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southeastasianists · 1 month ago

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The ex-president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, could soon become the first Asian former head of state to be tried at The Hague.

The populist politician was arrested on Mar. 11, 2025, after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant relating to his “war on drugs.”

Some 6,000-plus people were killed during the crackdown. But despite the controversy surrounding his policies and the end of his presidency in 2022, Duterte remains an influential figure.

The Conversation U.S. turned to Lisandro Claudio, an expert on Philippine politics and history at the University of California, Berkeley, to explain how the arrest could impact domestic politics and whether this could mean the end of Duterte’s sway.

What do we know about the arrest and charges?

The arrest warrant issued by the ICC states that Duterte is charged with crimes against humanity relating to events that happened between Nov. 1, 2011, to Mar. 16, 2019. This is important as it covers a period not just when Duterte was president but also when he was mayor of Davao City – the richest city in the island of Mindanao.

Duterte went on to serve as president from 2016 to 2022, but he pulled the country out of the Rome Statute, the treaty that set up the ICC, in 2019. Nonetheless, the ICC says the alleged crimes fall within their jurisdiction as they were carried out before the Philippines ended its relationship with the ICC.

Duterte is alleged to have overseen the systemic use of murder, torture and rape against civilians.

He is accused of acting as the de facto leader of the Davao Death Squad, a group that was responsible for summary executions and the murder or disappearance of more than 1,000 people in and around the city. But importantly, the prosecution is also of Duterte’s nationalization of the strategy of death squads. On coming to power, he incorporated the “war on drugs” into the policy of the national police.

Based on the way the ICC warrant was written and reporting in the Philippines, it appears that former members of the Davao Death Squad and police officers may be testifying for the prosecution, including, it is thought, hit man-turned-whistleblower Edgar Matobato and ex-Davao City police officer Arturo Lascañas.

What role did the government play in the arrest?

Duterte’s arrest and rendition, for want of a better word, to the Netherlands appears to have taken place with the cooperation of the Philippine government.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., the man who succeeded Duterte, held a press conference following the arrest in which he explained that despite no longer being part of the Rome Treaty, the Philippines is committed to supporting the International Criminal Police Organization, or Interpol. And it was Interpol that asked Manila to enforce the warrant after receiving it from the ICC.

The indication from Marcos was that the Philippine government had no choice but to comply with Interpol for two reasons. First, it is the expected behavior of a democratic nation to comply with international norms, and second, Interpol has helped the Philippines arrest fugitives in the past – including former mayor and suspected Chinese spy Alice Guo.

In short, Marcos is saying it is in the national interest to comply with the ICC arrest warrant.

Is it in President Marcos’ political interests, too?

The Philippines can’t dictate to the ICC when to issue a warrant, or to whom.

And it appears ICC prosecutor Karim Khan requested the warrant on Feb. 10, so the timing wasn’t determined by Marcos.

But that isn’t to say that it isn’t fortunate timing.

There is an important midterm election in May, and Marcos is keen to use it to consolidate his power amid an ongoing feud with Vice President Sara Duterte – the daughter of the now-arrested former president.

In 2022, Sara Duterte and Marcos ran on the same ticket for vice president and president. But this coalition between two family dynasties – Bongbong Marcos is the son of former Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos and still powerful matriach of the family, Imelda – broke down rather quickly.

Fighting between Sara Duterte and Martin Romualdez, the speaker of the House of Representatives and a cousin of President Marcos, strained the relationship.

But beyond the personality issues, there has been a divergence in policy between the Dutertes and Marcoses. Notably, under Marcos Jr., the Philippines has pivoted back to the U.S. by allowing American troops back into the country and taking a more aggressive stance in regards to China in the South China Sea.

This approach has been challenged by the Duterte family, which has been closer to China. In the first year of the Marcos administration, Rodrigo Duterte served as a sort of envoy to Beijing, although it became increasingly clear that this was more of an independent relationship between the former president and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

So could this be the end of Duterte’s influence?

That is certainly what President Marcos may be banking on.

The ICC prosecution of the father paired with a forthcoming impeachment of the daughter will neuter the Duterte clan’s power.

The reason this is so important for Marcos is that Sara Duterte has made it clear she wants to be the next president, and given the ill feeling between the two, there is a widespread assumption that if in power she will go after various members of the Marcos family.

With Duterte busy defending his case in The Hague, he will be unable to focus his efforts on helping his senator choices get elected in the midterms. It will also, presumably, end his bid to return as mayor of Davao City – a position that would give him a powerful bully pulpit.

No one should underestimate the charisma of Rodrigo Duterte; he is like a Donald Trump figure in that way. Many critics don’t fully understand the power of his charisma, his humor and the warmth that he displays to supporters – but it propelled him to high levels of popularity while in power.

