At first glance, the Christmas convoy to Ayungin Shoal that has some 40 civilian boats bringing supplies and presents to the crew of BRP Sierra Madre this month seems foolhardy. The grounded vessel that serves as the country’s military outpost at Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal has been a constant source of tension in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), with China claiming sovereignty over this feature 194 kilometers from Palawan, well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone
Recently, I had the opportunity to engage (and grapple with) two works about Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war. The first, “Aswang” (2019), is the documentary film by Alyx Ayn Arumpac which won the Famas Best Picture award in 2020—the first-ever documentary to win the honor—alongside the Gawad Urian grand prize and other national and international recognitions. The second was Patricia Evangelista’s “Some People Need Killing” (Random House, 2023), published recently to high critical acclaim, including being named by The New York Times as one of the best books of the year. “Aswang” takes us right back to the height of the “Oplan Tokhang”
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