best suited to attend the meeting, which largely focuses on economic issues.
But they say China may face more demands for President Xi Jinping to attend because he has concentrated power in his hands and defied the norms of collective leadership.
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Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Simina Mistreanu in Taipei, Taiwan contributed to this report.
A Filipino villager is nailed to a cross for the 35th time on Good Friday to pray for world peace
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Filipino villager has been nailed to a wooden cross for the 35th time to reenact Jesus Christ’s suffering in a brutal Good Friday tradition he said he would devote to pray for peace in Ukraine, Gaza and the disputed South China Sea.
On Friday, over a hundred people watched on as 10 devotees were nailed to wooden crosses, among them Ruben Enaje, a 63-year-old carpenter and sign painter. The real-life crucifixions have become an annual religious spectacle that draws tourists in three rural communities in Pampanga province, north of Manila.
The gory ritual resumed last year after a three-year pause due to the coronavirus pandemic. It has turned Enaje into a village celebrity for his role as the “Christ” in the Lenten reenactment of the Way of the Cross.
Ahead of the crucifixions, Enaje told The Associated Press by telephone Thursday night that he has considered ending his annual religious penitence due to his age, but said he could not turn down requests from villagers for him to pray for sick relatives and all other kinds of maladies.
The need for prayers has also deepened in an alarming period of wars and conflicts worldwide, he said.
“If these wars worsen and spread, more people, especially the young and old, would be affected. These are innocent people who have totally nothing to do with these wars,” Enaje said.
Despite the distance, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza have helped send prices of oil, gas and food soaring elsewhere, including in the Philippines, making it harder for poor people to stretch their meagre income, he said.
Closer to home, the escalating territorial dispute between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea has also sparked worries because it’s obviously a lopsided conflict, Enaje said. “China has many big ships. Can you imagine what they could do?” he asked.
“This is why I always pray for peace in the world,” he said and added he would also seek relief for people in southern Philippine provinces, which have been hit recently by flooding and earthquakes.
In the 1980s, Enaje survived nearly unscathed when he accidentally fell from a three-story building, prompting him to undergo the crucifixion as thanksgiving for what he considered a miracle. He extended the ritual after loved ones recovered from serious illnesses, one after another, and he landed more carpentry and sign-painting job contracts.
“Because my body is getting weaker, I can’t tell … if there will be a next one or if this is really the final time,” Enaje said.
During the annual crucifixions on a dusty hill in Enaje’s village of San Pedro Cutud in Pampanga and two other nearby communities, he and other religious devotees, wearing thorny crowns of twigs, carried heavy wooden crosses on their backs for more than a kilometer (more than half a mile) under a hot summer sun. Village actors dressed as Roman centurions hammered 4-inch (10-centimeter) stainless steel nails through their palms and feet, then set them aloft on wooden crosses for about 10 minutes as dark clouds rolled in and a large crowd prayed and snapped pictures.
Among the crowd this year was Maciej Kruszewski, a tourist from Poland and a first-time audience member of the crucifixions.
“Here, we would like to just grasp what does it mean, Easter in completely different part of the world,” said Kruszewski.
Other penitents walked barefoot through village streets and beat their bare backs with sharp bamboo sticks and pieces of wood. Some participants in the past opened cuts in the penitents’ backs using broken glass to ensure the ritual was sufficiently bloody.
Many of the mostly impoverished penitents undergo the ritual to atone for their sins, pray for the sick or for a better life, and give thanks for miracles.
The gruesome spectacle reflects the Philippines’ unique brand of Catholicism, which merges church traditions with folk superstitions.
Church leaders in the Philippines, the largest Catholic nation in Asia, have frowned on the crucifixions and self-flagellations. Filipinos can show their faith and religious devotion, they say, without hurting themselves and by doing charity work instead, such as donating blood, but the tradition has lasted for decades.
China's congress ends with a show of unity behind Xi's vision for national greatness
BEIJING (AP) — China’s national legislature wrapped up its annual session Monday with the usual show of near-unanimous support for plans designed to carry out ruling Communist Party leader Xi Jinping’s vision for the nation.
The weeklong event, replete with meetings carefully scripted to allow no surprises, has highlighted how China’s politics have become ever more calibrated to elevate Xi.
Monday’s agenda lacked the usual closing news conference by the premier, the party’s No. 2 leader. The news conference has been held most years since 1988 and was the one time when journalists could directly question a top Chinese leader.
The decision to scrap it emphasizes Premier Li Qiang’s relatively weak status. His predecessors played a much larger role in leading key economic policies such as modernizing state companies, coping with economic crises and leading housing reforms that transformed China into a nation of homeowners.
The nearly 3,000-member National People’s Congress approved a revised State Council law that directs China’s version of the cabinet to follow Xi’s vision. The vote was 2,883 to eight, with nine abstentions. Other measures passed by similarly wide margins. The most nays were recorded for the annual report of the supreme court, which was approved by a 2,834 to 44 vote.
In brief closing remarks, Zhao Leji, the legislature’s top official, urged the people to unite more closely under the Communist Party’s leadership “with comrade Xi Jinping at its core.”
The party leaders who run the State Council used to have a much freer hand in setting economic policy, Neil Thomas, a Chinese politics fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said in an emailed comment.
“Xi has been astonishingly successful in consolidating his personal hold over the party, which has allowed him to become the key decisionmaker in all policy domains,” he said.
As the party champions innovation and self-reliance in technology to build a modern, wealthy economy, it is leaning heavily on more overtly communist ideology that harkens to past eras. Xi has fortified the party’s role across the spectrum, from culture and education to corporate management and economic planning.
“Greater centralization of power has arguably helped Xi to improve central government effectiveness,” Thomas said, “but the benefits may be outweighed by the costs of stifling political discussion, disincentivizing local innovation and more sudden policy shifts.”
Along with following the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought and other party directives, developing “new quality productive forces” — a term coined by Xi last September — emerged as a catchphrase at this year’s congress.
The term suggests a prioritizing of science and technology as China confronts trade sanctions and curbs on access to advanced know-how in computer chips and other areas that the U.S. and other countries deem to be national security risks.
On the diplomatic front, China kept Wang Yi as foreign minister. He had stepped back into the post last summer after his successor, Qin Gang, was abruptly dismissed without explanation after a half-year on the job.
Analysts thought the Communist Party might use the annual congress to appoint a new foreign minister and close the book on an unusual spate of political mishaps last year that also saw the firing of a new defense minister after a few months on the job.
The Organic Law of the State Council was revised for the first time since its adoption in 1982. The revision calls for the State Council to “uphold the leadership of the Communist Party of China.” It also adds the governor of China’s central bank to the body.
Echoing words seen in just about every proposal, law or speech made in China these days, it spells out that China’s highest governing officials must adhere to the party’s guiding ideology, which refers back to Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought and culminates in Xi’s philosophy on “Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.”
Alfred Wu, an expert on Chinese governance at the National University of Singapore, said the revision institutionalizes previously made changes, making it harder to reverse them. He described the congress as a “one-man show” that shows Xi’s determination to create a system in which the party leads on policy, diminishing the role of the State Council and the legislature.
“His determination is very clear,” Wu said. “He is willing to change everything.”
During this year’s congress, many provincial meetings were opened to the media for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, though they were carefully scripted with prepared remarks and none of the spontaneity once glimpsed in decades past.
The contrast with polarized politics in the U.S. and robust debate in other democracies could not be more stark: China’s political rituals, void of any overt dissent, put unity above all.
Marching orders endorsed by the congress include calls to ensure national security and social stability at a time when job losses and underpayment of wages have sparked a growing number of protests.
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Associated Press researchers Wanqing Chen and Yu Bing contributed to this report.
Kyoto's picturesque geisha district fights back against over-tourism with keep-out signs
TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s ancient capital of Kyoto, long a popular destination for tourists, is closing off some private-property alleys in its famous geisha district because of complaints about misbehaving visitors.
Tourists crowd the narrow, quaint streets of the area called Gion, often following tour guides who show people around and lecture for long hours, local district official Isokazu Ota said Friday.
“We are going to put up signs in April that tell tourists to stay out of our private streets,” he told The Associated Press.
A sign will say in both Japanese and English: “This is a private road, so you are not allowed to drive through it,” although the keep-out warning is aimed mainly at pedestrians, not cars, as the Japanese wording refers to generically “passing through.”
“There will be a fine of 10,000 yen,” the sign adds, which comes to about $70 under recent currency conversion rates.
The ban covers just several blocks of Gion. The district’s public streets will remain open to tourists, so the area and the rest of Kyoto will still be teeming with visitors, both from Japan and around the world.
Gion’s outrage highlights brewing resentment at what many people feel is “over-tourism,” even though the Japanese economy depends more than ever on tourism revenue to sustain growth.
The district of winding alleyways is known for picturesque teahouses, where geisha and their maiko apprentices, wearing fancy kimono and hair ornaments, perform in dance and music.
In a city known for gorgeous temples and gardens, Gion is one of its most scenic and historical spots. Tourists, armed with cameras, like to wander around Gion, hoping to catch the women on their way to dance class or a fancy dinner party.
Complaints about over-zealous tourists began bubbling years ago, though the discontent cooled when the coronavirus pandemic brought a lull in tourism. Now, visitors are back with a frenzy.
Overseas tourist traffic to Japan is rebounding to pre-pandemic levels.
More than 22 million visitors came to Japan last year, eager to take in sushi, electronic gadgetry and the splendors of nature like Mount Fuji and the beaches of Okinawa. In 2019, incoming travel totaled more than 31 million people, and this year’s number could approach or even overtake that, experts say.
It’s been too much for many residents of Gion. Their local council summarized the less than eager sentiments a few months ago by proclaiming: “Kyoto is not a theme park.”
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Yuri Kageyama is on X: https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
Behind the doors of a Chinese hacking company, a sordid culture fueled by influence, alcohol and sex
BEIJING (AP) — The hotel was spacious. It was upscale. It had a karaoke bar. The perfect venue, the CEO of the Chinese hacking company thought, to hold a Lunar New Year banquet currying favor with government officials. There was just one drawback, his top deputy said.
“Who goes there?” the deputy wrote. “The girls are so ugly.”
So goes the sordid wheeling and dealing that takes place behind the scenes in China’s hacking industry, as revealed in a highly unusual leak last month of internal documents from a private contractor linked to China’s government and police. China’s hacking industry, the documents reveal, suffers from shady business practices, disgruntlement over pay and work quality, and poor security protocols.
