Day: July 5, 2023

Nearly two months after Cyclone Mocha devastated Myanmar’s Rakhine state, international organizations are still unable to travel to affected areas to provide humanitarian aid.

The acting head of the U.N.’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Danielle Parry, met with the junta’s minister of relief and resettlement on Tuesday in the capital Naypyidaw to discuss delivery of relief supplies.

The meeting followed a U.N. announcement on June 22 that relief activities for cyclone victims have been delayed because of the junta’s decision earlier in June to stop giving practical assistance and permission to travel to humanitarian aid groups, according to the junta-controlled Myanma Alinn Daily.

The announcement from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs also said that they are negotiating with junta authorities in Naypyidaw and state level government officials to get a wide range of access to Rakhine. 

Cyclone Mocha – one of the worst cyclones to hit Myanmar in a decade – made landfall on May 14 with sustained winds reaching over 220 kilometers per hour (137 mph), killing more than 400 people and leaving widespread destruction.

In the weeks after the storm, aid workers told Radio Free Asia that more than 90% of houses and buildings in northern Rakhine were damaged by the storm. 

The U.N. said last month that it’s prepared to provide shelters and relief materials for 1.6 million people in Rakhine, but has so far only been able to assist 110,000 people.

A Rohingya refugee in the Dar Paing refugee camp said there has been no international support in the camps. 

“Nothing has been done about the shelters in the IDP camps so far. They are also facing food shortages,” the refugee told RFA. The news that international support will come does not reach this area. Their support has not reached this side of the state yet.”

‘We do not expect that the help will arrive’

In early June, junta officials issued a blanket ban on transportation for aid groups operating in Rakhine. A June 7 announcement mandated that all international humanitarian aid, including U.N. assistance, be donated through the junta. 

Cyclone victims are going to have to try to survive on their own now, a person in charge of a local help group in Rakhine’s capital, in Sittwe, told RFA.

“Many of our people have lost hope in international aid,” he said. “We do not expect that the help will arrive to us.”

RFA called junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun regarding whether organizations will be able to provide direct international aid to the cyclone victims, but he did not respond. 

It is customary for outsider organizations to communicate with the government that is currently in power before providing assistance inside the country, said Thein Tun Oo, executive director of the Thayninga Institute for Strategic Studies, which is made up of former military officers.

“In the shortest and simplest terms, the military is the ruling government of the country that holds these sovereign powers,” he said.

The junta is intentionally preventing humanitarian aid from reaching those who really need it, said Dr. Win Myat Aye, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management of the shadow National Unity Government.

“The military council treats the refugee people as their enemies and has no compassion for them as humans,” he said.

Translated by Myo Min Aung. Edited by Matt Reed.

Cambodia said it has declared the 22 people on Meta’s oversight board “persona non grata,” barring them from entering the country, after the regulatory group recommended suspending Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Facebook account.

If any were in the country – and that was doubtful – they had 48 hours to leave, the statement from the foreign ministry said Tuesday.

Hun Sen’s Facebook account, which the hardline leader has used to rally political support, went blank after the June 29 announcement from Meta Oversight Board, which had ruled that a video in which he threatened violence against his political opponents had violated Facebook’s guidelines against prohibiting incitement.

It was the first time that the board had instructed Meta – Facebook’s new corporate name – to shut down an account run by a government leader. 

Hun Sen has since told his social media followers he was switching to Telegram and Tik Tok, and urged them to follow his posts there.

Hun Sen, in power since 1985, has regularly taken to social media to deliver lengthy tirades against his opponents and threaten them if they defy him.

In an announcement Tuesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed Meta’s decision to suspend Hun Sen’s accounts was “political in nature,” and it was issued with the intent to “obstruct the freedom of the press for the citizens of Cambodia and the right to receive credible news from a leader whom they support and admire.”

“Unethical revenge”

The ministry’s move to expel the board clearly shows that Cambodia’s government lacks responsibilities and ethics, Hul Sao, a Cambodian resident and Facebook user, told RFA’s Khmer Service.

“This is unethical. This is revenge against Facebook,” he said.

Meta’s decision might be an excuse for Hun Sen to try to shut down Facebook in Cambodia, where it is widely used, and thus deprive people of a means to disseminate information and news to each other, said Som Someth, a farmer in the northeastern province of Banteay Meanchey.

“This is a big deal for our country,” he said. “If Facebook is shut down, free speech on social media will be eliminated, and there will be even more restrictions.”