And the public doesn’t see that charisma in his three children, including current Vice President Sara Duterte. Part of this is due to sexism – there is a lot of sexism in Filipino politics, so people are more likely to support a brash-talking man like Rodrigo Duterte, compared with his daughter. And Sara Duterte has problems of her own – notably the impeachment charges relating to alleged corruption while she was secretary of education.

Could this lead to a more polarized politics?

Your guess is as good as mine here. In the short run, the arrest of Rodrigo Duterte is clearly very good for President Marcos. And the small scale of the pro-Duterte protests suggest no great uprising against the arrest.

But what happens next – and how it is reported – is crucial. Filipinos love a political martyr. We saw this when former President Joseph Estrada was arrested and prosecuted over stealing public money in 2001 – his mughshot was adopted by supporters around the country. The same could happen to Duterte – it could go both ways.

#Southeast Asia #Philippines #Rodrigo Duterte #ICC #War on Drugs

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catdotjpeg · 9 months ago

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LOOK: Multisectoral groups marched along Commonwealth Avenue earlier today as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivered his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) at the Batasang Pambansa to assail his failed promise of a Bagong Pilipinas [trans. New Philippines]. For the groups, Marcos’s Bagong Pilipinas is a grand sham. Amid promises of better living conditions, 46 percent of Filipinos rated their families as food poor—the highest since 2008—according to the latest survey of Social Weather Stations. “[H]inaharap [ng ating mga kababayan] ang realidad na mataas ang presyo ng mga bilihin, lalo na ng pagkain—lalo’t higit, ng bigas,” said Marcos in his speech earlier, affirming bleak realities on the ground. On top of a cost of living crisis are poverty wages that fail to meet the family living wage of P1,190, as estimated by economic think tank IBON Foundation, the P35 wage hike in the National Capital Region (NCR) enacted last week was dismissed as an “insult to minimum wage workers” by Leticia Castillo of human rights alliance Defend NCR. Such wage hike is far from the P150 raise being lobbied in Congress by labor groups under the National Wage Coalition. Castillo also decried the persistence of red-tagging and vilification of activists perpetrated by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict. From July 2022 to June 2024, 3,419,044 cases of threat, harassment, and intimidation were recorded by human rights group Karapatan. The number of political prisoners also climbed to 755 as of last month. These human rights violations run contrary to Marcos’s establishment of a Special Committee on Human Rights, which was labeled “toothless” by Human Rights Watch. Marcos’s claim of a bloodless drug war is also inconsistent with the 359 drug-related killings—34.3 percent of which were committed by state agents—recorded during his second year in office by research project Dahas. Moreover, despite claims of an independent foreign policy, the Philippines under Marcos remains dependent on the US and its unequal treaties, said Liza Maza of MAKABAYAN. Last year, Marcos announced the creation of four new US military bases in the country under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement with the US. Such treaties with the US have been criticized for intensifying tensions with China and the broader Indo-Pacific region. Clarice Palce of Gabriela and Ronnel Arambulo of Pamalakaya raised their worries of the Philippines being dragged into a stand off between two global superpowers which will only worsen the poor living conditions of Filipinos. The program ended with a symbolic destruction of the effigies of Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte. The broken UniTeam will be challenged by the Makabayan Coalition which will field a complete senatorial slate including ACT Teachers Party-list Representative France Castro and Gabriela Women’s Party Representative Arlene Brosas in the 2025 midterm elections. Photos by AJ Dela Cruz, Marcus Azcarraga, Audrey Sanchez, and Sarah Gates

-- Philippine Collegian, 22 Jul 2024 9:45pm PHT

#philippines #anti imperialism #human rights #labor rights #political prisoners #palestine

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 3 months ago

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Steve Brodner

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MONDAY JANUARY 20 WAS THE DARKEST DAY IN OUR HISTORY

TCinLA

Jan 21, 2025

As Asawin Suebsaeng wrote in Rolling Stone yesterday, “This is a scenario that we were raised and taught in our schools to believe was not practically or legally possible in our time. This is, we were assured at school, something that occurs in Europe, especially in bygone decades of empire, world wars, and global cold war. Maybe it’s something that unfolds during the democratic backsliding of Latin American nations, particularly the poorer ones. The Middle East. The Philippines. Other places we can’t locate on a map without cheating or a hint, and in countries and regions we can barely deign to pronounce correctly.

“Not here. At least that’s what we were told again, and again, and again, and then again.”

Monday evening, ConvictedFelon34 granted sweeping pardons to nearly all of the convicted January 6 insurrectionists and conspirators, commuting the sentences of 14 of those serving the longest sentences on the most serious charge: seditious conspiracy.