Private hacking contractors are companies that steal data from other countries to sell to the Chinese authorities. Over the past two decades, Chinese state security’s demand for overseas intelligence has soared, giving rise to a vast network of these private hackers-for-hire companies that have infiltrated hundreds of systems outside China.
Though the existence of these hacking contractors is an open secret in China, little was known about how they operate. But the leaked documents from a firm called I-Soon have pulled back the curtain, revealing a seedy, sprawling industry where corners are cut and rules are murky and poorly enforced in the quest to make money.
Leaked chat records show I-Soon executives wooing officials over lavish dinners and late night binge drinking. They collude with competitors to rig bidding for government contracts. They pay thousands of dollars in “introduction fees” to contacts who bring them lucrative projects. I-Soon has not commented on the documents.
Mei Danowski, a cybersecurity analyst who wrote about I-Soon on her blog, Natto Thoughts, said the documents show that China’s hackers for hire work much like any other industry in China.
“It is profit-driven,” Danowski said. “It is subject to China’s business culture — who you know, who you dine and wine with, and who you are friends with.”
HACKING THAT’S STYLED AS PATRIOTIC
China’s hacking industry rose from the country’s early hacker culture, first appearing in the 1990s as citizens bought computers and went online.
I-Soon’s founder and CEO, Wu Haibo, was among them. Wu was a member of China’s first hacktivist group, Green Army — a group known informally as the “Whampoa Academy” after a famed Chinese military school.
Wu and some other hackers distinguished themselves by declaring themselves “red hackers” — patriots who offered their services to the Chinese Communist Party, in contrast to the freewheeling, anarchist and anti-establishment ethos popular among many coders.
In 2010, Wu founded I-Soon in Shanghai. Interviews he gave to Chinese media depict a man determined to bolster his country’s hacking capacity to catch up with rivals. In one 2011 interview, Wu lamented that China still lagged far behind the United States: “There are many technology enthusiasts in China, but there are very few enlightened people.”
With the spread of the internet, China’s hacking-for-hire industry boomed, emphasizing espionage and intellectual property theft.
High-profile hacks by Chinese state agents, including one at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management where personal data on 22 million existing or prospective federal employees was stolen, got so serious that then-President Barack Obama personally complained to Chinese leader Xi Jinping. They agreed in 2015 to cut back on espionage.
For a couple of years, the intrusions subsided. But I-Soon and other private hacking outfits soon grew more active than ever, providing Chinese state security forces cover and deniability. I-Soon is “part of an ecosystem of contractors that has links to the Chinese patriotic hacking scene,” said John Hultquist, chief analyst of Google’s Mandiant cybersecurity unit.
These days, Chinese hackers are a formidable force.
In May 2023, Microsoft disclosed that a Chinese state-sponsored hacking group affiliated with China’s People’s Liberation Army called “Volt Typhoon” was targeting critical infrastructure such as telecommunications and ports in Guam, Hawaii, and elsewhere and could be laying the groundwork for disruption in the event of conflict.
Today, hackers such as those at I-Soon outnumber FBI cybersecurity staff by “at least 50 to one,” FBI director Christopher Wray said January at a conference in Munich.
DOCUMENTS REVEAL A SEEDY STATE-LED INDUSTRY
Though I-Soon boasted about its hacking prowess in slick marketing PowerPoint presentations, the real business took place at hotpot parties, late night drinking sessions and poaching wars with competitors, leaked records show. A picture emerges of a company enmeshed in a seedy, sprawling industry that relies heavily on connections to get things done.
I-Soon leadership discussed buying gifts and which officials liked red wine. They swapped tips on who was a lightweight, and who could handle their liquor.
I-Soon executives paid “introduction fees” for lucrative projects, chat records show, including tens of thousands of RMB (thousands of dollars) to a man who landed them a 285,000 RMB ($40,000) contract with police in Hebei province. To sweeten the deal, I-Soon’s chief operating officer, Chen Cheng, suggested arranging the man a drinking and karaoke session with women.
“He likes to touch girls,” Chen wrote.
It wasn’t just officials they courted. Competitors, too, were targets of wooing over late night drinking sessions. Some were partners — subcontractors or collaborators on government projects. Others were hated rivals who constantly poached their staff. Often, they were both.
One, Chinese cybersecurity giant Qi Anxin, was especially loathed, despite being one of I-Soon’s key investors and business partners.
“Qi Anxin’s HR is a green tea bitch who seduces our young men everywhere and has no morals,” COO Chen wrote to Wu, the CEO, using a Chinese internet slur that refers to innocent-looking but ambitious young women.
I-Soon also has a complicated relationship with Chengdu 404, a competitor charged by the U.S. Department of Justice for hacking over 100 targets worldwide. They worked with 404 and drank with their executives but lagged on payments to the company and were eventually sued over a software development contract, Chinese court records show.
The source of the I-Soon documents is unclear, and executives and Chinese police are investigating. And though Beijing has repeatedly denied involvement in offensive hacking, the leak illustrates I-Soon and other hacking companies’ deep ties with the Chinese state.
For example, chat records show China’s Ministry of Public Security gave companies access to proofs of concept of so-called “zero days”, the industry term for a previously unknown software security hole. Zero days are prized because they can be exploited until detected. I-Soon company executives debated how to obtain them. They are regularly discovered at an annual Chinese state-sponsored hacking competition.
In other records, executives discussed sponsoring hacking competitions at Chinese universities to scout for new talent.
Many of I-Soon’s clients were police in cities across China, a leaked contract list showed. I-Soon scouted for databases they thought would sell well with officers, such as Vietnamese traffic data to the southeast province of Yunnan, or data on exiled Tibetans to the Tibetan regional government.
At times, I-Soon hacked on demand. One chat shows two parties discussing a potential “long-term client” interested in data from several government offices related to an unspecified “prime minister.”
A Chinese state body, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, also owns a small stake in I-Soon through a Tibetan investment fund, Chinese corporate records show.
I-Soon proclaimed their patriotism to win new business. Top executives discussed participating in China’s poverty alleviation scheme — one of Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s signature initiatives — to make connections. I-Soon CEO Wu suggested his COO become a member of Chengdu’s People’s Political Consultative Conference, a government advisory body comprised of scientists, entrepreneurs, and other prominent members of society. And in interviews with state media, Wu quoted Mencius, a Chinese philosopher, casting himself as a scholar concerned with China’s national interest.
But despite Wu’s professed patriotism, leaked chat records tell a more complicated story. They depict a competitive man motivated to get rich.
“You can’t be Lei Feng,” Wu wrote in private messages, referring to a long-dead Communist worker held up in propaganda for generations as a paragon of selflessness. “If you don’t make money, being famous is useless.”
LAX SECURITY, POOR PAY AMONG HACKING WORKERS
China’s booming hackers-for-hire industry has been hit by the country’s recent economic downturn, leading to thin profits, low pay and an exodus of talent, the leaked documents show.
I-Soon lost money and struggled with cash flow issues, falling behind on payments to subcontractors. In the past few years, the pandemic hit China’s economy, causing police to pull back on spending that hurt I-Soon’s bottom line. “The government has no money,” I-Soon’s COO wrote in 2020.
Staff are often poorly paid. In a salary document dated 2022, most staff on I-Soon’s safety evaluation and software development teams were paid just 5,600 yuan ($915) to 9,000 yuan ($1,267) a month, with only a handful receiving more than that. In the documents, I-Soon officials acknowledged the low pay and worried about the company’s reputation.
Low salaries and pay disparities caused employees to complain, chat records show. Leaked employee lists show most I-Soon staff held a degree from a vocational training school, not an undergraduate degree, suggesting lower levels of education and training. Sales staff reported that clients were dissatisfied with the quality of I-Soon data, making it difficult to collect payments.
I-Soon is a fraction of China’s hacking ecosystem. The country boasts world-class hackers, many employed by the Chinese military and other state institutions. But the company’s troubles reflect broader issues in China’s private hacking industry. The country’s cratering economy, Beijing’s tightening controls and the growing role of the state has led to an exodus of top hacking talent, four cybersecurity analysts and Chinese industry insiders told The Associated Press.
“China is no longer the country we used to know. A lot of highly skilled people have been leaving,” said one industry insider, declining to be named to speak on a sensitive topic. Under Xi, the person added, the growing role of the state in China’s technology industry has emphasized ideology over competence, impeded pay and made access to officials pivotal.
A major issue, people say, is that most Chinese officials lack the technical literacy to verify contractor claims. So hacking companies prioritize currying favor over delivering excellence.
In recent years, Beijing has heavily promoted China’s tech industry and the use of technology in government, part of a broader strategy to facilitate the country’s rise. But much of China’s data and cybersecurity work has been contracted out to smaller subcontractors with novice programmers, leading to poor digital practices and large leaks of data.
Despite the clandestine nature of I-Soon’s work, the company has surprisingly lax security protocols. I-Soon’s offices in Chengdu, for example, have minimal security and are open to the public, despite posters on the walls of its offices reminding employees that “to keep the country and the party’s secrets is every citizen’s required duty.” The leaked files show that top I-Soon executives communicated frequently on WeChat, which lacks end-to-end encryption.
The documents do show that staff are screened for political reliability. One metric, for example, shows that I-Soon checks whether staff have any relatives overseas, while another shows that employees are classified according to whether they are members of China’s ruling Communist Party.
Still, Danowski, the cybersecurity analyst, says many standards in China are often “just for show.” But at the end of the day, she added, it may not matter.
“It’s a little sloppy. The tools are not that impressive. But the Ministry of Public Security sees that you get the job done,” she said of I-Soon. “They will hire whoever can get the job done.”
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Soo reported from Hong Kong. AP Technology Writer Frank Bajak in Boston contributed to this report.
A party like no other? Asia's richest man celebrates son's prenuptials with a star-studded bash
NEW DELHI (AP) — What happens when the son of Asia’s richest man is about to get married?
His father throws a three-day prenuptial bash four months before the actual ceremony.
Tycoons from around the world, heads of state, as well as Hollywood and Bollywood stars descended on the small western Indian city of Jamnagar on Friday where billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani is kickstarting a big fat wedding celebration for his youngest son.
The nearly 1,200-person guest list includes pop superstar Rihanna, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Sunder Picha, Ivanka Trump and Bollywood celebrity Shah Rukh Khan.
All eyes are on Anant Ambani, 28, and his long-time girlfriend Radhika Merchant, 29, who will tie the knot in July. Radhika is the daughter of Viren Merchant, CEO of Encore Healthcare Pvt. Ltd., and entrepreneur Shaila Merchant.
