POLITICS

What Happened: Dynastic politics is a well-entrenched aspect of the Philippines’ democracy, with prominent families passing down rule of specific areas for decades. At first glance, the recent mid-term elections seemed to continue this trend. For instance, four pairs of siblings now hold seats in the Senate, accounting for one-third of the entire chamber. “But the midterms weren’t entirely a rehearsal of familial power-brokering,” writes Patrick Peralta of the Department of Political Science at the University of Michigan. “They also saw a string of electoral upsets across the country, as seemingly minor candidates felled or frustrated political dynasties.”

Our Focus: The defeats of Cynthia Villar in Las Piñas and Gwen Garcia in Cebu are perhaps the most notable examples. Both head up “fat” political dynasties, where five-plus family members simultaneously hold office. Their clans have dominated their respective regions since the 1960s – yet both lost their races in 2025. Corruption and conflicts of interest in sectors that directly impacted the public – like drinking water and healthcare – sealed their fate. “Scandal after scandal over basic needs proved they [Villar and Garcia] could no longer be trusted, offering energy and sheen to fresh contenders,” argues Peralta.

What Comes Next: Dynasties are far from dead, as evidenced by the continued success of the Marcos and Duterte clans. Even the defeats of Villar and Garcia “were made possible by rival dynasts,” Peralta notes. “...So while this election’s dynastic upsets force open political competition, they do not represent a new direction for Philippine politics.” The big takeaway, according to Peralta, is that “public accountability in the Philippines still has teeth, especially when they emerge from below.”

INTERVIEW

Joseph Torigian, author of “The Party’s Interests Come First,” describes Xi Zhongxun’s influence on his son’s career: “When Xi Jinping joined the CCP during the Cultural Revolution, the party was still persecuting his father. Because of Zhongxun’s status, Jinping had to submit an application to join many times before he was accepted. After Zhongxun returned to work in 1978, Jinping certainly benefited from his father’s family ties to other prominent figures. Yet ‘princelings’ were deeply unpopular within society and much of the party as well… Zhongxun’s status, then, was both good and bad for Jinping’s career.”

Northeast Asia

On June 3 – six months to the date after Yoon Suk-yeol declared martial law, eventually resulting in his impeachment – South Koreans voted to elect Yoon’s successor. As expected, Lee Jae-myung of the opposition Democratic Party won handily, avenging his narrow loss to Yoon back in 2022. Now the real challenge begins: governing a country riven by political polarization, battling economic headwinds from tariffs and trade wars, and facing security threats from North Korea and, increasingly, China.

Bonus: Following up on last week’s story, Mongolia’s Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene officially lost a vote of no-confidence on June 3, and will leave office as soon as a replacement is elected by the legislature.

South Asia

The Pahalgam attack in Indian-administered Kashmir – and the cross-border strikes that followed in early May – drew global attention to Pakistan’s history of fostering cross-border terrorist groups. Ironically, Pakistan is also a victim of such groups, with the Pakistani Taliban drastically stepping up the pace and scale of their attacks thanks to safe havens in neighboring Afghanistan. Whether measured in terms of defending its own citizens from terror groups or cracking down on militants threatening other countries, Islamabad’s counterterror policies have proven ineffective.

Southeast Asia

Late last week, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported that synthetic drug production reached “unprecedented levels” in 2024. In its annual report, it stated that a record 236 tons of methamphetamine were seized last year by the region’s governments, up from 190 tons in 2023. This increase in seizures was a result of “unprecedented levels of methamphetamine production and trafficking” from the Golden Triangle, the UNODC said, particularly in Myanmar’s Shan State, where the ongoing civil war has created the ideal conditions for drug trafficking. The report noted that “increasingly agile and tech-savvy” transnational drug gangs have become adept at evading efforts by regional law enforcement to crack down on the narcotics trade. It also highlighted the growing importance of trafficking routes running through maritime Southeast Asia, as evidenced by Indonesian authorities’ 2-ton methamphetamine seizure off the coast of Sumatra last month.

Central Asia

Starting in September 2025, Russia is unveiling a new requirement for foreigners in the Moscow area: Mandatory geolocation tracking and digital check-ins. A failure to share their location – whether deliberate or a technical glitch – could cost a migrant their registration and get them put on a deportation list. The new scheme raises a host of privacy concerns and escalates the challenges faced by predominantly Central Asian migrant workers in the Russian capital.

Lee Jae-myung topped his nearest competitor, the PPP’s Kim Moon-soo, by over 8 percentage points in South Korea’s presidential election.

Magazine

“Team Darkness” (Kadiliman in Tagalog) versus “Team Evil” (Kasamaan) a way of describing the Philippines’ 2025 mid-term elections among voters disillusioned by both the Duterte and Marcos camps.