Law student Ly Chandaravuth told RFA that the politically motivated decision was Cambodia’s move to keep board members out of the country, not Meta’s decision.

He called the ministry’s announcement “laughable” and said that Hun Sen should not mix his personal issues with the national interest.

Translated by Samean Yun. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.

Vietnam has banned distribution of “Barbie” because the Hollywood movie includes a map showing China’s territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea, state media reported, as angry netizens called for a boycott of a tour by the popular K-Pop group BlackPink for the same alleged offense.

The planned July 21 release of the Warner Brothers feature film, starring Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as her boyfriend Ken, has been scrapped by the Central Council of Feature Film Evaluation and Classification, state media reported, citing Vi Kien Thanh, head of the Vietnam Cinema Department. 

“‘Barbie’ is banned from screening in Vietnam for featuring a map depicting the illicit ‘nine-dash line’ that China uses to illegally claim its sovereignty over most of the East Vietnam Sea,” the Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper said.

“Vietnam had earlier either blocked many films or removed some from cinemas as these movies, mainly produced by China, contain the illegal nine-dash line map,” the English-language report said. All cinema chains across Vietnam had pulled the movie, it added.

Attempts by Radio Free Asia to reach Warner Brothers for comment were unsuccessful.

The nine-dash line is a boundary used by Beijing on its maps to demarcate territorial claims over most of the South China Sea, including sections of the waterway that fall within areas claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines and other countries.

For example, the line – often literally consisting of nine dashes on a map encompassing the entire South China Sea – includes the Paracel Islands claimed by Vietnam and the Spratly Islands claimed by the Philippines. And it wasn’t immediately evident what role the map played in the movie.

The problem has emerged before. In 2019, Vietnam halted showings of the DreamWorks film “Abominable” over a scene that showed the “nine-dash line” and drew an outcry among viewers. Netflix offerings including “Pine Gap,” “Madam Secretary,”  and “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” also ran afoul of Hanoi over the sea map.

The dust over the Barbie row had barely settled when angry Vietnamese netizens started calling for boycotting a concert by the South Korea K-Pop band BlackPink, after they said concert promoters of the “Born Pink World Tour Hanoi” scheduled for late July also had shared the “nine-dash line” map of the South China Sea.

State media quoted Le Thanh Liem, chief inspector of the Vietnam Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, as saying on Wednesday that a ministry department was conducting checks to verify the reported use of  the map on the homepage of iMe Entertainment Co. and its Vietnam fan page.

The map or related links could not be seen on the websites on Wednesday.

The Philippines might follow suit

Following Vietnam’s ban of “Barbie” on Tuesday,  the Philippine Movie and Television Review and Classification Board said it was also reviewing whether to approve the release of the film in cinemas. Last year, the film review board pulled the Hollywood action movie “Uncharted” from Philippine cinemas over a scene showing the “nine-dash line.”

In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines and threw out China’s expansive claims in the waterway, but Beijing has never recognized the ruling.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters that “China’s position on the South China Sea issue is clear and consistent.”

“We believe that the countries concerned should not link the South China Sea issue with normal cultural and people-to-people exchanges,” Mao said at a daily briefing on Tuesday.

Despite Mao’s assertions, China has a history of pressuring foreign retailers, fashion firms, hotels and airlines over perceived misrepresentation of its borders, including that with self-governing Taiwan, over which Beijing claims sovereignty.

Although some voices in Vietnam said banning Barbie over the map was oversensitive, South China Sea expert Dinh Kim Phuc told RFA Vietnamese that Hanoi had to act in order to prevent China from propagating its claims in the contested waterway.

“If (authorities) let it be shown throughout the territory of Vietnam, China would make a point that Vietnam has accepted the nine-dash line–that is to say, accepted China’s sovereignty claims in the South China Sea,” said Phuc.

Phuc, a former lecturer at the Open University of Ho Chi Minh City, said Vietnam reacts sharply to seemingly small slights in order to drive home the point that it does not accept the nine-dash line, to win international support for the 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling, and to protect its sovereign rights and jurisdiction in the South China Sea.

Vietnam expert Carlyle Thayer called the Vietnamese moves “an overreaction, and it distracts the public from China’s aggressive behavior that has been taking place.”

“If Vietnam kept quiet, how would anyone know?” asked Thayer, emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales in Canberra, Australia.

Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Written by Paul Eckert. Edited by Malcolm Foster.

Laos has begun importing gasoline from China instead of purchasing it from neighboring Thailand amid an ongoing economic crisis, including surging inflation that has prompted one lawmaker to call for an increase in salaries for domestic workers and state employees.

The first shipments of gasoline arrived in Laos last week following the signing of a memorandum of understanding in late May by the Vientiane Petroleum State Enterprise, managed by the Lao Ministry of National Security, SINOPEC Hong Kong and SINOLAO. 

Under the deal, Laos will import fuel from China for wholesale and retail distribution, according to the Laotian Times.

SINOPEC Hong Kong delivered the initial fuel consignments to the two Lao entities at the Boten international border crossing in Luang Namtha province on June 27. 

Gasoline prices in Laos have increased four times this year amid a serious economic slump characterized by high inflation, worsening public finances and the devaluation of the Lao currency, the kip.

But some consumers said they believe that the price of petrol will drop slightly or remain the same because the Chinese entered the deal to make a profit. 

“It’s businesses — not policy, not aid,” said a Lao entrepreneur who imports fuel, asking not to be identified to speak freely. “If the government imports more, it will reduce gas prices in Laos, and the price at the pumps will go down.”

The Lao government has turned to China for gasoline because it doesn’t have the foreign currency to buy it from Thailand, which accepts payments only in Thai baht or U.S. dollars, said a Lao intellectual who is familiar with the situation. 

China, however, accepts Lao kip or Chinese yuan as payment, or allows the Lao government to take out a loan with a high interest rate to pay for gasoline imports, ensnaring the country in a debt trap, he said.

Landlocked Lao does not have its own gasoline production company, but rather a business in Xiengkhouang province that refines imported crude oil from overseas.

Call to raise salaries

As rising prices, including that of gasoline, hit Laotians hard in their wallets, some officials are trying to mitigate the financial pain.

Also on June 27, Oudom Vongkaysone, a lawmaker from Borikhamxay province, urged the government to increase the salaries of both ordinary Lao workers and state employees.

He urged the government to increase the monthly minimum wage to 1.8 million-2 million kip (US$94-104).

During a meeting of the National Assembly, Vongkaysone said that if the government could not increase salaries, it should find other ways to lessen their financial hardship, such as issuing more bonuses, paying overtime or increasing pension amounts. 

Otherwise more state employees will quit their jobs and more workers will head to neighboring countries for better-paying jobs, he said.

He also called on the Lao government to rein in inflation and urged citizens to use the kip in financial transactions instead of foreign currency.

A Lao garment factory worker told Radio Free Asia that she cannot live on her 1.3 million kip monthly salary, and wants to see her pay raised to 2 million-3 million kip so she and her family can survive the country’s high inflation.

An official from the Lao Federation of Trade Unions who requested anonymity so as to speak freely told RFA that a decision to raise the minimum wage would take a long time to implement if adopted.

“The government has to conduct a survey of the price of goods in the market first to find out if it is necessary or not to raise the minimum wage,” he said.

Businesses opposed

Some Laotians have headed to Thailand and South Korea for jobs, where wages are higher than at home.

“The rate of exchange is high, 1 million Lao kip can’t buy much, and foods and essential things are more expensive than before,” said one Laotian. “Workers have gone to work in Thailand because the pay rate is higher over there.”

But entrepreneurs who own businesses in Laos are against raising the minimum wage, saying the move would threaten their survival. They would not be able to pay their workers 1.8 million-2 million kip per month if the lawmaker’s proposal is adopted, some of them said.

“Entrepreneurs don’t want to pay high salaries,” said one business owner.

A factory owner said his enterprise could not afford to pay higher salaries of about 1.6 million-1.8 million kip, but no more.

“It would be too much to pay,” he told RFA.

A garment factory owner in the capital Vientiane said she could not immediately raise salaries to 1.8 million kip or more because of high production costs and the kip’s devaluation, and that any future increases should be incrementally implemented over several months.

An official at the Ministry of Finance said the government’s ability to raise the monthly minimum wage depends on the state budget, and salaries cannot be increased if there is a deficit.

“We want to raise the salaries of state employees between 1.8 million and 2.5 million kip per month, but it depends on the state budget,” he said.

Translated by Sidney Khotpanya for RFA Lao. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.

When China put an end to the grueling lockdowns, mass testing and compulsory quarantines of the zero-COVID era, most people were hoping life would get back to normal. 