Such festivities keep up with the Ambani family’s tradition of lavish and over-the-top parties while displaying the Indian billionaire’s economic and political clout
Here is everything you need to know about the family and the bash that captivated the country.
WHO IS MUKESH AMBANI?
Mukesh Ambani, 66, is currently the world’s 10th richest man with a net worth of $115bn, according to Forbes. He is also the richest person in Asia.
His Reliance Industries is a massive conglomerate, reporting over $100 billion in annual revenue, with interests ranging from petrochemicals, and oil and gas to telecoms and retail.
Under Ambani’s leadership, Reliance — founded by his father in 1966 — sparked a telecom price war with the launch of the 4G phone and broadband service Jio in 2016. Today, it has more than 420 million subscribers and offers 5G services. Earlier this week, Disney struck an $8.5bn deal to merge its India business with Ambani’s Reliance Industries, forming a new media giant.
The Ambani family owns, among other assets, a 27-story private apartment building, named Antila, worth $1 billion in Mumbai. It has three helipads, a 160-car garage, a private movie theater, a swimming pool, and a fitness center.
Ambani’s critics say his company has flourished mainly because of political connections during the Congress governments in the 1970s and 80s and subsequently under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rule after 2014. They say “crony capitalism” in India has helped certain corporations, such as Ambani’s, thrive.
Mukesh Ambani, 66, has started passing the torch to his two sons and daughter. The oldest son, Akash Ambani, is now chairperson of Reliance Jio; his daughter, Isha, oversees retail; and the youngest, Anant — who will wed in July— has been inducted into the new energy business.
DO YOU WANT A PARTY LIKE NO OTHER? THE AMBANIS HAVE YOUR BACK
Extravagant parties are the Ambanis’ specialty.
In 2018, when his daughter married, Ambani made the headlines because of the grand celebrations, with pop sensation Beyoncé performing at the pre-wedding festivities. At the time, Former U.S. Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry were among those who rubbed shoulders with Indian celebrities and Bollywood stars in the western Indian city of Udaipur.
Later that year, the happy couple, Isha Ambani and Anand Piramal, officially celebrated their engagement overlooking the picturesque Lake Como in Italy. In December 2018, they got married at the Ambani residence in Mumbai.
WHAT IS SO FASCINATING ABOUT THE PRE-WEDDING SHINDIG?
The three-day pre-wedding bash offers a glimpse of the opulence expected at the July wedding.
The Ambanis are celebrating it at the family’s hometown of Jamnagar — a city of around 600,000 in a near-desert part of Gujarat state — where they also have the business’ main oil refinery.
Guests will don jungle-themed outfits to visit an animal rescue center run by the groom-to-be, Anant. Known as “Vantara,” or “Star Of The Forest,” the 3,000-acre (about 1,200-hectare) center houses abused, injured and endangered animals, particularly elephants.
The invitation also says guests will start each day with a new dress code, mood boards and an army of hair stylists, makeup artists and Indian wear designers at their hotel to help them prepare.
There will also be traditional Hindu ceremonies in a temple complex.
The guests, many arriving by chartered planes, will be served 500 dishes created by around 100 chefs.
The guest list also includes Mohammed Bin Jassim al Thani, the prime minister of Qatar; Stephen Harper, former Canadian prime minister; and Bhutan’s King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema.
On Wednesday, the Ambani family organized a community food service for 51,000 people living in nearby villages.
What to watch for as China's major political meeting of the year gets underway
BEIJING (AP) — One burning issue dominates as the 2024 session of China’s legislature gets underway this week: the economy.
The National People’s Congress annual meeting, which opens Tuesday, is being closely watched for any signals on what the ruling Communist Party might do to reenergize an economy that is sagging under the weight of expanded government controls and the bursting of a real-estate bubble.
That is not to say that other issues won’t come up. Proposals to raise the retirement age are expected to be a hot topic, the state-owned Global Times newspaper said last week. And China watchers will parse the annual defense budget and the possible introduction of a new foreign minister.
But the economy is what is on most people’s minds in a country that may be at a major turning point after four decades of growth that propelled China into a position of economic and geopolitical power. For many Chinese, the failure of the post-COVID economy to rally strongly last year is shaking a long-held confidence in the future.
A CEREMONIAL ROLE
The National People’s Congress is largely ceremonial in that it doesn’t have any real power to decide on legislation. The deputies do vote, but it’s become a unanimous or near-unanimous formalizing of decisions that have been made by Communist Party leaders behind closed doors.
The congress can be a forum to propose and discuss ideas. The nearly 3,000 deputies are chosen to represent various groups, from government officials and party members to farmers and migrant workers. But Alfred Wu, an expert on governance in China, believes that role has been eroded by the centralization of power under Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
“Everyone knows the signal is the top,” said Wu, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore and a former journalist in China. “Once the top says something, I say something. Once the top keeps silent, I also keep silent.”
Nonetheless, the reports and speeches during the congress can give indications of the future direction of government policy. And while they tend to be in line with previous announcements, major new initiatives have been revealed at the meeting, such as the 2020 decision to enact a national security law for Hong Kong following major anti-government protests in 2019.
A TARGET FOR GROWTH
The first thing the legislature will do on Tuesday is receive a lengthy “work report” from Premier Li Qiang that will review the past year and include the government’s economic growth target for this year.
Many analysts expect something similar to last year’s target of “around 5%,” which they say would affirm market expectations for a moderate step up in economic stimulus and measures to boost consumer and investor confidence.
Many current forecasts for China’s GDP growth are below 5%, but setting a lower target would signal less support for the economy and could dampen confidence, said Jeremy Zook, the China lead analyst at Fitch Ratings, which is forecasting 4.6% growth this year.
Conversely, a higher target of about 5.5% would indicate more aggressive stimulus, said Neil Thomas, a Chinese politics fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute.
There will be positive messages for private companies and foreign investors, Thomas said, but he doesn’t expect a fundamental change to Xi’s overall strategy of strengthening the party’s control over the economy.
“Political signals ahead of the National People’s Congress suggest that Xi is relatively unperturbed by China’s recent market troubles and is sticking to his guns on economic policy,” he said.
A NEW FOREIGN MINISTER, MAYBE
China’s government ministers typically hold their posts for five years, but Qin Gang was dismissed as foreign minister last year after only a few months on the job. To this day, the government has not said what happened to him and why.
His predecessor, Wang Yi, has been brought back as foreign minister while simultaneously holding the more senior position of the Communist Party’s top official on foreign affairs.
The presumption has been that Wang’s appointment was temporary until a permanent replacement could be named. Analysts say that could happen during the National People’s Congress, but there’s no guarantee it will.
“Wang Yi enjoys Xi’s trust and currently dominates diplomatic policymaking below the Xi level, so it would not be a shock if Wang remained foreign minister for a while longer,” Thomas said.
The person who has gotten the most attention as a possible successor is Liu Jianchao, a Communist Party official who is a former Foreign Ministry spokesperson and ambassador to the Philippines and Indonesia. He has made several overseas trips in recent months including to Africa, Europe, Australia and the U.S., increasing speculation that he is the leading candidate.
Other names that have been floated include Ma Zhaoxu, the executive vice foreign minister. Wu said it likely depends on whom Xi and Wang trust.
“I don’t know how Wang Yi thinks about it,” he said. “If Wang Yi likes somebody like Liu Jianchao or likes somebody like Ma Zhaoxu. And also Xi Jinping. So it’s more about personal relations.”
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The first name of Alfred Wu, associate professor at National University of Singapore, has been corrected in this story.
54 people are confirmed dead in a landslide that buried a gold-mining village in south Philippines
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The death toll from a massive landslide that hit a gold-mining village in the southern Philippines has risen to 54 with 63 people still missing, authorities said Sunday.
The landslide hit the mountain village of Masara in Davao de Oro province on Tuesday night after weeks of torrential rains.
Davao de Oro’s provincial government said in a Facebook post that 54 bodies had been recovered. At least 32 residents survived with injuries but 63 remained missing, it said. Among those missing were gold miners who had been waiting in two buses to be driven home when the landslide struck and buried them.
The search operation has been hampered by poor weather and fears of more landslides. More than 1,100 families have been moved to evacuation centers for their safety, disaster response officials said.
The area has been swamped by heavy rains in the weeks before the landslide struck. Earthquakes also damaged houses and buildings in the region in recent months, officials said.
Why tens of thousands of Indian farmers are protesting again
NEW DELHI (AP) — Tens of thousands of Indian farmers are protesting for guaranteed crop prices, renewing a movement that succeeded in getting contentious new agricultural laws repealed in 2021.
Earlier this week, they began marching toward New Delhi, but their efforts so far have been blocked by authorities, who have used tear gas, detained a number of farmers and heavily barricaded entry points into the capital.
Talks between the farmers and government ministers have failed to reach a breakthrough after three rounds and they have agreed to continue their discussions this weekend. Meanwhile, some farmer and trade unions plan a countrywide rural strike on Friday.
Authorities are determined to control the new demonstrations to avoid a repeat of the 2021 protests, in which tens of thousands of farmers camped outside the capital for over a year, enduring a harsh winter and a devastating COVID-19 surge.
WHY ARE FARMERS PROTESTING AGAIN?
The farmers, who rode on tractors and trucks from neighboring Haryana and Punjab states, say the government has failed to meet some of their key demands from the previous protests.
In 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi repealed a set of agricultural laws that the protesting farmers said would hurt their incomes.
But the leaders of the current march say the government hasn’t made progress on other important demands such as guaranteed crop prices, a doubling of farmers’ income and loan waivers. The demand for legislation that will guarantee minimum prices is at the heart of their protests.
Currently, the government protects agricultural producers against any sharp fall in farm prices by setting a minimum purchase price for certain essential crops, a system that was introduced in the 1960s to help shore up food reserves and prevent shortages. The farmers are demanding this be extended to all farm produce, and not just essential crops.
Even though the latest talks on Thursday ended without consensus, ministers afterward told local media that it was a “positive discussion” and that they were keen to make progress.
“We discussed with the aim of finding a resolution to the issues. The ministers said they require time,” Sarwan Singh Pandher, one of the farm leaders, told the Times of India.
Farmer groups say they will continue their protest, but want a peaceful resolution and are open to the discussions with the government.
WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME?
In November 2021, Modi’s announcement that the controversial laws would be repealed was widely seen as a win for the farmers and a rare retreat by the populist leader.
The government had defended the laws as necessary reforms to modernize Indian farming, but farmers feared the government’s move to introduce market reforms in agriculture would leave them poorer.
