Deadly attack rock the Philippines

Hello friends!

Apologies for the missed email last week — had a big old assignment due! But we’re back. 

We’ve had a huge influx of new free subscribers in the last few weeks, so big thank you to any and all who have recommended this to friends and colleagues. Today’s is open to all to get a bit of a look at what the regional wrap looks like. Asean + Timorese nationals under 30 are all eligible for a free annual membership so if that’s you just hit that reply and let me know. 

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Thanks!Erin Cook

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A lot is going on in the Philippines at the moment. I don’t want to get into the Philhealth stuff because it’s not my bag, but if you’re interested in governance, public health and/or corruption in the region this is a big (and long) one. 

So instead we’ll focus this week on two developments, one of which is horrendous. Nothing, it seems, can slow down the violence in Southern Philippines. Twin bombs on Monday have killed at least 14 people and injured dozens of others in Jolo, the capital of Sulu province. The town also hosted an attack in January last year which shocked the world and seemingly saw fears of a shift in regional terrorism and the response realised. 

According to Reuters, the first bomb was detonated around noon on Monday near parked army vehicles killing soldiers and civilians. Shortly after, a woman approached the cordon erected by emergency responders and detonated a bomb killing herself and other bystanders. Military officials say the attacks were planned by Mundi Sawadjaan, a nephew of the Abu Sayyaf leader Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan. 

There had been a build-up towards this event in recent weeks. Low-level but violent clashes had turned to heightened rhetoric and widespread arrests. Army commanding general Cirilito Sobejana is now flagging the need for martial law to be reimposed.  

Analysis and further confirmed information is still to come, but I’ll be interested in reading more about comments that suicide bombers are becoming younger and the use of ‘family terrorism,’ which we saw most awfully in the Surabaya, Indonesia, attacks in 2018 but analysts suggest will become more commonplace in the region. 

Elsewhere, the Philippines and China are at it again in the West Philippine/South China Sea. The Department of Foreign Affairs last week raised two protests against China’s recent actions in the waters specifically surrounding the ‘Chinese Coast Guard's illegal confiscation of fish aggregating devices of Filipino fishermen in Bajo de Masinloc in May.’ 

Well, the Philippines ‘infringes on China's sovereignty and security’ when it sends military aircraft to the Spratlys says Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian, who also called for the archipelago to ‘stop the provocations.’ Which caused Manila to, perhaps understandably, snap.

"(China's) so-called historical rights over an area enclosed by their nine-line doesn't exist except in their imaginations. Our fishermen are within our EEZ and likewise, our ships and planes conduct patrol sorties within our area. They (China) are the ones who have been doing provocations by illegally occupying some features within our EEZ. Hence they have no right to claim they are enforcing their laws," Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told reporters in a text message.

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Bruneians, you lucky ducks! Singapore will welcome travellers from Brunei (and New Zealand) with a couple of caveats. 

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Some fantastic post-election analysis again this week - Hoe-Yeong Loke (whose First Wave is still on my to-read pile but will be shuffled up!) on the generational takes and some general forecasting, and Lily Zubaidah Rahim on what the results mean for party reform in the PAP. 

Did you get surprised with COVID information for a flight from Singapore to Guangzhou? I got no less than a dozen emails about it and yet I should be so lucky. It wasn’t a data breach, says (my personal budget favourite) Scoot. Just a human error. For those with a ticket, especially nationals hoping to return home, things might not be as easy as popping down to pathology for a test before boarding. 

For a while there, my fave Singapore stories were (perhaps rudely) those ride-sharing bikes ending up in odd positions. Bottoms of HDB stairwells, in trees, in the canals. Now with Singaporeans stretching their legs post-Circuit Breaker, cycling is taking off properly - wanton vandalism not included! 

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Trump AND 1MDB? That’s too much for me. 

An inquest into the death of Nora Quoirin, who died after going missing from a Malaysian resort last year, has found the British teenager was not abducted. Nora’s parents have maintained foul play as the girl, who had physical disabilities, would not have wandered off from her family at night. 

On the politics front, it’s all Sabah until poll day on the 26th. Eastern Malaysia is a huge blindspot for me, so we’ll learn about it together over the next few weeks! Free Malaysia Today ran an interesting piece from reader Clement Stanley which is a good introduction looking at who some of the key players will be. Ends with the ominous paragraph: ‘It won’t matter anyway. The voter turnout will probably be as low as some of the politicians on display.’ 

I’m really interested in commissioning some pieces for the election so if you or a pal is from the state and would be keen for a (paid) opportunity, please let me know. 

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Facebook has formally handed over key evidence to the United Nations investigation into genocide following reports of withholding information, the platform confirmed. “As these investigations proceed, we will continue to coordinate with them to provide relevant information as they investigate international crimes in Myanmar,” a representative told Reuters.

This week marks a dark anniversary. It’s been three years since the crackdown in Rakhine state and nothing is close to resolved. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought on new troubles in Rakhine, where an enduring internet block has been identified as a key driver in an explosion in cases. 

Tatmadaw officers have been warned to vote for the ‘correct’ candidates, lest others bring harm to the country. “You guys have higher IQ and EQ than others. So explain to other voters how to understand this,” military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said.

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After New Year’s festivities were put on hold in April, nearly 1.5 million Cambodians (and a smattering of foreigners) took to the road for make-up holidays. And, happily, the Health Department says there have been no identified cases of community transmission.

Here’s an interesting one on the weaponisation of Facebook and the fate of Luon Sovath, a monk run out of the country. 

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Laos has been relatively untouched by COVID, but dengue is another story entirely. 

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Vietnam has called for China to cancel military drills at the Paracel Islands, saying it violates Vietnamese sovereignty. Drills will (presumably) continue until the 29th. A Global Times editorial earlier in the week noting success in negotiating the land border between the two recently suggests a similar roadmap could be followed on the waters. Sure, Jan. 

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Thailand is still going off, let’s do a more in-depth catch up on Monday. 

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Timor-Leste has ended it’s state of emergency following a COVID outbreak and has kept a mandatory period of quarantine for incoming travellers. This whole piece from Michael Sainsbury is very interesting on how the country has dealt with it both within its borders and supporting Timorese nationals abroad.

According to reports from Macau Business (which is running a lot of Timor stories lately), a day later the Health Ministry confirmed one new imported case from an Indonesian national. Who, reportedly, travelled quite the distance to get to Dili so that could be a worry. 

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Across the border in Indonesia, contact tracing is still ‘poor,’ reports the Jakarta Post. This is a fascinating look at how contact tracing works in the archipelago with much of the process reliant on community health care workers, local leaders and volunteers.   

Because we missed last week, we missed this one from Reuters. An analysis of testing data shows Indonesia is far above what the WHO classifies as an ‘out of control’ outbreak. The body says anything above 5 percent is a real concern — around 17 percent of tests are positive, jumping to 25 percent outside of the capital.

Loved this one from Friend of the Letter Randy Mulyanto explaining the so-called Omnibus, a job creation law that is pitting labour against the government. A must!