Harry Litman wrote this morning: “The pardons are vile, vicious, and despicable. They are the most flagrant show of disrespect and tyranny toward the country by any president in our history. If they are not strongly repudiated by history, it will mean that the country has been lost.” Litman then posted, “I cannot think of a remotely similar betrayal of country by a sitting president,” and served it up as a question to Heather Cox Richardson, who quickly replied, “I got nothing. This is huge.”

It is indeed huge. It’s enormous.

No other act of treason to the Constitution by any elected official other than the acts of treason by the Southern Traitors 164 years ago comes close. This is the equivalent of the attack on Fort Sumter in April 1861. The only days that could possibly have been worse if they happened would have been the Germans defeating the Normandy Invasion, the Confederacy winning the Civil War, or the British defeating the Revolution. This is right up there with Julius Caesar’s attack on the Roman Republic.

The convicted felon who brought the seditionists and traitors to Washington to block congressional recognition that the worthless piece of shit really had lost the 2020 election, who attempted a coup against the government he led, was indicted by Special Prosecutor Jack Smith on multiple charges for his acts in furtherance of the conspiracy he organized (only escaping trial and conviction by an unconstitutional ddecision granting him immunity as president, by the traitors he appointed to the Unsupreme Court), who spent the past four years extolling these traitors and seditious insurrectionists as “hostages” rather than the convicted criminals they are, demonstrated within hours of his desecration of the Oath of Office what a lie it was when he swore he would “protect and defend the Constitution,” granted pardons to his willing soldiers.

ConvictedFelon34 also ordered the Department of Justice to drop pending prosecutions of any of the January 6 traitors still facing prosecution, “with prejudice to the government,” meaning there is no possibility of ever bringing those cases again. This is an extraordinary and unprecedented interference with the DOJ’s independence, foreshadowing how things will be with the DOJ being run from the White House in accordance with the whims of this demented madman, this twisted psychopath.

Compounding his treason, ConvictedFelon34 then officially appointed Missouri Republican Ed Martin as interim United States Attorney for Washington D.C. The long-time MAGA activist was a leading member of “Stop The Steal” in the 2020 election, and an advocate over the past four years for the convicted insurrectionists. On January 6, 2021, he gave a speech at ConvictedFelon34's pre-insurrection rally exhorting all “real Americans” to work to “stop the steal.” He tweeted that the crowd was “rowdy but nothing out of hand.” He also tweeted that the situation was “like Mardi-Gras today - love, peace and joy.” He was on the board of the Patriot Freedom Project, which raised money at events held on Trump properties where ConvictedFelon34 spoke in support.

This morning, Martin stood on the steps of the Federal Courthouse in D.C. and announced to a crowd of MAGAts that he had officially withdrawn all pending charges against those facing trial and those who had been recently convicted of crimes including assault on police officers.

The acts of clemency from ConvictedFelon34 brought full circle the conspiracy to subvert the 2020 election and hold on to power regardless of the election results. The act of treason on January 6, 2021, was a neither a beginning nor an end but rather an inflection point in his long- running, fantastical, Big Lie and his assault on this country. He intends to make every American pay for those years spent with his nose pressed against the glass door that would never be opened to him, giving access to civilized society for a crimnal.

Among those freed were former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, both convicted of Seditious Conspiracy and sentenced to long terms in prison. Last night, Rhodes was seen leaving prison.

These pardons and commutations will now reinvigorate the paramilitary right-wing extremist groups and other long-marginalized figures who see ConvictedFelon34 as the their leader and inspiration. A group of Proud Boys returned to DC on Inauguration Day and were seen marching in the streets before the pardons were issued, shouting “Whose streets? Our streets!”

These people will now be even more loyal to the traitor who kept his word to pardon them. They are the foundation of his private MAGAt Army, the paramilitary force all fascists organize to turn loose on the country they have stolen, to enhance their power. Think the Nazi Brown Shirts, the SS, and the Italian Fascist Black Shirts. These are ConvictedFelon34's thugs who will go after any “enemy” he designates.

As historian of Fascist Authoritarian movements Ruth Ben-Ghiat explained, by pardoning the seditionists, “Trump’s not just trying to keep people loyal to him. He’s also letting elites and his base know that any future violence they plan or commit in the interests of returning or keeping him in power will be forgiven.”

We knew the pardons were coming, because Trump told us over and over that he would free the rioters he incited to attack the Capitol. But too many Americans still seem to believe that It Can’t Happen Here - or they actively want it to happen.

When he launched his re-election campaign at a rally in Waco, Texas, two years ago, ConvictedFelon34 stood with his hand on his heart as a recording of the so-called “J6 Prison Choir” was played, singing the movement’s anthem, “Justice for All.”