The protests, which began in northern India, triggered nationwide demonstrations and drew international support. Dozens of farmers died due to suicides, bad weather and COVID-19.
Political commentators said the protest movement was the biggest challenge until that time for the Modi government, which then tried to paint its decision to scrap the laws as a move that prioritized farmers.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR MODI’S GOVERNMENT?
The protests come at a important time for India, where elections are expected to be held in a few months, which Modi is widely expected to sweep to victory and secure a third successive term.
In 2021, Modi’s decision to do away with the agricultural laws was seen as a move to appease farmers ahead of crucial state polls.
Farmers form the most influential voting bloc in India and are often romanticized as the heart and soul of the nation.
Politicians have long considered it unwise to alienate them, and farmers are also particularly important to Modi’s base. Northern Haryana and a few other states with substantial farmer populations are ruled by his Bharatiya Janata Party.
If the protests were to gain the same kind of momentum as last time, it could pose a new test for Modi and his government just before the general election.
Pakistan's election looks more like a coronation or a sure bet. Many voters are disillusioned
Many voters are disillusioned
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan is holding parliamentary elections this week but many voters are disillusioned and wonder if the balloting can bring any real change in a country mired in political feuding, a seemingly intractable economic crisis and resurgent militancy.
Forty-four political parties will compete on Thursday for a share of the 266 seats in the National Assembly, or the lower house of parliament, with an additional 70 seats reserved for women and minorities.
After the election, the new parliament will choose the country’s next prime minister. If no party wins an outright majority, then the one with the biggest share of assembly seats can form a coalition government.
WHY DOES IT LOOK LIKE A SURE BET?
Many experts agree that in Pakistan’s political landscape today, there really seems to be only one top contender for the post of premier — Nawaz Sharif, a three-times former prime minister who has returned to the country and been absolved of past convictions.
Sharif came back last October after four years of self-imposed exile in London to avoid serving prison sentences. Within weeks of his return, his sentences were thrown out and his convictions overturned.
His archrival, former Prime Minister Imran Khan, a cricket hero turned Islamist politician who was ousted in April 2022, is behind bars and banned from contesting the vote.
And although Khan has a significant grassroots following, it’s the intensity of his downfall and the ease of Sharif’s return that have led many to believe the outcome has been already decided.
WHY DOES IT MATTER?
Nuclear-armed Pakistan is the fifth most populous country in the world and an unpredictable Western ally. It borders Afghanistan, China, India and Iran — a region rife with hostile boundaries and tense relations.
For the international community, a strong and stable Pakistani government means a better chance of containing any unrest, addressing economic challenges and stemming illegal migration.
And though anything can happen on election day, both Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League and Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf have led lackluster campaigns over the past few weeks — something experts say only feeds into the general apathy among some 127 million eligible voters.
That could come back to haunt Pakistan’s next government and set the stage for an even more intense brain drain and more political trouble ahead, as well as violent protests. And that in turn would only benefit Islamic militants.
A GROWING BACKLASH AGAINST THE ELITE
Khan’s May 2023 arrest triggered destructive rampages on a scale unseen since the 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Khan’s supporters blamed the military for his demise and set about wrecking military buildings and property — a strong message of defiance in a country where the army wields huge influence.
The authorities responded with mass arrests, a crackdown on Khan’s party, and the introduction of military trials for civilians. The clampdown appears to have broken some of that spirit, though a recent pre-election rally in the southern city of Karachi, where police were forced to disperse Khan’s supporters with tear gas, showed that some were ready to fight for him.
Military affairs scholar Ayesha Siddiqa warns of more instability as the anti-establishment sentiment grows. “People are angry,” Siddiqa said. “The dislike of the army has increased tremendously, and it’s more noticeable.”
THE DANGERS OF DEJA VU AND APATHY
A year ago, Khan was still a free man rallying for a comeback while Sharif, ousted in 2017 over corruption allegations and banned for life from holding public office, was in London, seemingly out of the picture.
Now the tables have turned. Khan is in prison while Sharif’s return and the absolution that followed — compounded with an election campaign he only launched on Jan. 15 — positioned him as the security establishment’s preferred candidate.
Pakistan isn’t known for holding free and fair elections. Ballot-stuffing, voter intimidation and other forms of electoral fraud have been commonplace in the past.
First-time voter Noreen Khan, who works in an Islamabad beauty salon, said she holds little hope for a free vote and believes there is no way Khan’s “party will be allowed to win” — despite its popularity.
Farzana Shaikh, an associate fellow at the London-based think tank Chatham House, says much seems “all too familiar” in this election.
“Nothing is shocking to those who have followed Pakistani politics,” she said and added that although there is a strong sense of déjà vu, she cannot remember so much division in the runup to an election.
“The political climate is the most polarized we have seen in Pakistan’s history,” she said.
Shaikh underscored the “systematic and vicious ways” in which the judiciary and security establishment have moved against Khan and his party.
But four criminal convictions so far — with sentences of three, 10, 14 and seven years for Khan, to be served concurrently — and more than 150 legal cases still pending may be too much for anyone to overcome.
A REVERSAL OF FORTUNES
Sharif’s and Khan’s sharp reversal of fortunes fits the nation’s cutthroat pattern of power-seeking politics.
Candidates from Khan’s party have been forced to run as independents after the Supreme Court and Election Commission said they can’t use the party symbol — a cricket bat on voting slips — to help illiterate voters find them on the ballots.
The undoing of Khan and the resurrection of Sharif have given the impression of a predetermined outcome, and “it may be too late to change that perception,” Shaikh said.
Political scientist Samina Yasmeen at the University of Western Australia envisions negative repercussions for the already troubled economy if voters come out thinking Thursday’s vote was unfair. “They won’t trust the government,” she said.
Talha Ahad, the founder of The Centrum Media, a Pakistani digital news network, said young people are not taking the election seriously. They believe “everything is fixed” and think there must be a deal with the military, and that why Sharif is back, he said.
“People have less belief in democracy,” Ahad added. “Everyone is like, we don’t want this because all of them are same.”
A CHANCE FOR MILITANCY TO FLOURISH
Clerics and militant groups have long wanted to impose their interpretation of Islamic law, or Shariah, on everyday life in Pakistan, claiming Western ways and democracy don’t work.
With mounting political divisions, a loss of trust in the government and the system, radical Islam could benefit in a country with a history of militancy, said Yasmeen, the political analyst.
Pakistan needs a government that can regain public confidence, create jobs and deliver basic services, she said.
“People need that sense of safety,” she added. “Without that, we’re on a slippery slope.”
Stock market today: Asian shares mostly decline after mixed Wall Street finish
TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares mostly declined Friday, after a mixed finish on Wall Street, although export-related Tokyo stocks got a boost from a strengthening dollar.
Benchmarks rose in Tokyo but fell in Sydney, Seoul, Hong Kong and Shanghai.
The yen has weakened amid speculation that the Bank of Japan might go slowly on changing its lax policy stance as it assesses the impact of Monday’s major earthquake in central Japan.
The U.S. dollar rose to 145.23 Japanese yen from 144.63 yen. The euro fell to $1.0930 from $1.0947.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.3% to 33,377.42.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.9% to 16,490.92, while the Shanghai Composite sank 1% to 2,926.32.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed nearly 0.1% to 7,489.10. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.4% to 2,578.08.
A weak yen is a boon for Japanese exporters, like the automakers, because it boosts the value of their overseas earnings. Toyota Motor Corp. stock gained 2.5% while Honda Motor Co. added 2.2%.
“Sentiments are back on some wait-and-see, given that we may have to see a substantial weakening of the U.S. labor market to justify market pricing of a rate cut,” Yeap Jun Rong, a market analyst at IG, said in a commentary.
Wall Street stocks finished mixed, carrying the weak start for 2024 into a third day.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% to 4,688.68 and is on track for its first losing week in the last 10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a gain of less than 0.1%, to 37,440.34, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.6% to 14,510.30.
Walgreens Boots Alliance sank 5.1% after it nearly halved its dividend so it could hold onto more cash. That helped overshadow gains for airlines and cruise-ship operators, which recovered some of their sharp losses from earlier in the week. Carnival steamed 3.1% higher, and United Airlines got a 2.4% lift.
U.S. stocks have broadly regressed this week after rallying into the end of last year toward record heights. Critics said the market was due for at least a breather following its big run, which fed on hopes inflation has cooled enough for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates sharply this year.
Rate cuts give a boost to prices for stocks and other investments, while also relaxing the pressure on the economy and financial system. Treasury yields in the bond market have already eased since autumn on expectations for such cuts, releasing pressure on the stock market.
But Treasury yields rose Thursday following reports showing the job market may be stronger than expected. The economy is in a delicate phase where investors want it to remain solid, but not too hot.
A healthy job market is of course good for workers and stamps out worries about an imminent recession. But too much strength could prod the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates high because it could keep upward pressure on inflation. And the Fed has already hiked its main interest rate to the highest level since 2001.
One report from the U.S. government on Thursday showed fewer U.S. workers filed for unemployment benefits last week than expected. Another from ADP Research Institute said private employers accelerated their hiring last month by more than economists expected.
A more comprehensive report on the jobs market from the U.S. Labor Department will arrive on Friday. Economists expect that to show U.S. hiring slowed to 160,000 jobs last month from 199,000 in November.
Traders are betting the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by twice as much this year as the central bank has indicated. Wall Street is also thinking the first cut could come as soon as March, and a stronger-than-expected economy makes such predictions less realistic. Critics had already called them overly aggressive.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude added 45 cents to $72.64 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 32 cents to $77.91 a barrel.
Thailand’s LGBTQ+ community hopeful as marriage equality bill is set to be discussed in Parliament
BANGKOK (AP) — Naphat Krutthai and Rasithaya Jindasri have been in a committed relationship for eight years, but only now can they consider getting married.
In a clothing shop in Siam Square, a commercial hub in Thailand’s capital, the happy couple excitedly eyed multi-colored garments as they discussed their potential wedding. Naphat, a transgender man, and Rasithaya, a woman, want to formalize their union, as Parliament is set to debate Thursday a final Cabinet-endorsed draft bill to pass landmark legislation allowing members of the LGBTQ+ community to get married.
The bill seeks to amend the Civil and Commercial Code, changing the words “men and women” and “husband and wife” to “individuals” and “marriage partners.”
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin told reporters Tuesday after the Cabinet meeting that it will grant LGBTQ+ couples the “exact same equal rights” as heterosexual couples. This would make Thailand the first country in Southeast Asia to pass such a law and the third in Asia, after Taiwan and Nepal.
