Editor
View this author's profilePosts by Editor
How the Philippines’ new strongman romped into office despite a shocking campaign
May 10, 2016
Written by Pauline Eadie. Mayor Rodrigo Duterte of Davao City in Mindanao is now president elect of the Philippines. His path to the presidency was controversial, riddled with expletives and reduced his detractors to mud slinging and comparisons with Hitler. But the mud failed to stick: with almost all precincts reporting, he looked to have …
The Coming Uncertainty: Philippine Elections
May 6, 2016
Written by Richard J. Heydarian. In coming days, the Philippines is set to elect a new roster of leaders. This is, arguably, the Southeast Asian country’s most important presidential election in recent memory, with potentially far-reaching implications in both domestic and foreign policy realms. In what has turned out as one of the most unpredictable …
Electioneering in the Promised Land: Payatas Dumpsite 2016
Written by Carmilita Morante. I am a community organizer in Lupang Pangako (literal translation ‘Land of Promise’) a scavenging community in Barangay Payatas, Quezon City (part of Metro Manila), host to the biggest open dumpsite in the Philippines. For five years now I have worked in the community and been exposed to the struggle against …
What Brexit would mean for relations between India and the UK
May 5, 2016
Written by Paul James Cardwell and Navajyoti Samanta. Much of the debate about Britain’s impending referendum on membership of the European Union so far has focused on external trade and the UK’s standing in the world. President Barack Obama intervened to say that the UK would not find new trade deals easy to conclude, even with …
The Federal Alternative: Will Rodrigo Duterte clinch the presidency? Part II
Written by Erwin S. Fernandez. How can one explain the Duterte phenomenon? Firstly Duterte provides an option in which security of persons and property is guaranteed in an environment where they are taken for granted and the rule of law is followed only at the whims and caprices of authorities. Second, Duterte managed to ride …
The Federal Alternative: Will Rodrigo Duterte clinch the presidency? Part I
May 4, 2016
Written by Erwin S. Fernandez. Grace Poe’s citizenship and ten-year residency were legitimated in the heat of judicial bias. As a Pangasinan, I do not consider her a daughter of Pangasinan as her spindoctors would like to project her to Pangasinan voters. Mar Roxas will only continue a standard of incompetence that is the trademark …
A Family Business: The Rise & Fall of the Roxas Dynasty
May 3, 2016
Written by Elliot Newbold With little under a week to go until the Philippine presidential elections, the stage is set for something of a political upset. Currently, the outlandish mayor of Davao City, Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte, holds the lead as the candidate most likely to succeed Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III at Malacañang Palace. Despite brazenly …
Murder of LGBTQ+ editor highlights danger facing all rational voices in Bangladesh
April 28, 2016
Written by Ibtisam Ahmed. The murder of Xulhaz Mannan, the founder and editor of Bangladesh’s first and only LGBTQ+ magazine, Roopban, has drawn the world’s attention to the violence directed against the country’s outspoken supporters of equal rights. His death at the hands of six assailants sent a wave of fear through the community, and …
Hardman Rodrigo Duterte closes in on the Philippine presidency
April 27, 2016
Written by Pauline Eadie. As the Philippines careers towards the May 2016 presidential elections, it looks as if one of the country’s toughest politicians may be about to sweep to power. Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte is currently leading in the polls despite a series of outlandish and outrageous remarks – most recently, a vow to kill …
Philippines 2016: Election Day is All Souls Day
April 26, 2016
Written by Kevin H.R. Villanueva. Politics is performance and the Philippine presidential election is a stage. Binay, Duterte, Roxas, Poe and Defensor-Santiago will each play many parts: they will tap into our deepest desires, draw out our dissatisfactions and lay bare our discords as a people. They will have their exits and their entrances. And …