“Our people love those people,” he declared at Waco. “If I run and if I win, we will treat those people from January 6 fairly. ... And if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons, because they are being treated so unfairly.”

So, it wasn’t a surprise. But it was so bad that even some in ConvictedFelon34's inner circle were shocked at the breathtaking scope of the jailbreak. His advisors had urged him to conduct a case-by-case review to weed out the most violent of the rioters. Vice President CorporalCouchfucker launched the trial balloon, saying “If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned.” Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi and Republican lawmakers including Senator Thom Tillis condemned rioters who attacked police. Back in November, even Trump insisted that he wouldn’t issue a blanket pardon, telling Time magazine in his “Person of the Year” interview that: “I’m going to do case-by-case, and if they were nonviolent, I think they’ve been greatly punished.”

But that turned out to be bullshit.

When MAGA reacted negatively to CorporalCouchfucker’s announcement, ConvictedFelon34 immediately dropped the idea, uncaring as usual about throwing his supporters under the bus.

Since January 6, 2021, the DOJ has obtained more than 718 guilty pleas, including 213 defendants who pleaded guilty to felonies including seditious conspiracy and assaulting federal officers. Another 171 defendants were convicted of similar crimes in trials. 387 of them assaulted police or members of the media. 289 committed less violent or non-violent felonies like “federal rioting, property destruction, and firearms counts.”

So, who are these traitors?

Julian Khater used a can of bear spray to attack Capitol Police officers who were trying to hold the line against attackers. One of the officers Khater sprayed was Brian Sicknick, who died the next day after suffering a stroke. Last year, Khater pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon, and earlier this year he was sentenced to more than six years in prison.

Brian Christopher Mock bragged that he “beat the s--- out of a police officer,” according to someone who spoke with the FBI. Mock, who was wielding a baton as a weapon, was sentenced to 33 months in prison and another two years of supervised release for a total of six felonies, including obstructing police officers during a civil disorder, and four counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers.

Peter Stager, sentenced to 52 months in prison for assaulting a Capitol police officer with a flagpole, declared in a video taken during the insurrection that “every single one of those Capitol law enforcement officers, death is the remedy, that is the only remedy they get.”

Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was convicted of seditious conspiracy.

Daniel “DJ” Rodriguez was sentenced to 12 years in prison for driving a stun gun into the neck of police officer Michael Fanone during the most vicious clash outside the Capitol. After his sentencing, an unrepentant Rodriguez shouted “Trump won!” as he left the courtroom

Ralph Joseph Celentano III, who grabbed an officer at the Capitol and threw him over a ledge, an act the judge described in his trial as a “truly cowardly and despicable thing to do,” was sentened to 78 months in prison.

Ronald Colton McAbee, an off-duty sheriff’s deputy, grabbed the leg of a fallen police officer and dragged him toward the mob. McAbee was wearing reinforced knuckle gloves, and when another officer tried to help his downed colleague, McAbee swung at the officer’s head and body. Videos captured the scene showed that he then lifted the first downed officer and they both slid down a set of steps, with McAbee falling on top of the officer, who was hospitalized.” McAbee was sentenced to 70 months in prison.

Vincent J. Gillespie grabbed a riot shield from police and can be seen in footage using the stolen shield to ram law enforcement officers while “screaming ‘traitor’ more than once and ‘treason,’ as he points to a law enforcement officer.” A federal judge sentenced him to 66 months in prison for assaulting, resisting or impeding officers; civil disorder; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building.

Peter Schwartz, armed with a wooden tire knocker, assaulted police with a chair and chemical spray. After the attack on the Capitol, he boasted in a text message that he had thrown “the first chair at the cops,” bragging, “I started a riot.” Prosecutors noted Schwartz had nearly 40 prior convictions for assaults and threats to officers. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison for assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers using a dangerous weapon; interfering with a law enforcement officer during a civil disorder; obstruction of an official proceeding; disorderly conduct; and commission of an act of violence on Capitol grounds.

Ryan Samsel’s “violent attacks on the police on Jan. 6, 2021, were widely seen as the tipping point in the storming of the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.” Samsel was one of the first insurrectionists to push through the barricades and overrun police resistance. He was convicted of federal assault charges last month and was awaiting sentencing in June before the charges were dropped this morning.

Former New York cop Peter Webster was “seen repeatedly pushing at the barricades and then swinging a flagpole at Officer Noah Rathbun before shoving through the police line and tackling the officer.” He was sentenced to 10 years for charges including assault on a law enforcement officer with a deadly or dangerous weapon.

In addition to pardoning traitors, ConvictedFelon34 signed an executive order revoking the security clearances of 51 former intelligence officials who signed a 2020 letter arguing that emails from a laptop belonging to Hunter Biden carried “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation,” and that of his former national security adviser John Bolton.