Naphat — or “Jim” as he’s known — said he and Rasithaya planned to register their marriage as soon as the law allowed it. As an advocate for trans rights himself, Naphat told The Associated Press, the anticipated change was not just a formality. A marriage certificate would allow LGBTQ+ couples a range of benefits, including healthcare and inheritance rights, that they have long been denied.
“It means a lot. This is the eighth year of our relationship. But our status isn’t legally recognized,“ he said. ”When either of us gets sick or has an emergency, we can’t take care of each other properly. So it really matters to us.”
Thailand has a global reputation for acceptance and inclusivity. In June, downtown Bangkok staged its annual Pride Parade. It drew tens of thousands in a joyous, hourslong party. Srettha, the premier, has said after he took office in August that he supported Thailand’s bid to be a host of World Pride in 2028.
But once the crowds disappeared and the music stopped, the reality of being LGBTQ+ in Thailand may be less rosy than it might look.
“I think what foreigners see isn’t the reality,” said Nattipong Boonpuang, a 32-year-old fortune-teller and model. “People aren’t actually as open to gender diversity as they may think,” he said, adding they sometimes receive negative comments in both real life and online.
Nattipong is also a member of the Bangkok Gay Men’s Chorus which was founded about a year ago.
What bound the chorus together, beyond their love of music, was a mission to advocate for more acceptance of LGBTQ+ people in Thailand, according to the chorus leader Vitaya Saeng-Aroon.
Vitaya said attitudes toward the LGBTQ+ community in Thailand have definitely improved in recent years, but there was still a long way to go for misconceptions and legal discrimination remained.
“We don’t want privileges. People misunderstand that we are calling for special treatment. Our community just wants fair treatment, on a daily basis,” he said.
Thailand has struggled to pass a marriage equality law.
Last year, members of Parliament debated several legal amendments to allow either marriage equality or civil unions, which did not give LGBTQ+ couples all of the same rights as heterosexual couples. None of the proposed bills passed before Parliament was dissolved for election.
However, this year, Vitaya said things look more promising with the new draft bill being “very progressive.” He hoped it would be approved so the rights of the LGBTQ+ community be finally recognized by law.
In May’s general election, marriage equality was a hot topic for both the ruling party Pheu Thai and the opposition’s Move Forward.
The latest bill appeared to have general support. But it still needs to be debated several times in Parliament before approval. Once passed, the country’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn would endorse it to become a law.
The government said the next step may be an amendment to the pension fund law to recognize all couples.
The change might mean a lot to those affected, but it would barely shake Thai society, according to one analyst. Attitudes toward marriage have changed, said Khemthong Tonsakulrungruang, a law lecturer at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University, and the law was simply catching up.
“There’s already cultural marriage — it’s not legal — but there’s cultural ceremonies, religious ceremonies between LGBTs,” he said. “It makes headlines sometimes, but it’s become more and more common for two persons, regardless of gender, to get married. So, it would reflect the change that has already been here … for years.”
More bodies found after sudden eruption of Indonesia's Mount Marapi, raising confirmed toll to 23
BATU PALANO, Indonesia (AP) — Rescuers searching the hazardous slopes of Indonesia’s Mount Marapi volcano found the last body of climbers who were caught by a surprise weekend eruption, raising the number of confirmed dead to 23, officials said Wednesday.
About 75 climbers started their way up the nearly 2,900-meter (9,480-foot) mountain in Agam district of West Sumatra province on Saturday and became stranded.
Some 52 climbers were rescued after the initial eruption Sunday, and 11 others were initially confirmed dead. New eruptions on Monday and Tuesday spewed more hot ash as high as 800 meters (2,620 feet) into the air, reducing visibility and temporarily halting search and recovery operations, said Abdul Malik, chief of the Padang Search and Rescue Agency.
The bodies of two climbers were located on Monday and nine more on Tuesday, the National Search and Rescue Agency said.
West Sumatra’s Police Chief Suharyono said the body of the last climber was found early Wednesday, just a few meters (yards) from the eruption site, bringing the death toll rise to 23.
The rescuers contended with bad weather and difficult terrain, along with winds that brought heat from the eruptions, while distraught relatives gathered at a relief post command in Batu Palano on the mountain slope, hoping for news of missing family members.
Twenty bodies had been taken to a hospital for identification by Wednesday morning, as more than 300 rescuers, including police and soldiers, struggled to bring the others down the mountain and search for the missing climber, said Suharyono who goes by a single name like many Indonesians.
Marapi has stayed at the third highest of four alert levels since 2011, indicating above-normal volcanic activity under which climbers and villagers must stay more than 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from the peak, according to Indonesia’s Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation.
Officially, climbers were only allowed below the danger zone and had to register at two command posts or online. However, local officials acknowledge that many people may have climbed higher than permitted.
Marapi spewed thick columns of ash as high as 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) in Sunday’s eruption and hot ash clouds spread for several kilometers (miles). Nearby villages and towns were blanketed by tons of volcanic debris that blocked sunlight, and authorities recommended that people wear masks to protect themselves from the ash.
About 1,400 people live on Marapi’s slopes in Rubai and Gobah Cumantiang, the nearest villages, about 5 to 6 kilometers (3 to 3.7 miles) from the peak.
Marapi is known for sudden eruptions that are difficult to predict because the source is shallow and near the peak, and its eruptions are not caused by a deep movement of magma, which sets off tremors that register on seismic monitors.
Marapi has been active since a January eruption that caused no casualties. It is among more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, which is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
Today in History: November 15, Sherman’s 'March to the Sea' brings Civil War closer to end
Today in History
Today is Wednesday, Nov. 15, the 319th day of 2023. There are 46 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Nov. 15, 1864, late in the U.S. Civil War, Union forces led by Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh (teh-KUM’-seh) Sherman began their “March to the Sea” from Atlanta; the campaign ended with the capture of Savannah on Dec. 21.
On this date:
In 1777, the Second Continental Congress approved the Articles of Confederation.
In 1806, explorer Zebulon Pike sighted the mountaintop now known as Pikes Peak in present-day Colorado.
In 1937, at the U.S. Capitol, members of the House and Senate met in air-conditioned chambers for the first time.
In 1942, the naval Battle of Guadalcanal ended during World War II with a decisive U.S. victory over Japanese forces.
In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt laid the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.
In 1959, four members of the Clutter family of Holcomb, Kansas, were found murdered in their home. (Ex-convicts Richard Hickock and Perry Smith were later convicted of the killings and hanged in a case made famous by the Truman Capote book “In Cold Blood.”)
In 1961, former Argentine President Juan Peron, living in exile in Spain, married his third wife, Isabel.
In 1966, the flight of Gemini 12, the final mission of the Gemini program, ended successfully as astronauts James A. Lovell and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. splashed down safely in the Atlantic after spending four days in orbit.
In 1969, a quarter of a million protesters staged a peaceful demonstration in Washington against the Vietnam War.
In 1984, Stephanie Fae Beauclair, the infant publicly known as “Baby Fae” who had received a baboon’s heart to replace her own congenitally deformed one, died at Loma Linda University Medical Center in California three weeks after the transplant.
In 2003, two Black Hawk helicopters collided and crashed in Iraq; 17 U.S. troops were killed.
In 2012, the Justice Department announced that BP had agreed to plead guilty to a raft of charges in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill and pay a record $4.5 billion, including nearly $1.3 billion in criminal fines.
In 2018, the number of confirmed dead from the wildfire that had virtually destroyed the Northern California town of Paradise reached 63. (It would eventually total 85.)
In 2019, Roger Stone, a longtime friend and ally of President Donald Trump, was convicted of all seven counts in a federal indictment accusing him of lying to Congress, tampering with a witness and obstructing the House investigation of whether Trump coordinated with Russia during the 2016 campaign.
In 2022, Russia pounded Ukraine’s energy facilities with its biggest barrage of missiles since the start of its invasion, striking targets across the country and causing widespread blackouts.
Today’s Birthdays: Singer Petula Clark is 91. Actor Sam Waterston is 83. Classical conductor Daniel Barenboim is 81. Pop singer Anni-Frid “Frida” Lyngstad (ABBA) is 78. Actor Bob Gunton is 78. Actor Beverly D’Angelo is 72. Director-actor James Widdoes is 70. Rock singer-producer Mitch Easter is 69. News correspondent John Roberts is 67. Former “Tonight Show” bandleader Kevin Eubanks is 66. Comedian Judy Gold is 61. Actor Rachel True is 57. Rapper E-40 is 56. Country singer Jack Ingram is 53. Actor Jay Harrington is 52. Actor Jonny Lee Miller is 51. Actor Sydney Tamiia (tuh-MY’-yuh) Poitier is 50. Rock singer-musician Chad Kroeger is 49. Rock musician Jesse Sandoval is 49. Actor Virginie Ledoyen is 47. Actor Sean Murray is 46. Pop singer Ace Young (TV: “American Idol”) is 43. Golfer Lorena Ochoa is 42. Hip-hop artist B.o.B is 35. Actor Shailene Woodley is 32. Actor-dancer Emma Dumont is 29.
Dozens of Chinese ships chase Philippine vessels as US renews warning it will defend its treaty ally
ABOARD THE BRP CABRA (AP) — As a U.S. Navy surveillance plane flew in circles, keeping a close watch, dozens of Chinese coast guard and accompanying ships chased and encircled Philippine vessels in the latest confrontation in one of the most dangerous flashpoints in the South China Sea.
At the height of Friday’s four-hour faceoff in the high seas, a Chinese coast guard ship blasted a water cannon toward a Philippine motorboat delivering food and other supplies to Filipino forces on a marooned, rusting warship that serves as the country’s fragile territorial outpost at Second Thomas Shoal.
China has steadfastly stood by its claim to virtually the entire strategic waterway, clashing with its smaller neighbors and drawing in the United States, Manila’s treaty ally and China’s main rival in the Asia-Pacific region. Washington and its allies have deployed navy ships and fighter aircraft to promote freedom of navigation and overflight, build up deterrence and reassure allies like the Philippines.
There are fears that the recurring confrontations at Second Thomas Shoal, which lies within the U.N.-sanctioned Philippine exclusive economic zone but is claimed by China and surrounded by its flotilla, could ignite an armed conflict pitting the U.S. against China. Philippine officials said Saturday they would never take any step that could ignite a larger conflict but would not be deterred in defending the country’s sovereign rights in the South China Sea.
