The Best Stuff We Wrote in the Philippines in 2019

The 2010s was a decade of massive shifts in technology, politics, and culture. For better or worse, social media changed the way we communicate, which changed how we consume news, share information, and form our values.

These shifts formed the backstory to much of VICE's 2019 content, and especially when we brought you news from the social media capital of the world, the Philippines. This includes everything from the fatal influence of Rodrigo Duterte’s viral “jokes,” to the internet's ability to sexually empower Filipino women. Away from social media, we also spoke with people who experienced bizarre life-changing events. From someone who was jailed after a stranger offered him drugs, to a family living in a sinking town.

Find them below, along with some other examples we’re proud of from 2019.

It Was a Joke was part of our ComicWeek in February and is a dark take on the power that Duterte’s words carry in a country filled with blind followers. In it, every joke the president says comes true. He says every addict must die, and millions literally drop dead. The comic employs a hint of fantasy, but fiction is also not so far from reality.

It’s easy to argue about politics online, but what happens when you come face to face with people you disagree with? Ahead of the Philippines’ midterm elections in May, we brought together people from opposite sides of the political spectrum — Duterte supporters and critics. They debated issues like the war on drugs, marijuana legalisation, and territorial disputes with China. Things got heated, but it also led to some enlightening conversations.

Unfinished venues, traffic problems, and an ultra-expensive $1 million cauldron loomed over the Philippine-hosted Southeast Asian Games before it opened at the end of November, drawing comparisons to 2017’s Fyre Festival. Writer Lia Savillo rounded up netizens’ funniest, most sarcastic comments, and curated them into a list of complaints.

Welcome to the "alterverse." That is internet speak for a sexual twilight zone, where anonymous users openly discuss their sex lives. Writer Fruhlein Chrys Econar spoke with women who are part of the growing subculture in the Philippines. They described how posting nudes and talking sex sans judgement empowers them online, while they continue to live fairly conservative, sexist society IRL.

Speaking of sexism, by far one of the most problematic policies came out of the Philippines this year, seeing “really pretty” female officers being deployed to distract drivers from Manila’s constant bumper-to-bumper traffic. The country’s traffic chief described the women as “head turners” who are “girlfriend material.”

In this opinion piece, our Editor-in-Chief Natashya Gutierrez calls out the policy for its sexism and talks about why this is not surprising given that the country’s very own president has no problem disrespecting women in his speeches.

Duterte's drug war has made buy-bust operations a regular fixture in the news, but what's it actually like to be caught? In this anonymous first-person account, a Filipino recalls a night he bought drugs from strangers and ended up in jail. It’s a horrifying look into what goes on in the Philippines’ cramped prisons and the corruption in the criminal justice system.

Also finding themselves in a strange situation are residents of a town north of Manila that’s been sinking, an effect of global warming and groundwater pumping. VICE Asia Editor Therese Reyes visited houses that are now on stilts to speak with families about what it’s like to live in a water world.