Another executive order allows quick removal of top immigration court officials, who would be most likely to oppose the plans of Reincarnation of Reinhard Heydrich Stephen Miller.

The way that MAGA Republicans portray Democrats as all-powerful traitorous conspirators always carries some cognitive dissonance but rarely as much as yesterday, as shown by Marjorie Traitor Goon’s post on Xitter (That’s pronounced “shitter”): "These people would line us up in front of a firing squad & kill us if they could. We know exactly who the Democrats are ... Democrats, until you start writing big checks to Republicans & start voting Republican ... then we can start talking about unity."

They want a war. Here.

It not only Can Happen Here, it is Happening Here.

TCinLA

#TCinLA #MAGA promises #criminal behavior #rule of law

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mielwriting · 9 months ago

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I'm all for the support/boycott of Hoyoverse over the Natlan issue but... When does it end? What's the end goal of all of this? For Hoyo to say "We screwed up" and to make the skin tones of the Natlan playable characters darker? And that brings up the quest of HOW dark should each character be. What's the "correct" skin tone?

(I know this post is about fictional characters but I did talk more about real-life horrors in this post. Be warned).

Yes, the goal IS for Hoyo to make the Natlan’s characters skin tones darker. And also for their clothes and accessories to look more culturally accurate and less like a Spirit Halloween (though I realize whole new character designs are much harder than just making the skin darker. Especially in the 6 week deadline).

That said. My country is facing a very real threat to democracy in 4 months, and millions will die if Trump is elected.

And that’s just MY country. Many countries around the globe have seen a spike in wannabe-autocrats becoming leaders (Italy, India, Philippines, Argentina, etc). Not to mention the worldwide trend of Islamophobia.

Most recently, there’s the student-led protests in Bangladesh that aren’t getting enough attention.

Representation is important. I firmly believe in the power of stories and their ability to carry hope to those who need it. That’s a message I believe Genshin Impact’s story echoes.

Part of why I get so much hope from seeing Genshin Impact’s popularity is that my minority groups are represented in the game more than in other stories I’ve seen (Queer and Neurodivergent). I am speaking from a place of bias.

But in the end, I have bigger issues to focus on and am in dire need of some escapism. Having spaces where you can ignore the real world’s problems and relax is an essential part of your health. Traumatizing ourselves “in solidarity” helps no one.

So I will not be boycotting Hoyo or sending in bad reviews. I would rather devote that energy and passion to writing speeches convincing people to vote for Biden instead of throwing away their voice for a protest vote.

As we learned in 2016, there are plenty of psyops to combat on this website. I plan to do my part to help my country remain a democracy past January 2025.

#natlan #genshin impact #genshin 5.0 #politics #harris 2024

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ricisidro · 6 months ago

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Showbiz Personalities Running in the 🇵🇭 Philippines May 2025 Elections.

These showbiz personalities adds an exciting dimension to the Philippines' political landscape of 2025.

#Philippines #Elections2025 #politics #showbiz

-https://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2024/10/01/2389503/list-celebrities-personalities-running-2025-midterm-elections

#Philippines #Elections 2025 #politics #showbiz

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kpklofficial · 6 months ago

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🔥 Sumama sa Pagsumite ng Kandidatura nina Ka Leody at Atty. Luke!

Inaanyayahan namin ang lahat na samahan ang mga kandidato ng manggagawa’t masa, sina Ka Leody de Guzman, at Atty. Luke Espiritu sa kanilang paghahain ng kandidatura bilang senador sa darating na halalan 2025.

Bitbit nila ang plataporma na mismong galing sa panawagan ng mga ordinaryong Pilipino mula sa pagtataas ng sahod sa nakabubuhay na halaga, pagbuwag sa kontraktwalisasyon, at pagbuwis sa mga bilyunaryo imbis na mahihirap. Mga bagay na pawang tikom ang bibig ng mga trapo’t dinastiya pagkat sila mismo ay nakikinabang sa kahirapan ng sambayanan. Patunay lamang na walang ibang magsusulong ng pagbabagong ninanais ng uring manggagawa kundi ang manggagawa mismo.

📌 Magaganap ang kanilang paghahain sa ika-4 ng Oktubre 2025, Biyernes sa Comelec Law Department Offsite Office, Tent City, Manila Hotel.

Magkita-kita tayong lahat 2:00 ng hapon sa Gomburza Monument, Padre Burgos Ave., Manila. Para sa mga interesado, maaring i-DM ang naritong blog o ang opisyal na KPKL Facebook page upang makipagugnayan ang detalye ng meetup.