But a local government debt crisis, weak domestic demand and the collapse of property prices have left the economy in poor shape. At the same time, unemployment among young people has hit a five-year high. 

According to official data released in April, 20.4% of job seekers between the ages of 16 and 24 are unemployed. 

Added to all of that, there is the “Curse of 35.” 

Recruitment ads these days often call for candidates under 35, and the age barrier has become yet another ceiling on the aspirations of people who only want the chance to make a living. 

The current labor market also makes it much harder for people who want to settle down and start a family. 

Uncompensated OT

Age discrimination has been worsening in China for some time now, as companies seek younger employees willing to work large amounts of uncompensated overtime under the 996 system — working from 9.00 a.m. to 9.00 p.m., Monday to Saturday.

Much of the demand for excessive overtime comes from the tech sector, according to a 39-year-old former Huawei employee who gave only the nickname Emma, for fear of reprisals.

“The internet industry has developed rapidly in mainland China over the past 10 years,” she said. “It’s an industry that has heavy overtime requirements, so it often discriminates against older people.” 

That includes global tech giants like Huawei, where she used to work.

“Shortly after I started working there, Huawei would regularly lay off older employees,” Emma said.

But the “Curse of 35” only started to become widely noticeable in recent years, as economic growth has slowed, she said.

“Age discrimination in the job market is now very severe, and there are also various kinds of invisible discrimination at work, such as assumptions about whether you plan to marry and have kids,” Emma said.

This means that many young people are afraid to leave jobs once they have them, for fear of never finding another.

Civil service exams

A 34-year-old employee of a culture-related state-owned enterprise who gave only the surname Chen said he counts himself among their number.   

“I’ve managed to hang onto this job for five years, and I haven’t once thought about jumping ship,” Chen said. “The labor market has gotten much tougher due to the pandemic, and I’m also nearly 35, nearly at that threshold, and I’ll be much less able to compete within it.” 

“I’ve seen that a lot of companies basically want to hire young people, fresh graduates, or people with a few years’ experience,” he said. “A lot of my friends are in a similar situation.”

Chen agrees that 35 has become something of a magic number in the labor market because it’s the upper age limit for candidates wanting to sit exams to enter the civil service, thereby gaining a foothold in “the system” of Communist Party officialdom, which offers healthcare, a pension and which can lead to wealth and power. 

Anyone under that age still has this option open to them, so employees under the age of 35 can still view the civil service as a backup plan, in case they can’t stand their jobs any more. As soon as they hit 35, that option is no longer there, he said.

Companies know this too, so the threshold affects what they are willing to pay younger employees. 

“I have friends who have gone for interviews at this age, and their salaries have basically been cut in half,” Chen said.

Chen, who describes his job as “labor-intensive,” is competing with people just out of college, who have far more strength and resilience than older employees can offer.   

“Basically, all of the professional knowledge and management experience that someone of 35 has been able to accumulate isn’t valued at all,” he said.  “Younger people who are new to the labor market can put in more hours, so companies prefer to hire them.”

Marriage and family?

When work is that precarious, it’s hard to even think about starting a family, Chen said.   

“Insecure work means an unstable income, and worse prospects for the future,” he said. “This means that marriage and children are off the agenda.” 

The worries about ageism in the Chinese workplace are leading many young people to “run” to the United States in search of jobs.

A 25-year-old Seattle-based student who gave only the surname Wang said she wants to stay in the United States after graduation because she fears being discriminated against in the Chinese job market. 

“I heard a lot of stories about age discrimination [in China] after I graduated college, even though I was only 22 at the time,” Wang said. “For example, internet companies undergo optimization of the workforce, which means layoffs, once they reach 35.”   

“Originally, I wanted to apply to the civil service or government agencies, but some positions state very clearly that there are upper age limits of 25 or 30 years old,” she said. “And as a woman, I felt the problem of age discrimination was even more acute.” 

“I chose to study and work in the United States because I didn’t want to be discriminated against and I wanted a healthier work environment,” Wang said.

Weak labor laws

High unemployment and weak labor laws are also to blame for ageism, she said.

“With such a large population, China has an oversupply of labor,” she said. “And demand for labor has fallen, particularly during the pandemic, when the economy slowed.” 

