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A30 world news
Diaranson 11 Mei 2022

Marcos presidency complicates US efforts to counter China

much failing to materialize. siderably broaden U.S. en- cos said in an interview with
gagement by strengthening a DZRH radio in January. He
Whether the recent trend in web of security alliances and said Duterte’s policy of dip-
relations with the U.S. will partnerships, with an em- lomatic engagement with
continue has a lot to do with phasis on addressing China’s China is “really our only op-
how President Joe Biden’s growing influence and ambi- tion.”
administration responds to tions.
the return of a Marcos to Marcos has also said he
power in the Philippines, said Thousands of American would maintain his nation’s
Manila-based political sci- and Filipino forces recently alliance with the U.S., but
entist Andrea Chloe Wong, wrapped up one of their larg- the relationship is compli-
a former researcher in the est combat exercises in years, cated by American backing of
Philippine Department of which showcased U.S. fire- the administrations that took
Foreign Affairs. power in the northern Phil- power after his father was de-
ippines near its sea border posed, and a 2011 U.S. Dis-
“On the one hand you have with Taiwan. trict Court ruling in Hawaii
(AP) — Ferdinand Marcos If the results stand, he will Biden regarding the geostra- finding him and his mother
Jr.’s apparent landslide take office at the end of June tegic interests in the Philip- Marcos has been short on in contempt of an order to
victory in the Philippine for a six-year term with Sara pines, and on the other hand specifics about foreign policy, furnish information on assets
presidential election is Duterte, the daughter of he has to balance promoting but in interviews he said he in connection with a 1995
giving rise to immediate outgoing President Rodrigo American democratic ideals wanted to pursue closer ties human rights class action suit
concerns about a further Duterte, as his vice president. and human rights,” she said. with China, including possi- against Marcos Sr.
erosion of democracy bly setting aside a 2016 ruling
in the region, and could Duterte — who leaves of- “If he chooses to do that, by a tribunal in The Hague The court fined them $353.6
complicate American ef- fice with a 67% approval rat- he might have to isolate the that invalidated almost all of million, which has never
forts to blunt growing ing — nurtured closer ties Marcos administration, so China’s historical claims to been paid and could com-
Chinese influence and with China and Russia, while this will definitely be a deli- the South China Sea. plicate the possibility of him
power in the Pacific. at times railing against the cate balancing act for the visiting the U.S. in the fu-
United States. Philippines, and Marcos’ ap- China has refused to recog- ture.
Marcos, the son and name- proach to the U.S. will highly nize the ruling, and Marcos
sake of longtime dictator He has walked back on many depend on how Biden will said it won’t help settle dis- The U.S. has a long history
Ferdinand Marcos, captured of his threats against Wash- engage with him.” putes with Beijing, “so that with the Philippines, which
more than 30.8 million votes ington, however, including a option is not available to us.” was an American colony for
in Monday’s election accord- move to abrogate a defense His election comes at a time most of the first half of the
ing to an unofficial count, pact between the two coun- when the U.S. has been in- Allowing the U.S. to play a last century before it was
more than double those of tries, and the luster of Chi- creasingly focused on the re- role in trying to settle territo- granted independence in
his closest challenger. na’s promise of infrastructure gion, embarking on a strategy rial spats with China will be 1946.
investment has dulled, with unveiled in February to con- a “recipe for disaster,” Mar-

For widows in Africa, COVID-19 stole husbands, homes, future

(AP) — As Anayo Mbah “They said even if I have to sues they face. Women such cording to data tracked by the while others are pressured to
went into labor with her go and remarry, that I should as Mbah say the pandemic Sex, Gender and COVID-19 remarry brothers-in-law or
sixth child, her husband do so. That the earlier I leave has taken more than their Project. Similarly, more than be cut off. Widows can start
battled COVID-19 in the house, the better for me husbands: In their widow- 70 percent of deaths in Chad, experiencing mistreatment
another hospital across and my children.” hood, it’s cost them their ex- Malawi, Somalia and Congo by their in-laws before their
town. Jonas, a young mo- tended families, their homes have been men, according husbands are even buried.
torcycle taxi driver, had She left on foot for her moth- and their futures. to figures from the project,
been placed on oxygen af- er’s home with only a plastic which is the world’s largest “Some are treated as out-
ter he started coughing up bag of belongings for China- Once widowed, women are database tracking coronavi- casts, accused of being re-
blood. za and her other children. often mistreated and disin- rus differences between men sponsible for the death of
herited. Laws prohibit many and women. Other countries their husband,” said Egodi
Jonas would never meet his “I decided that I might die if from acquiring land or give likely show similar trends but Blessing Igwe, spokeswoman
daughter, Chinaza. Hours I continue to stay here with them only a fraction of their lack the resources to gather for WomenAid Collective,
after the birth, Mbah’s sister- my children,” she said. spouse’s wealth, and widows detailed figures. which has aided thousands of
in-law called to say he was in places like southeastern widows with free legal servic-
gone. Staff at the hospital in Across Africa, widowhood Nigeria face suspicion over Experts say some of the wid- es and family mediation.
southeastern Nigeria soon has long befallen great num- their husband’s death dur- ows left behind have nothing
asked Mbah and her new- bers of women — particu- ing the mourning period.
born to leave. No one had larly in the continent’s least In-laws can claim custody of
come to pay her bill. developed countries where children; tradition says kids
medical facilities are scarce. belong to the father. Other
Mbah began the rites of wid- Many widows are young, in-laws disown the children
owhood at the home where having married men decades and refuse to help, even if
she lived with her in-laws: older. And in some countries, they’re the family’s only
Her head was shaved, and men frequently have more source of money and food.
she was dressed in white than one wife, leaving several And young widows have no
clothing. But just weeks into widows behind when they adult children to support
the mourning period that tra- die. them in communities with
ditionally lasts six months, extreme poverty and few jobs
her late husband’s relatives Now, the coronavirus pan- for women with limited edu-
stopped providing food, then demic has created an even cation.
confronted her directly. larger population of widows
on the continent, with Af- In Nigeria, Africa’s most pop-
“They told me that it was rican men far more likely to ulous nation, some 70 percent
better for me to find my own die of the virus than women, of confirmed COVID-19
way,” Mbah, now 29, said. and it has exacerbated the is- deaths have been men, ac-