Tuldukan na natin ang paghahari ng mga elitistang walang interes na resolbahin ang kahirapan at hinaing ng taumbayan. Manggagawa naman!

————————————————

Iba pang mga social media:

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Tiktok

YouTube

#the philippines #filipino politics #halalan 2025 #2025 philippine elections #ka leody de guzman #luke espiritu #socialism #sosyalismo #manggagawa naman #atin ang bukas #tuloy ang laban

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carlocarrasco · 29 days ago

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Economist says election-related spending won’t add much to nation’s economy growth this time

As far as one economist is concerned, spending related to this year’s national and local elections (scheduled for May 12, 2025) will not add much to the nation’s economic growth this year, according to a Manila Bulletin news report. To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the Manila Bulletin news report. Some parts in boldface… Elections and related spending no longer…

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chery1bery1 · 11 months ago

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A thread of actors/musicians that support Israel.

Jen Cohn

She is well known for voicing many characters such as Pharah from Overwatch, Ursa (Zuko’s mom) from Avatar: The Last Airbender, Miss Champlain from Wordgirl, and many other roles. On a TikTok and YouTube livestream when many watchers commented “free palestine”, her response to them was “Yes, free Palestine from Hamas.”

There are also more quotes from Cohn such as her response to a comment about wanting a new Pharah voice actor along with the Palestine flag emoji, “That is not a very ‘values of Overwatch’ thing to say” which caused anger from many fans. Cohn has also stated that “Hamas is a terrorist organization, there are so many articles and videos of Gazans risking their lives by speaking out and begging to be free of their terrorist government.”

A change.org petition to call for a voice recast can be signed from this link here.

Video source

(Hamas is a Palestinian Islamist nationalist group that controlled the Gazan strip for 20 years and is labeled as a terrorist group by many countries. It took over the Gazan strip after an election between a political party called Fatah in 2006. On October 7th of 2023, the IDF’s attack on Gaza was followed from a series of many other attacks in Israel from Hamas but there were other conflicts between Israel and other groups before 10/07.)

Deedee Magno Hall

Hall is well known for voicing Pearl, a character from the Cartoon Network series Steven Universe along with other live action roles for other studios. Although she never stated anything about Israel or Hamas, one of the posts she liked on Twitter was from Mark Hamill, “America stands with Israel ✊ #ALWAYS” which spread on the platform, receiving backlash from SU fans.

Eric Nam

Eric is a K-pop/R&B singer and songwriter based in South Korea who wrote songs under B2M Entertainment. He had many tours over the years as a musician and even acted in television. In a tweet by @DiscussingFilm on April 11, it was announced that he had been cast as adult Aang for the Avatar: The Last Airbender movie set to release around 2025-2026.

This post received backlash from ATLA fans due to posts regarding his involvement with Zionists and support for Israel such as liking a pro-Israel instagram post,

The companies Dive Studios and Mindset (both co-founded by Eric and also his brothers) having investor companies supporting Israel along with Mindset’s strategic investor Scooter Braun also supporting Israel as well as a history of working with celebrities that are pro-Israel, and the fact that he removed Malaysia and The Philippines off of his “House On A Hill” tour list due to backlash by many Malaysian fans for the aforementioned instagram post (Malaysia is against people supporting Israel and is very pro-Palestine.), ignoring the backlash but posted a statement regarding his neutral opinion on the Gaza genocide where the reason was that he “made the difficult decision to cancel the show” in Malaysia.

You can sign the recast petition here

Noah Schnapp

Schnapp is another well known actor who played characters such as Charlie Brown from the Peanuts Movie by the now-defunct Blue Sky Studios, and Will Byers from Netflix’s Stranger Things.

In a TikTok video, Noah Schnapp is seen sitting and filming with people holding “Zionism is Sexy” stickers, the line “You either stand with Israel or you stand with terrorism.”, along with liking a post that mocked Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as well as his visit to Israel. This had many fans call for a boycott against the 5th Season of Stranger Things or for Noah to be fired from playing Will Byers.

Jeremy Shada

Jeremy is also another well known actor and had many roles like the Cookie Run franchise as Gingerbrave, Adventure Time as Finn the Human, Voltron: Legendary Defender as Lance, Julie and the Phantoms as Reggie Peters, and some others. Many fans were not happy to see that he has been pro-Israel due to an instagram post liked by Shada and so some Finn and Gingerbrave fan art with the Palestine flag were made.

Tara Strong

Tara is the one of the most well known voice actor in the animation industry and had been widely loved for playing many famous characters such as Bubbles from the Powerpuff Girls, Raven from Teen Titans (and the reboot), Twilight Sparkle from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Timmy Turner from The Fairly Oddparents, Ilana from Sym-Bionic Titan, and so many other characters she’d played in.