Despite the Chinese blockades and coercive maneuvers, the Philippine contingent managed to deliver supplies to the handful of Filipino marines aboard the BRP Sierra Madre and left without incident. The slightly listing Philippine warship, donated by the U.S., has been crumbling with age but is still actively commissioned, meaning an armed attack would be considered by Manila as an act of war.
Two Associated Press journalists and several other members of the media who were invited on board three Philippine coast guard ships securing two supply boats witnessed the dangerous cat-and-mouse maneuvers in rough waves. It’s part of a shame campaign Philippine officials said they would press on to expose China’s growing aggression in one of the world’s most important trade routes.
Filipino forces would continue to adhere to the rule of law and would not be provoked by China’s strong-arm tactics, Philippine coast guard Commodore Tarriela said.
“Regardless how dangerous the maneuver that they’re going to throw at us, whether they use water cannon, whether they use military-grade laser, we are not going to allow them to make Philippine coast guard personnel on board our vessels to escalate the tensions,” Tarriela said.
At least 38 Chinese ships were spotted in Second Thomas Shoal’s vicinity on Friday, including a Chinese navy fast assault craft and a hospital ship, the Philippine coast guard said.
One of the Philippine coast guard ships, the BRP Cabra, was surrounded five times by the Chinese coast guard and other ships, but managed each time to move away until it was hemmed in near the shoal.
“We grow more confident each time we steer past through the Chinese blockades,” the Cabra’s commander, Emmanuel Dangate, told AP. “We feel all the more the need by all to follow the international regulations to prevent collisions.”
The campaign to expose China’s aggression at sea would continue, Tarriela said in a news conference, where photographs, video and drone shots of Friday’s confrontations were shown.
“I believe that our effort in transparency initiative has been very successful in rallying support from the international community to condemn the illegal actions of China and to make the Filipino people aware of what’s happening,” Tarriela said.
Washington reacted to Friday’s confrontation by repeating that it stands with its oldest ally in Asia “in the face of the People’s Republic of China’s repeated harassment in the South China Sea.”
The U.S. State Department renewed a warning that Washington is obligated to defend the Philippines under a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty if Filipino forces, public vessels or aircraft, including those of its coast guard ”face an armed attack “anywhere in the South China Sea.”
“The PRC’s actions are inconsistent with international law and follow a pattern of dangerous operational behavior in the South China Sea,” the State Department said in a statement. It cited a 2016 international arbitration decision that invalidated China’s expansive claims to the waterway on historic grounds, including Second Thomas Shoal.
China refused to participate in the arbitration, which was brought up by the Philippines in 2013, after Chinese ships took control and surrounded another disputed area, Scarborough Shoal. Beijing dismissed the 2016 ruling as a sham and continues to defy it.
A Philippine government task force said Friday that vessels belonging to China’s coast guard and its paramilitary maritime militia “recklessly harassed, blocked and executed dangerous maneuvers in another attempt to illegally impede or obstruct a routine resupply and rotation mission.”
China’s coast guard said it “followed the Philippines ships in accordance with the law, taking necessary control measures, and made temporary special arrangements for the Philippines side to transport food and other daily necessities,” spokesperson Gan Yu said in a statement.
It urged the Philippines to stop actions that infringe upon China’s rights and said China would continue to uphold its national sovereignty.
“China urges the Philippine side to immediately stop making trouble and provocation at sea and to tow away the illegal grounded vessel as soon as possible,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said at a briefing in Beijing.
China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a 10-nation bloc that includes the Philippines, have stepped up efforts to hasten negotiations for a nonaggression pact called a code of conduct that aims to prevent war from breaking out in the South China Sea. But the skirmishes at Second Thomas Shoal would likely continue on a regular basis with Chinese ships, including its navy, surrounding the shoal and the Philippines vowing to defend it at all cost and keep its forces there.
Last month, a Chinese coast guard ship and another vessel blocked then collided with a Philippine coast guard ship and a military-run supply boat near the shoal. China accused the Philippine vessels of trespassing in what it said were Chinese waters.
Filipino-Palestinians lead calls for peace in Gaza
What do beauty queen Gazini Ganados, actresses Agot Isidro and Dawn Zulueta, and basketball player Youssef Taha have in common?
They are Filipinos of Palestinian descent.
Ganados, who held the Miss Universe Philippines title in 2019, this week posted a photo of her father as he lay in a hospital bed in Gaza.
“I cannot remain silent in the face of the Israeli government’s attempt to seek revenge from innocent civilians for the terrorist attack. I will not remain silent about this genocide either specially that my family’s life depends on it,” she wrote in an Instagram post.
For his part, Taha posted the number of Palestinians killed, and declared “I stand with Palestine”.
Their many Filipino fans have voiced out support for them.
Elsewhere, demonstrations expressing Filipino solidarity with Palestinians have erupted in Manila and Marawi, as Israeli military attacks continue to be directed at Gaza Strip in the latest flare-up in the decades-long conflict over the occupied Palestinian territories.
A day after an Israeli attack on a Baptist hospital in Gaza drew widespread condemnation, activists assembled in Quezon City to denounce the attack.
Philippines and Palestine
This should come as no surprise as the Philippines has recognized the State of Palestine since September 1989, and Filipino and Bangsamoro organizations have forged links with Palestinians for decades now.
While the Philippines was the first Asian nation to recognize the State of Israel in 1947, the Manila government maintains its support for a two-state solution in the war-ravaged area. The country has also voted consistently in the United Nations in favor of Palestinian statehood and membership in the world body.
The Bangsamoro liberation movement led by the Moro National Liberation Front and later by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front have been known to back the Palestinians’ own national liberation struggle.
Progressive Filipino organizations have also long expressed political admiration to and moral support to the Palestinians.
Palestine has an ambassador in Manila, while the Philippine ambassador to Jordan also has concurrent jurisdiction over the State of Palestine.
Ambassador Wilfredo Santos, who holds the rank of Chief of Mission Class 1, the highest in the country’s foreign service, is among the three Filipino diplomats coordinating the rescue, safe passage and repatriation of Filipino workers and Filipino-Palestinians from Gaza.
Mandatory repatriation
According to government officials, four Filipinos have been confirmed to have died in the aftermath of the Hamas attack and amid the continuing Israeli response, with Manila ordering mandatory evacuation.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said that of the 131 Filipinos in Gaza, at least 78 are situated near the Rafah border crossing near Egypt while the rest left northern part, which is expected to be the main site of hostilities, according to a Philippine News Agency report.
That the Philippines has diplomatic relations with both Israel and Palestine presents a marked contrast with the United States, which only recognizes Israel.
Filipinos are friends with both Israelis and Palestinians. Historically, they are bound by common dreams of establishing their own nation-states, with the Philippines’ historic first Asian revolution against a colonial power that led to the setting up of Asia’s first republic inspiring many Asian nations to wage their own efforts towards independence.
The common religious heritage meanwhile is shared by the Bangsamoro and the Muslim-majority countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations like Brunei Darusallam, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Philippine stand on Palestine
Like a majority of the world’s countries, the Philippines backs a two-state solution to the Palestinian question.
In a statement before the United Nations General Assembly on May 25, 2021, then-Philippine envoy to the UN Enrique Manalo declared: “The Philippines has always expressed support for the creation of the State of Palestine living in peace and security with its neighbors. In this regard, the Philippines reaffirms its support for a two-state solution.”
Manalo, now the foreign secretary of the Philippines, said “The Philippines recognizes the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a key to the region’s peace and stability. The Philippines supports the peaceful implementation of all UN initiatives towards the resolution of the Middle East conflict, and supports all efforts to revive the Middle East Peace process articulated in the Quartet’s Roadmap to Peace.”
While Manila has strongly assailed the recent Hamas attack on Israel, the Philippine position is clear: “The Philippines enjoins the parties to bring a more intense focus on building trust and confidence. We also ask them to refrain from actions that could further incite violence. We encourage the parties to clearly demonstrate their resolve to pursue a just and lasting peace upon which the world, and not only their peoples, would undoubtedly benefit.”
“We call on all stakeholders, including the Middle East Quartet, to help negotiate the best possible diplomatic outcome,” said Manalo.
The stand of the Philippines for a two-state solution and for “the best diplomatic outcome” puts Filipinos in a moral high ground to demand attacks on all civilians and civilian infrastructure such as schools, hospitals and churches, and to secure Filipino nationals, Filipino-Israelis and Filipino-Palestinians.
Given the good Philippine record of welcoming refugees, it is not impossible that nationals of Israel and Palestine might seek refuge under the protection of the Philippines.
Israel is not starved of advocates in Manila. Fundamental Christians have offered prayers for Israel, while a ranking senator, Senate majority leader Joel Villanueva, has voiced strident support for Israel’s military response to Hamas.
Israel’s embassy in Manila has also invited columnists and key opinion leaders to a sit-down with West Jerusalem’s envoy to Manila.
We could only wish the families of Gazini Ganados and Youssef Taha in far-away Gaza would be safe, and together with others live freely and peacefully in the land called Palestine.
New Manila airport to open in 2028
The Philippine government this week announced that the new Manila international airport would be able to start operations as early as 2028.
Transport officials made the pledge days after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. made his second State of the Nation Address before a joint session of Congress.
Located in historic Bulacan province just north of Manila, the airport would have an initial annual capacity of 35 million passengers. Once fully complete, it would be able to handle 100 million passengers per year.
It would be connected to Metro Manila via rail, subway and toll roads, which are also currently under construction.
The new airport will have four parallel runways or twice the number of the aging airport.
Manila’s current airport, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, is one of the first and oldest in Asia, and has been dubbed among the worst airports in the world.
Prior to the pandemic, NAIA was handling an increasing number of passengers: 13 million in 2003, 20 million in 2007, 31 million in 2012, 39 million in 2016, and 47 million in 2019.
The number went down to 11 million in 2020 and 8 million in 2021 because of COVID19 restrictions.
A long-overdue upgrade
Costing P740-billion ($13.5-billion), the new airport is said to be the single biggest infrastructure project in Philippines history.
Heading the project is the San Miguel Corporation, one of the country’s biggest and oldest conglomerates.
SMC said it will include airfield facilities, terminal building, airport and airline support facilities, access roads, parking facilities, utilities, airport city, and other ancillary facilities.
Joining San Miguel in the project are global firms Groupe ADPi, Meinhardt Group and Jacobs Engineering.
SMC and transport officials report that land development of the airport site is now “70 to 75 percent completed” and construction of the runways and the terminal building could start late this year or early 2024.
Throwback
The runway in Manila’s current airport dates back to 1954, while the original terminal was built in 1956.