“That has led to a basic lack of respect for workers, because there is a never-ending stream of younger people waiting to replace workers over 35,” she said. “[There is also] a lack of legal channels through which employees can defend their rights and interests,” 

“When they are discriminated against, they often have to swallow their anger and put up with it,” Wang said.

A 37-year-old job-seeker from the eastern city of Hangzhou who gave only the surname Ge, said he has been through this himself.  

“I was unemployed for a time at the end of 2021, which was still during the zero-COVID policy,” he said. “The first issue I faced was my age.” 

Ge said he was told point-blank by human resources departments that this was a factor working against his application.

“They also weren’t shy about asking me about my financial situation, whether or not I had a mortgage, and whether or not having a family life was in the cards,” he said.

Cheaper and easier

But why do Chinese employers prefer fresh graduates over experienced employees? 

Hua Haifeng, an investigator with the U.S.-based rights group China Labor Watch, said it’s because they are cheaper and easier to manage. 

“They may not be able to pay [people over 35] what they need, and young people are more manageable because of their lack of experience,” Hua said. “Especially when it comes to regular jobs in industries like manufacturing — they are far more likely to hire younger people,” he said. 

He said employers are able to pick and choose due to high unemployment rates and the economic downturn.  

“Problems like this did occur before, but there were more jobs back then, and [ageist discrimination] has become far more obvious now,” Hua said. “There used to be far greater demand for labor, and companies couldn’t afford to be too picky, or to place too many limits on their workforce.” 

Independent economist Qin Weiping said the structural changes are affecting people’s plans to marry and raise children, a key aim of the ruling Chinese Communist Party amid an aging and shrinking population. 

“Young people under the age of 35 are easier to manage because they lack social experience and it’s easier for companies to force them to work overtime,” Qin said.

Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Additional reporting by Sun Cheng, Wang Yun, and Kai Di. Edited by Malcolm Foster.

Amid increasing tensions in Asia during his first year in power, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has embraced the United States and other democratic allies, and shifted away from six years of his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte’s pivot to China. 

Marcos, whose late father dictator was a staunch U.S. ally, has sought to achieve an elusive balance between the rival superpowers in his administration’s foreign policy. 

“Marcos’ so-called pivot to the U.S. became a highlight because Philippines-U.S. ties reached its low point during his predecessor’s time. It became big simply because the baseline was set so low,” Aries Arugay, a political scientist at the University of the Philippines, told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service. 

Since taking office on June 30, 2022, Marcos Jr. has issued strong pronouncements on disputes in the South China Sea and promised to not abandon “even one square inch” of Philippine territory there to any foreign power. This raised expectations for a hardline approach toward Chinese incursions. 

During his first year in office, Marcos visited both superpowers. His official working visit to Washington in May was the first by a Philippine president in more than a decade. Marcos began 2023 with a state visit to China.

“When asked which side are you on, I said I don’t work for Beijing, I don’t work for Washington D.C., I work for the Philippines. So I’m on the side of the Philippines and that really translates into a very simple statement of foreign policy, which is that I promote the national interest,” Marcos said during a dialogue at the World Economic Forum in January. 

Striking a U.S.-China balance in foreign policy is not an easy feat, according to another analyst. 

“That is the goal of the administration. But it raises the question, is it in the interest of the two powers for the Philippines to be balanced? The major challenge here is China,” defense analyst Renato de Castro told BenarNews. 

“For China, it’s a zero-sum game. Beijing would never accept any compromise. Any effort to balance or repair U.S. ties is viewed by China with extreme hostility,” said de Castro, professor of international studies at the De La Salle University in Manila. 

When Marcos granted the U.S. expanded access to more Philippine military bases under the bilateral Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), he said it was to boost his country’s defense capabilities and response to natural disasters.

China reacted angrily, with its envoy Huang Xilian advising Manila to “unequivocally oppose” the independence of Taiwan if it cared about the 150,000 Filipinos working there.

Marcos summoned Huang to a meeting but did not expel him from the Philippines, despite calls for him to do so. For Arugay, this was another form of delicate balancing.

“Other ambassadors have been expelled from their host countries for far less controversial statements. But Marcos did not do that, knowing the implication of such action,” Arugay said. 

At the same time, analysts noted Marcos’ relative transparency concerning Chinese aggression in the West Philippine Sea, Manila’s name for South China Sea waters within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ). 

The Philippine navy and coast guard have more frequently publicized evidence of harassment of Philippine ships, personnel and fishermen. Journalists, too, have been allowed to monitor routine resupply missions to West Philippine Sea outposts. 