Recently, she was fired from playing the character Bill the Orphan in an adult-animated series called Boxtown due to her negative responses to the Palestinian genocide. She said in a tweet, “Just found out on twitter! This is what happens when you help fans get shows made I guess. Fired for being Jewish. Glad I helped you get your kickstarter money. Please lose my email address & pray for my family in Israel and in Gaza. & #prayforpeace.” Bandit Mill Animation however, has stated this was due to Tara’s controversial tweets.

Speaking of, there are many tweets by Strong that prove this point such as liking posts that are against Islamic people, being pissed off that the BLM movement didn’t stand for a genocide, claiming the IDF doesn’t rape/harm any civilians, making a post with the hashtag #IStandWithIsrael, hiding a reply of the death count between Palestinians and Israeli people, and even more situations outside the Palestinian movement like being an anti-vaxxer, supporting PETA, supporting and directing an “eco-friendly” NFT movie project called Ornamental, supporting Autism Speaks (an organization that claims to “cure” autism.), being in a video where Tara was verbally abusing an Uber driver that was an immigrant along with Rena Sofer by saying “We are Americans, we were born here.”, did nothing when Greg Cipes called asexuality a phase to an asexual in a FMA game he hosted, being racist in response to a news clip of MEMRI (Which is a non-profit organization founded by Yigal Carmon, an Israeli military intelligence officer. MEMRI has been claimed to mistranslate clips so Palestinians would viewed in a bad light.), had a little girl who had a brain tumor pass away due to bronies donating to a charity where the money was instead of real medicine, it was put into “alternative treatments”, AND retweeted Ben 10 incest back in 2012-13.

Tara Strong has really destroyed her own reputation as a voice actor and it’s really upsetting that a famous woman who voiced pretty much everyone’s childhood have such negative ways when dealing with topics like these. The fact that there are STILL fans defending her actions is just depressing to see what she had become.

I have a picture limit that only goes for 10 images, so here’s a lightning round of more people.

Jerry Seinfeld, who voiced Barry B. Benson from the Bee Movie and had his own semi-fictional show named after his last name visited Israel into the IDF military base nicknamed “Camp Shoot-A-Palestinian” (I’M NOT FUCKING JOKING) and played target practice with pictures of REAL Palestinians, made a few pro-Israel posts on his instagram, and more.

Selena Gomez, played Alex Russo from Wizards of Waverly Place, Mavis from the Hotel Transylvania franchise, and many other roles has many posts regarding support to Israel such as liking Amy Schumer’s pro-Israel posts on Instagram, was VERY pissed off when fans asked her for Palestinian support, and lying about the beauty company Rare Beauty supporting Gaza even though the CEO is a Zionist which resulted in the donation money going a Zionist organization called Magen David Adom.

Scarlett Johansson had worked with companies that support Israel over the years along with a couple of posts that are pro-Israel.

Kim Dongyoung, who is a member of a few South-Korean bands as Doyoung like NCT and it’s other sub-units has lost over 800,000 instagram followers because of a McDonalds Korea promotion he was in even though he had donated to World Food Program Korea (a company that started to donate food to Gaza back in December of 2023.).

Taika Watiti, who played Blackbeard from Our Flag Means Death has liked Instagram posts of Gal Godot’s suppport for Israel, went on a big rant about his response to people addressing his silence on Palestinians because of people not knowing about Māori issues on the Marc Macron podcast (Many, Many Māori people are pro-Palestinian.)

Sarah J Maas, author of The Assassin’s Blade, Crescent City, and A Court of Thorns and Roses, is a Zionist that has spoken about her “love for Israel”, said that she was proud of her family members that had been involved with the IDF and its military bases and went on a trip to Israel.

Con O’Neill, who plays Izzy Hands from the show Our Flag Means Death has a liked post by Eve Barlow with the lines of “coming out as a Zionist is harder than coming out as gay”.

Keanu Reeves is another well known actor that appeared in The Matrix franchise as Neo, The Day the Earth Stood Still as Klaatu, Cyberpunk 2077 as Johnny Silverhand, and many other movies. He said that he wanted to make a John Wick movie that take place in Israel with IDF soldiers that trained for stunts, went to a party that was hosted by a former arms dealer during the 2014 Gaza war, and visited Israel several times along with meeting Netanyahu.

Rick Riordan, the author of the Percy Jackson books made a very lengthy blog post stating the Israel-Palestine conflict with lines such as “the Israeli government’s brutal retaliation against the entire population of Gaza has reached genocidal proportions.” & “This means security and support for Israel, yes.”