It was renamed from Manila International Airport to NAIA in 1987, in honor of Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., who was shot dead in 1983 upon his arrival from exile in the United States.
The present Terminal 1 was opened in 1982, but soon could not handle the increasing passenger and cargo capacities. Attempts to expand led to Terminal 2 opening in 1999, and Terminal 3 starting operations in 2014.
The original terminal, the oldest structure, is now known as Terminal 4.
A bus service connects passengers in between the four terminals. All four terminals share the two runways, leading to frequent delays at the tarmac.While the new airport is being built, the old one is set to undergo rehabilitation.
Challenges
Environment watchdogs and fisherfolk groups have assailed the new airport project as it already wiped out entire fishing communities and mangroves in the town of Bulakan, the project site.
Thousands of families have lost their homes and livelihood, with SMC offering some of them P250,000 ($4,500) to leave and relocate. The national government also dispatched soldiers to the area.
Although prohibited by law, a sizable portion of Bulacan’s mangrove forest and bird and biodiversity area had been destroyed as part of the land development for the airport.
The loss of the mangroves mean that Bulacan and the airport as well has lost a natural protection against storm surges and sea waves that occur during the annual typhoon season.
In 2022, President Marcos vetoed a bill seeking to grant SMC’s Airport City “special economic zone” privileges.
The government is also silent whether the old airport would be fully decommissioned and what would happen to the land it is located.
If sold, NAIA land would most probably be appraised as a high-value property as it is located near the business districts of Makati, Taguig and also Alabang.
It is also not known what will happen to Clark International Airport, the site of the former biggest American Air Base outside the continental U.S., and which is located in nearby Pampanga province.
Lamangan’s “Oras de Peligro” shines light on the past
Veteran director Joel Lamangan is not known to mince words, especially at this time when disinfomation and historical distortion apparently reigns in the Philippines.
Lamangan’s courage is matched only by his creativity, and his latest work “Oras de Peligro” (literally “time of peril” in Tagalog) in is a brave and beautiful contribution to efforts to compel people to remember, to think, and to take action.
Under Lamangan’s direction, the actors bring to life to a story of a family amid social unrest, with the face of economic hardship and state terror being all too real to hardworking, workingclass people.
Cherry Pie Picache, Allen Dizon and Therese Malvar lead Lamangan’s cast.
Joining them are Dave Bornea, Nanding Josef, Mae Paner, Allan Paule, Jim Pebanco, Apollo Abraham, Marcus Madrigal, Gerald Santos. Elora Espano, Rico Barrera, and Timothy Castillo.
Reviewers and critics have roundly praised the film ahead of the opening, applauding Lamangan, the cast, writers and crew. One reviewer even said “Oras de Peligro” could be the most powerful film of the decade.
At the advance screening, thunderous applause reportedly erupted as the film ended and the credits rolled.
In an interview at his Quezon City office the day before the movie opens, Lamangan appeared calm and composed.
“I’m actually quite anxious,” said Lamangan. “This would be in the hands of the people, whether it would be a success.”
He has a reason to feel that way as the film goes toe-to-toe with film by a upcoming yet notorious young director backed by the Marcos administration and a big movie producer.
“Big organizations are buying their tickets in bulk which they could give away for free. How much is a movie ticket nowadays? 350 pesos ($7)? 400 pesos ($8)?,” he lamented.
The minimum wage in Manila currently stands at 500 pesos ($10), and could be as low as half that amount in many provincial areas.
He says he could only hope ordinary folk would find a way to save some money to go see his movie.
“Oras de Peligro” is not produced by any of the country’s top producers, but by a pair of newbies in the field: Howard Calleja and Alvi Sionco.
Lamangan said it depends on how the movie fares if the likes of Calleja and Alvi Sionco would continue to invest in the popular Filipino medium.
Apart from screenings in cinemas across the Philippines, Lamangan says they are prepared to take “Oras de Peligro” to film festivals abroad and to countries where there are huge migrant Filipino populations.
But perhaps whatever Lamangan’s concerns may be for “Oras de Peligro” pale in comparison with his worry about the country’s situation.
“Just imagine, the former ruling family we Filipinos once deposed and forced to flee… They’re back, and they know that they have to change public attitudes towards them through melodramatic movies that at the same time tamper with history and misportray them as victims,” Lamangan said.
Boni Ilagan, one of the writers behind “Oras de Peligro” and himself a veteran of the anti-dictatorship resistance, has recently received death threats.
Now 70, Lamangan doesn’t look his age and he remains hopeful for Filipino filmmakers and their audiences. He is constant presence in fora and rallies for free expression and democracy.
A younger Lamangan took a stand alongside future National Artists Lino Brocka and Ishmael Bernal during the dark days of dictatorship.
“If they were still alive, I’m certain they would be vocal, especially Lino,” said Lamangan.
But if history is the guide, Brocka and Bernal ultimately won over the dictatorship, and we could only hope for the same victory for Lamangan and the other creative forces now fighting disinformation, historical distortion and illiberal “democracy” in the Philippines.
Marcos EDSA holiday
Marcos moves holiday marking father’s 1986 ouster
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. surprised Filipinos this week by belatedly declaring Friday February 24 a “special non-working holiday” to commemorate the 1986 EDSA People Power uprising. Marcos Jr.’s Proclamation No. 167 moved the February 25 holiday, which falls on a Saturday, to a day earlier “pursuant to holiday economics” that gives Filipinos time to enjoy long weekends for travel and leisure.
President Marcos’ holiday proclamation was released late in the day of Thursday, surprising the nation’s workers, and professional and business classes.
While many were relieved that Marcos did not remove or erase the holiday marking his father’s downfall, others complained about the belated timing of the proclamation. Many businesses and professionals only had a few hours to reset transactions and meetings meant to be done on Friday.
Little is known about any plans by President Marcos to personally lead the commemorations of the 1986 revolt that at the time inspired similar efforts in many other countries.
Most past presidents usually presided over commemorative programs at the EDSA People Power Monument at the corner of EDSA and White Plains, or at the EDSA Shrine.
What’s certain though is that groups led by the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan, New Patriotic Alliance) and Movement Against Tyranny would be holding a rally in the morning of Saturday, the actual anniversary, at the EDSA People Power Monument.
Many veterans of the anti-Marcos resistance in the 1970’s to the 1980’s are expected to attend the rally, including director Joel Lamangan whose new commemorative film “Oras de Peligro” (Hour of Danger) is set to be released on March 1. Victims of Marcos-time human rights violations had won a landmark class-action suit in the United States federal courts and had the decision codified into a Philippine law that likewise provided them compensation.
Marcos Jr. joined his family in 1986 i, fleeing to Hawaii where they stayed in exile and elder Marcos later died in 1989.
Upon his father’s demise, the future president became executor of the family estate and represented the family in corruption and ill-gotten lawsuits filed by the Philippine government.
Elsewhere, leaders and members of Congress are campaigning for amendments to the 1987 Constitution, a move not different from what the elder Marcos did in the early 1970s.
This time though, the younger Marcos has sought to distance himself from “charter change”, although it is his cousin, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, who is leading the efforts to turn amend the Constitution.
Other Marcos family members have also been elected: the president’s sister Imee is a senator, while his son Sandro is a Member of Congress. Marcos Jr. himself was a former governor and senator. Their mother used to be a Member of Congress.
Marcos Jr. roundly defeated foes in the 2022 race, including former vice president Leni Robredo whose political awakening occurred amid the resistance movement against the dictatorship.
Ahead of the anniversary, the Social Weather Station released the results of a new poll that said that six in 10 Filipinos believe the spirit of the uprising is “alive”.
Done from December 10 to 14, 2022, the poll showed that 62 percent of respondents believe that the spirit of the revolution is alive, and 37 percent say otherwise.
Inflation shoots up in the Philippines
The Philippines’ inflation rate has kept rising under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
From 6.9 percent in September, inflation ticked up to 7.7 percent in October, figures never experienced by Filipinos since December 2008.
When Marcos elected last May, inflation was at 5.4 percent. In his first month in office, inflation rose to 6.4 percent.
In response to extraordinary economic conditions, labor centers have called for wage hikes, and for emergency economic aid.
Michael Ricafort, chief economist at RCBC, said that the full reopening of the economy after the pandemic lockdowns should provide the economy the space and opportunity to “move up and forward.”
Normalizing and improving economic activity would produce jobs and business opportunities, and also expand the tax pool for government.
On possible new revenue measures, Ricafort recommends that “new taxes and higher tax rates need to be fair, equitable, and progressive, especially targeted at those that can afford them or those from the higher income brackets or those that at least do not add to the burden to the poor, the most vulnerable sectors, and those hit hard by the pandemic.”
Ricafort said the business community is confident of Marcos Jr.’s economic team led by finance secretary Benjamin Diokno, socio-economic planning secretary Arsenio Balisacan, central bank governor Felipe Medalla.
The three have served previous administrations in various capacities in the economic team, and already know what it takes to manage the economy, Ricafort said.
For economist Sonny Africa of the think-tank Ibon Foundation, rising inflation is the tip of the problem for working families.
Africa said that Marcos Jr. is in a state of denial over the dismal situation of Philippine agriculture and manufacturing, while it obsesses on how to make foreign creditors happy.
“Marcos Jr.’s state of the nation address was useful because we found out that he has no plan for the major sectors of the population,” Africa said.
Africa said that, for instance, Marcos Jr. has not acknowledged that majority of new jobs are part-time or non-durable jobs, and that 70 percent of families have no more savings left due to the continuing effects of the pandemic.
“As of May 2022, the Philippine unemployment rate is at 6 percent, followed by Indonesia (5.8 percent) and Malaysia (3.9 percent). Meanwhile, as of June 2022, the Philippines has the second highest inflation rate [in the region],” Ibon said.
“The shares of agriculture and manufacturing in the economy at 9.6 percent and 19.2 percent in 2021, respectively, are their smallest in history – in the case of manufacturing, in 70 years,” Ibon added.
For working families, the economy is obviously “in dire straits”, not “sound” as Marcos claimed it to be.
Marcos Jr. himself has chosen to be the officer-in-charge of the agriculture department, perhaps unable to find a suitable agriculture secretary.
He has also failed to appoint a health secretary as the nation reels from the coronavirus pandemic, and faces threats of a monkeypox outbreak.
Dr. JC Punongbayan of the University of the Philippines School of Economics said Marcos Jr. is aiming to continue macroeconomic stability and fiscal consolidation promoted by the past administrations.
“But we have heard only a lot of numbers, targets and assumptions from his economic managers. He is short on actual plans or how he intends to reach his targets,” Punongbayan said.
