Duterte's drug war back in focus, Aung San Suu Kyi's show trial begins and Wall Street seeks an end to WFH
14 - 20 June 2021
Hello and welcome! 👋
Remember to soak up those extra seconds of sunlight (in the Northern Hemisphere) to celebrate the summer solstice.
Thanks for reading! Stay curious, Sara x
CALLING FOR JUSTICE
One of Rodrigo Duterte’s signature campaigns - his “war on drugs” - could be investigated by the International Criminal Court. On 14 June, the ICC’s outgoing chief prosecutor asked for the green light to turn a 2018 preliminary inquiry into a full examination.
The Philippine president has never shied away from discussing his bloody crackdown on narcotics trafficking and abuse. Between 2016 and 2019, Duterte gave the police - and possibly vigilantes - free licence to kill drug dealers and users nationwide. The question is whether thousands of civilians were shot dead unlawfully.
Manila has already slammed the prospect of a probe and vowed not to cooperate. Duterte’s government withdrew from the ICC in 2019 in response to its initial review of the narcotics war. In previous speeches, the president said he trusted the Filipino legal system to uncover any wrongdoings.
When bodies filled morgues and hospitals during that period, the international community repeatedly condemned Duterte’s campaign. However, his no-nonsense approach earned praise from scores of voters. Several academics and analysts say the war on drugs helped calm middle-class fears about rising crime rates, the plight of the urban poor and corruption.
For his part, Duterte maintains that he only instructed the police to kill in self-defence. Additionally, he is dismissive of rehabilitation and believes users of illicit drugs are beyond redemption.
The ICC’s judges have up to four months to issue a decision on the investigation request. In the meantime, Duterte is testing the waters to see if he should run for vice president in 2022 when his six-year term ends.
A RIGGED TRIAL?
Myanmar’s deposed leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, was quietly put on trial this week in a closed courtroom in the capital Naypyidaw.
Suu Kyi, who turned 76 on Saturday, faces a raft of charges, including the illegal possession of walkie-talkies, accepting kilos of gold in bribes and abusing her authority. If found guilty of any of those allegations, Suu Kyi will effectively be sentenced to life in prison.
Activists and human rights groups accuse the military junta (officially called the Tatmadaw) of cooking up these spurious claims to discredit Suu Kyi and banish her from politics. She’s only met her legal team a handful of times since her arrest, indicating the trial is seriously stacked against her. Furthermore, there are concerns about the legitimacy of Myanmar’s legal system given that almost all the lawyers and judges are connected to the army.
Little has been seen of Suu Kyi and her fellow NLD party chiefs in the wake of the 1 February coup. The disruption of Myanmar’s democratic transition triggered months of mass unrest - and smaller protests still continue to take place across the country.
Although Suu Kyi’s international reputation took a severe beating over the Rohingya crisis, the Nobel Laureate remains a popular figure at home among millions of Burmese. But the Tatmadaw’s brute force is gradually crushing dissenting voices, and many worry that the opposition will struggle as the generals authorise “excessive and lethal violence”.
BACK AT YOUR DESKS!
“If you can go into a restaurant in New York City, you can come into the office and we want you in the office.”
Morgan Stanley boss James Gorman reckons WFH (work from home) should end by September, at least for the bank’s Wall Street staff. While Gorman admitted that the pandemic proved a degree of flexibility was fine, he would still prefer for vaccinated employees - in low risk locations - to return to their desks on a more permanent basis.
Speaking at a conference, the Morgan Stanley chief indicated he didn’t think highly of employees who continue to log on remotely from Miami or Denver (“If you want to get paid New York rates, you work in New York”).
Gorman also stressed the importance of face-to-face meetings and collaborative environments (“That’s where you build all the soft cues that go with having a successful career that aren’t just about Zoom presentations”).
These statements are common refrains at the US’s financial services titans. Goldman Sachs actually ordered most of its US staff to disclose their vaccination status and get back to the mothership a.s.a.p. Elsewhere JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon said, in his usual blunt manner: “The commute, you know people don’t like commuting, but so what…I’m about to cancel all my Zoom meetings.”
So despite booking record profits in 2020, the big Wall Street firms are unwilling to embrace WFH policies beyond the summer. Is this a sign of things to come in the private sector? Do certain industry honchos have the right to coerce their employees in the Covid era? Share your thoughts below.