You can find a LOT MORE celebrities/actors (that aren’t included in this post) that support Israel/ had signed Zionist letters along with people who support Palestine here👇

If you follow any of the people that are on this post, including the ones I’ve shared above, UNFOLLOW THEM. Do not go to any place that includes that person and boycott any artist that remains silent/supports Israel.

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rhk111sblog · 4 months ago

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The newly elected President of the United States (US) Donald Trump has reportedly invited China's President Xi Jinping to his Inauguration next Month of January 2025. He is said to have made the Invitation last Month in November 2025 shortly after winning the Election.

But Xi is unlikely to attend as no Foreign Leader has ever attended the Inauguration of a US President, usually Ambassadors are the only ones who are sent to attend it. Still, the Fact that Trump made the Invitation to Xi is a big Deal already because for me it shows that he doesn't see China just as a Villain, it's all just Business or Work for him.

It makes me wonder though if Trump made a similar Invitation also to Bong Bong Marcos (BBM) who as President of the Philippines, has been pretty subservient to the current and outgoing President of the US, Joe Biden.

Here is the Link to the Article on the “CBS News” Website: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-invites-china-xi-jinping-inauguration/

SOURCE: Trump invites China's Xi Jinping to Inauguration {Archived Link}

#unitedstates #donaldtrump #china #xijinping #invitation #inauguration #ambassador #bongbongmarcos #bbm #philippines #joebiden #subservient

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unitedventurez · 9 months ago

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Philippines Bans Online Casinos Linked to Scam Centers: An In-Depth Look

In a decisive move to curb criminal activities, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered the shutdown of a vast network of online casinos that have been implicated in numerous illicit operations. These online casinos, known locally as Pogos, short for Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators, primarily serve players in mainland China, where gambling is prohibited. However, Pogos have increasingly been used as fronts for a range of criminal activities, including telephone scams, human trafficking, and other serious offenses.

A Troubled Industry

Under the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte, Pogos flourished as part of his administration's efforts to foster friendly relations with China. However, President Marcos, in his annual address to parliament, called for an end to the "desecration of our country." He criticized Pogos for masquerading as legitimate entities while engaging in financial scamming, money laundering, prostitution, human trafficking, kidnapping, torture, and even murder.

On Tuesday, the Philippines' gaming regulator announced plans to cancel the licenses of Pogos and phase out the sector by the end of the year. According to government estimates, the Pogo industry comprises over 400 licensed and unlicensed operations, employing around 40,000 people directly and indirectly. Despite generating an estimated 166.5 billion pesos ($2.9 billion) in annual revenue, the industry's economic costs are estimated to be much higher at 266 billion pesos annually.

Criminal Links and National Spotlight

The alleged connection between Pogos and criminal rings came under national scrutiny after a Pogo in a small town was discovered to be a front for a scam center. The town's mayor, Alice Guo, is accused of being a Chinese spy and is currently in hiding. Additionally, clandestine hospitals linked to Pogos were found to be offering plastic surgery services to fugitives and scam center workers to help them evade arrest.

Geopolitical Implications

Since assuming office, President Marcos has reversed the Philippines' pivot towards China, initiated by his predecessor Duterte, and has moved closer to the United States, the country's historic ally. Analysts suggest that the ban on Pogos could be interpreted as an effort to further distance the Philippines from China. Both nations are embroiled in a territorial dispute over the South China Sea, with tensions escalating in recent months.

"Pogos' presence has ceased to be a mere law and order problem. It has been linked to China's creeping 'occupation' of the Philippines for ordinary Filipinos," stated Jean Encinas-Franco, a professor at the University of the Philippines Diliman. She added that Marcos' decision could be seen as a rebuke to Duterte's open Pogo policy, potentially boosting his approval ratings ahead of the crucial mid-term elections in 2025.

Local Reactions

The ban on Pogos has been welcomed by various sectors within the Philippines. Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual told local media that the decision makes the country more attractive to those seeking leisure, as Pogos have created a negative impression associated with violence. George Barcelon, chairman of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, expressed his approval, stating that Pogos attract undesirable individuals and endanger the moral fabric of the nation.

The Path Forward

As the Philippines moves to dismantle the Pogo industry, the government faces the challenge of managing the economic and social impacts of the shutdown. While the ban is expected to improve the country's image and reduce crime, it will also require addressing the displacement of thousands of workers and finding alternative sources of revenue to compensate for the loss from the Pogo sector.

The bold decision by President Marcos to shut down Pogos marks a significant step in addressing the intertwined issues of crime and international relations. As the country navigates this complex transition, the global community will be watching closely to see the long-term effects on the Philippines' economy, society, and geopolitical standing.

#Philippines #FerdinandMarcosJr #Pogos #OnlineCasinos #CrimePrevention #Scam #HumanTrafficking #NationalSecurity

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