‘At least he’s not a killer’ 

Analysts and opposition members have given Marcos a passing grade on foreign policy in his first year. Even jailed former Sen. Leila de Lima, a key opposition figure, gave him credit. 

“He has restored the image of the Philippines vis-à-vis the democratic world, to the U.S. and other traditional allies. In his speeches abroad, he has at least committed to uphold the rule of law,” de Lima told BenarNews. 

“At least he’s not a killer. The bar has been set so low,” said de Lima, a fierce critic of Duterte and his bloody campaign against illegal drugs. 

Arugay shared a similar view.

“Marcos was so far able to regain the country’s reputation as a very cordial, welcoming and accommodating nation to all those who wish to cooperate,” he said. “Somehow, he was able to retrieve the country’s international political capital that was severely undermined in the six years of Duterte.” 

Still, Marcos has signaled he would protect Duterte from prosecution over his internationally criticized drug war, saying in March that the Philippines would officially no longer deal with the International Criminal Court. 

Marcos has insisted the domestic justice system works and that any investigation must be carried out by Philippine authorities. At the same time, he has acknowledged that the drug problem must be approached differently than Duterte’s scorched earth policy. 

About 8,000 suspected dealers and addicts were killed in Duterte’s drug war during his term (2016-2022), according to police statistics. Human rights groups said the figure could be three times higher, alleging that many others were killed by pro-Duterte vigilantes working with police.

Last week, Human Rights Watch called on Marcos to formally announce an end to the drug war and order an investigation into officials linked to killings.

“Without concrete action to break old patterns of abuses and secure accountability for past crimes, his words have little credibility,” HRW said.

‘Pleasant surprise’

Rommel Jude Ong, a retired Philippine Navy rear admiral, said Marcos’ pivot to democracies was “a pleasant surprise,” owing to his rhetoric during the presidential campaign. 

“His pivot shows that the government is sensitive to the public opinion with respect to how we manage our alliance with the U.S. and other partners,” Ong told BenarNews. “It also brings up front our national interest as the driver of our foreign policy posture.” 

National polls over the years have shown that the majority of Filipinos prefer the U.S., with China being respondents’ least trusted country.

One likely reason for Marcos’ “good performance as head of state,” Arugay said, has been his goal to rehabilitate his family’s name linked to ill-gotten wealth, a brutal dictatorship and human rights abuses. 

His father, President Ferdinand E. Marcos, was toppled in a “people-power” uprising in 1986 that forced the family into exile in Hawaii, where he died three years later. Authorities said the elder Marcos plundered up to U.S. $10 billion from state coffers.

“I doubt that his only foreign policy goal is the country’s goals – we’re not expecting him to be a saint. Part of it is the redemption of the family name, not just here in the country but also abroad,” Arugay said.  

While the Marcos family was allowed to return and reestablish its political fortunes at home, it has faced legal challenges abroad. 

In 2012, a U.S. court held the younger Marcos, his mother Imelda, and the estate of Ferdinand E. Marcos in contempt for violating an order reserving their U.S. assets for potential damages to be paid to victims of 14 years of martial law under the elder Marcos.  

Next steps 

Marcos Jr. – whose term is expected to end in 2028 – may face tougher years ahead, experts said, in the face of an increasingly aggressive China. 

There are calls to raise the issue of China’s bullying before the United Nations General Assembly and to urge members to sponsor a resolution calling on Beijing to respect Manila’s landmark international arbitration court victory in 2016. 

China has failed to recognize the ruling that invalidated its sweeping claims to nearly all of the South China Sea. Along with the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and Taiwan have territorial claims to the South China Sea. 

Opposition Sen. Risa Hontiveros said that while U.N. resolutions are not legally binding, they carry “significant political weight” showing the international community’s will and consensus.

Antonio Carpio, a former Supreme Court justice and South China Sea expert, said it’s high time to raise the issue before the U.N. 

“But before we actually file the resolution with the general assembly, the Department of Foreign Affairs should campaign for votes and make a head count,” Carpio told BenarNews. 

“I think we will win there,” he said in a separate online forum. 

The department, he said, should coordinate with other coastal states and regional blocs, such as the European Union, that have strongly supported the arbitral ruling.  

“Remember, the majority of the [U.N.] members are coastal states,” Carpio said in the forum. “They are afraid that their big neighbors might seize their exclusive economic zones.” 

BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated news service.