He said Marcos Jr. has also merely “copy-pasted” programs from past administrations, starting with the infrastructure spree “Build-Build-Build”.
Punongbayan meanwhile welcomed the new president’s pronouncements on energy and power. “We may have an energy crisis in 2027 when the Malampaya gas reserves run out.”
Rodrigo Duterte turned over to Marcos Jr. not just the presidency but a ballooning debt, which the country’s economic managers seek to prioritize to pare down, over all other economic matters.
The amount, P12.79 trillion, is the highest in the country’s history.
In his speech before Congress last month, Marcos Jr. said the government would impose a new tax on digital and online transactions.
But Punongbayan said Filipinos might resist a new tax if Marcos Jr. refuses to pay the P203-billion in overdue tax payments the Marcos family has long tried to evade.
That’s nearly 18 times the expected revenue from Marcos’ proposed new tax.
Ibon’s Africa adds that the composition and mindset of the economic team could be part of the problem.
“They are stuck in the same neoliberal mindset,” Africa said. “Bolder, progressive steps are urgently needed to assist Filipinos. Economic aid ranging from targeted assistance to fuel and wage subsidies, aid for micro, small and medium enterprises, and higher spending for social services and social protection should be the top priorities. Yes to a new tax on billionaires.”
Otherwise, Marcos Jr.’s economic agenda would be one of austerity for the public’s economic needs, and taxpayer-paid neoliberal guarantees for big business and creditors. That’s not any different from past administrations, and that would be a big disappointment for the 31 million who voted for him and have high hopes for change.
Philippines: Quake rocks Historic City of Vigan
More than a day after the magnitude 7.0 earthquake rocked the capital town of Bangued in Abra province, about 200 miles north of Manila, the scope of destruction is only becoming clearer.
While Filipinos are concerned about deaths and injuries, many are also worried that the earthquake rocked Vigan, home to one of the country’s UNESCO heritage sites.
Precious heritage properties and structures in the Historic City of Vigan, located in nearby Ilocos Sur province, were among those that sustained damages.
After initial inspection and assessment, provincial authorities identified twenty buildings and structures that have sustained damages due to the earthquake:
Among them are the Bantay Bell Tower; Bantay Church; St. Paul Cathedral and Bell Tower; heritage houses at Calle Crisologo, Bonifacio St., Diego Silang St., Gov. A. Reyes St. and General Luna St.; Cornelia Antonio Parel Heritage House; La Casa Blanca; Balay Para Hawaii; Syquia Mansion; Quema Mansion; Villa Angela Heritage House.
Also damaged were St. Stephen Church; St. Vincent Ferrer Church; St. John de Sahagun Church and Belfry; Candon City Museum or the Cariño House; Bessa Ancestral House; and the Rodriguez Ancestral House.
Photos from Ilocos Sur Provincial Tourism Development and Promotion Office
Heritage conservationists and local authorities have yet to fully assess the damages.
The National Historical Commission of the Philippines has promised to “help rehabilitate the damaged historic sites and structures, many of them have been part of the life of the people for centuries.”
Photos from Ilocos Sur Provincial Tourism Development and Promotion Office
“Most of these structures have been declared National Historical Landmarks and Important Cultural Properties, which are protected by the Heritage Law,” the NHCP said in a statement.
Vigan is an essential destination for local and foreign tourists who travel to the northern part of the Philippines.
“Established in the 16th century, Vigan is the best-preserved example of a planned Spanish colonial town in Asia. Its architecture reflects the coming together of cultural elements from elsewhere in the Philippines, from China and from Europe, resulting in a culture and townscape that have no parallel anywhere in East and South-East Asia,” said UNESCO in its 1999 decision inscribing the historic city as a heritage site.
UNESCO added: “Vigan is unique for having preserved much of its Hispanic colonial character, particularly its grid street pattern and historic urban lay out. Its significance also lies on how the different architectural influences are blended to create a homogenous townscape.”
There’s really nothing like Vigan anywhere else in the Philippines. Intramuros, the old Walled City of Manila, could be considered only a far second. Apart from the actual walls, San Agustin Church and Fort Santiago, Intramuros does not have any well-preserved homes or cobblestone streets dating back to the time of Spanish conquest.
More than 800 aftershocks had been recorded after the July 27 temblor, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
It is not yet known if the Marcos administration would provide appropriations for the restoration and rehabilitation of Vigan’s heritage sites, alongside the relief for earthquake victims.
Considering that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. highlighted the role of tourism in economic recovery and that he hails from the Ilocos region, it should be a good idea for him to order his economic managers and cabinet to include rehabilitation in the proposed 2023 national budget his administration is set submit to Congress.
U.S.-TRAINED OFFICIALS DOMINATE MARCOS JR. CABINET
New president, new direction?
Almost immediately after he won the May 9 elections, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. received a congratulatory call from President Biden.
“Biden underscored that he looks forward to working with the President-elect to continue strengthening the U.S.-Philippine Alliance,” said the White House.
Biden also sent a delegation to witness Marcos Jr.’s June 30 inauguration, led by Second Gentlemen Douglas Emhoff and included Virginia Rep. Bobby Scott, the chair of the House education and labor committee.
After six years of mostly pro-China rhetoric under Rodrigo Duterte, Washington may really be trying to restore and reinvigorate the so-called “special relationship” between the former colonizer and its former lone colony in Asia.
Marcos Jr. may also be reciprocating the American overtures.
The new president has appointed U.S.-educated officials to his cabinet and administration:
Marcos Jr.’s pick for finance secretary is Benjamin Diokno. He obtained his Master of Arts in Political Economy from the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and his Ph.D. in Economics from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York.
Diokno served as central bank governor under Duterte, after initially occupying the post of Duterte’s budget secretary, the same post he held under Joseph Estrada’s administration 20 years ago.
Marcos Jr. tapped Arsenio Balisacan as socio-economic planning secretary. This will be his second stint in the post, first serving there under the Benigno Aquino III administration. He holds a Ph.D. Economics from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
To replace Diokno as central governor, Marcos Jr. appointed Felipe Medalla, who obtained his Ph.D. in Economics at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
Medalla had been the dean of the University of the Philippine School of Economics, the bulwark of neoliberal economics in the country.
Marcos Jr. named Susan Ople as the migrant workers secretary.
Ople is the youngest daughter of Blas Ople, the dictator Marcos’ long-time labor minister and architect of the country’s labor export program. She has a master’s degree in public administration at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
Ivan Uy, a Humphrey fellow of the University of Minnesota, is the new science and technology secretary.
For national security adviser, Marcos Jr. chose Clarita Carlos, a Fulbright Visiting Fellow for Political Psychology at Cornell University, and Fulbright Senior Scholar for Comparative Foreign Policy Analysis at the University of California in Los Angeles.
Carlos was the first female president of the National Defense College of the Philippines, which was originally conceptualized by U.S. military advisors in the 1950’s as a war college to serve the anti-communist and pro-U.S. Southeast Asia Treaty Organization.
For chief presidential legal counsel, Marcos Jr. appointed Juan Ponce Enrile. Enrile obtained his Master of Laws from Harvard.
Enrile is a most enduring face of Philippine politics. He was defense minister of the dictator Marcos and chief implementer of his martial law edicts for years, before he turned his back and begged for civilian support for an uprising in 1986. It came to be known as People Power.
Marcos Jr. also named his buddy Anton Lagdameo as special assistant to the president. Lagdameo obtained his Bachelor of Business Administration from the the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
These U.S.-educated officials could be dependable U.S. allies from within the Marcos Jr. administration, be it in economic or security issues. They are joined by appointees for defense secretary and armed forces chief-of-staff, two major posts that promote U.S. national and international security doctrines.
Most other appointees to the Marcos Jr. cabinet and administration are highly-educated, many of them graduating with Latin honors or have postgraduate degrees from the Philippines’ top universities and non-U.S. foreign schools.
Marcos Jr. may be making up for his reputation as a non-degree holder. The most he accomplished in his stay at Oxford was a special diploma, which the university has repeatedly clarified was not a degree.
Exactly how Marcos Jr., who has not earned a bachelor’s degree, managed to enroll at Penn’s Wharton supposedly for a masters degree in business administration, nobody knows. He did not finish it.
To be fair, Marcos Jr. is not the first non-degree holder to become Philippine president. Emilio Aguinaldo and Estrada were ahead of him.
The new Philippine government is still taking shape, with Marcos yet to make appointments to such posts as the departments of health and energy.
At this time, foreign powers are trying to befriend the new administration.
Apart from the U.S., China also eagerly congratulated Marcos Jr. and sent the vice president to his inauguration. China is nearest geographically and — no thanks to Duterte — tied to a lot of portions of recent Philippine debt and economic programs.
The head of the European Union has also invited Marcos to visit Brussels.
Emhoff, Biden’s representative at the inaugural, personally handed Marcos Jr. Biden’s formal letter of invitation for the new Philippine president to visit the U.S., according to Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez.
What Marcos Jr. will do next and which country he will visit first could be an indication of his foreign policy priorities. ###
Protest erupts in Bangladesh over water shortage
DHAKA, BANGLADESH (JULY 2, 2022) (AAVN – ACCESS ALL)
People marched in the Bangladeshi capital on Saturday, July 2, to protest water shortages in the country.
During the demonstration, protestors marched, chanted slogans and held banners such as “Stop India’s water aggression” in Dhaka.
Although flooding has become a routine annual affair in Bangladesh, more than half of its rivers have become unnavigable and many more have vanished, affecting the livelihood of millions in the South Asian nation.
Out of 405 rivers dotting the geography of Bangladesh located at the delta, only 172 are currently navigable, according to officials. There are 57 trans-boundary rivers, including 54 common with India, and the remaining three with Myanmar.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency on June 10, River and Delta Research Centre (RDRC) Chairman Mohammad Azaz said that many rivers in Bangladesh have vanished in the last 50 years while many others lost navigability.
According to the group, there were a total of 1,274 rivers in Bangladesh in 1971, when the country gained independence. Since then, a total of 507 have vanished.
“Three mighty rivers – the Ganges, Jamuna (Brahmaputra), and Meghna – flow across Bangladesh and end in the Bay of Bengal. So any river control initiative taken upstream of the three mighty rivers will affect Bangladesh,” said Azaz.
He said that rivers in Bangladesh have vanished due to the effect of the Farakka Barrage – an 18-kilometer (11-mile) barrage built on the Ganga River in the Indian state of West Bengal, bordering Bangladesh.