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Michael Beltran

@maykelbelts

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Independent journalist
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The Singing Detainee and the Librarian with One Book
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Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. arrived at the Grand Hyatt Manila on Sept. 10 to address hundreds of foreign business representatives assembled for the Luzon Economic Corridor investment forum. Outside the hotel, hundreds of demonstrators had also gathered, carrying signs that read “No to Pax Silica!” The scene reflected both the government’s ambitious plans to ride the artificial intelligence wave, and deep ambivalence in civil society. Police confronted the crowd, shoving them with riot shields and batons on the street outside the hotel lobby. Activists say police injured at least 27 protesters and arrested five. Police, meanwhile, reported minor cuts and injuries to 16 personnel. Some highlights for this story: 1. At full development, the Pax Silica facility is projected to require 3 gigawatts of power, or 26.3 terawatt-hours each year. That’s equal to about two-thirds of the electricity consumed by all Philippine households in 2024. At full capacity, Pax Silica would require power equivalent to almost 90% of the average electricity demand of all homes across Luzon. 2. The BCDA initially said that data centers could be part of the Pax Silica but later denied this saying it would be a semiconductor facility. However, a document profiling the Luzon Economic Corridor lists data centers as part of the plans in New Clark City. It did not specify whether the data centers would be built inside the Pax Silica hub. 3. The Pax Silica facility overlaps with the ancestral land claims of thousands of indigenous Aetas. Meanwhile, the Pax Silica hub is supported by the Investor’s Lease Act, signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in September 2025. The law allows foreign businesses to lease commercial and industrial land for up to 99 years. Full story with Mongabay: https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/planned-us-tech-hub-in-philippines-hit-over-environmental-and-indigenous-land-concerns/ Magaling talaga mag layout si @threehug by @maykelbelts
9
5 days ago
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The Pax Silica tech hub plans to build on top of at least three Aeta villages. Visiting and speaking to Aetas in Clark, revealed that many of them had never even heard of Pax Silica before President Marcos Jr mentioned it during the last State of the Nation Address. Aetas are among the poorest and most disenfranchised indigenous peoples in the Philippines. Historians say American colonisers took over the 32,000-hectare tract that became Clark Air Base in the 1920s, dispossessing the Aetas, thought to be among the archipelago’s earliest inhabitants. Aeta's have been applying for their land for decades, but their claims to it date back centuries. Read the full report with Nikkei Asia: https://asia.nikkei.com/economy/us-led-philippine-tech-hub-faces-opposition-from-indigenous-people + link in bio design ni @threehug Map at #6 by Prof Andre Ortega and Countermapping PH Typo on #3, "on" not "one" Typos are a part of life haha by @maykelbelts
19
a month ago
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For Philippine women in Taiwan's tech factories, motherhood is 'impossible' From laminating circuit boards to testing out the latest servers for companies like Foxconn and SpaceX, Filipino women are building tomorrow's AI in Taiwanese tech factories. But employer pressure, childcare costs and bans on babies in worker housing makes motherhood nearly impossible. After spending weeks talking to pregnant Filipino women working in factories, it became clear that often workers have two choices: send their babies home or go home with them. Emily* worked 10 hours overtime each week in a factory while pregnant. She went on leave to give birth and was denied pay. The baby was born three months premature. Because companies deduct many mandatory fees from a migrant worker's minimum wage, workers often can't afford care of shelter for their babies. Emily tried renting a room outside the company dorm, but it was too expensive. Thankfully, she found Harmony Home, a care center at the edge of Taipei catering to the children of migrants 24/7. It was quite jarring to see around 200 babies, sprawled on the floor in different rooms greet you when you step inside. Most of their parents, from factories, fields and domestic work, have either turned undocumented or are banned from caring for their children in company dorms. Emily's baby is under the care of a handful of nannies. She visits on her day off. But the volunteer-run Harmony Home's capacity is limited and it's staff is stretched thin. The handful of nannies can barely remember all the names, relying on some interesting nicknames. One baby is called Lóuti, the Chinese word for stairs, because the mother gave birth on a staircase. Da An, is named after the hospital where the child was delivered. Another is Shintong or heart condition, because of the baby's weak heart. Full story with Nikkei Asia: https://tinyurl.com/sda2p6su + link in bio by @maykelbelts
5
2 months ago
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Taiwan's factories typically recruit workers from the Philippines. They house them in company owned dorms and with broker agencies, control most of their waking hours. But even among Taiwan's manufacturing sector, one migrant shelter described TaiDoc Technology as the "worst labor standards violator I've seen." TaiDoc is a global supplier of medical devices, best known for blood pressure and blood glucose monitoring devices ending up in European and North American hospitals. The New Taipei City-based company routinely punishes workers through forced labor. Anyone who is late or breaks the 11PM company curfew is ordered to clean the factory floor and do other chores. When one worker stayed with some relatives in a hotel after work for a month, she says TaiDoc punished her with 420 hours of unpaid extra overtime. Employees seeking to renew their contracts are illegally charged around NT$18,000 in “rehire fees,” or else must return to the Philippines and restart the months-long application process, which costs even more. Last year, Filipino workers formed the TaiDoc Technology Labor Union (TTLU), only the island’s second recognized migrant-led company union. The TTLU campaigned and filed complaints with the authorities, prompting the Ministry of Labor to fine the company for "unfair labor practices." TTLU also opposed TaiDoc's extensive and inhumane set of rules for migrants banning: staying outside the dorms, breaking curfew, owning more than three pairs of shoes, marriage, pregnancy, love affairs and bringing relatives to Taiwan, all of which are punishable by unpaid overtime or deportation. TaiDoc has retaliated by harassing workers, filing lawsuits against the union, denying benefits, and terminating work contracts despite being flagged by the authorities. 1st pic not mine, 3rd pic by André Beckershoff Full story with Nikkei Asia: https://asia.nikkei.com/economy/filipino-workers-locked-in-bitter-labor-dispute-with-taiwanese-manufacturer by @maykelbelts
5
2 months ago
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Join us for a panel on Artificial Intelligence and the Magnifica Humanitas 🍃 Together with Regine Cabato, Michael Beltran, PJ Mariano-Capistrano, PhD, and Joshua Uyheng, PhD Breaking Down Babel July 25, Saturday | 3 to 5pm | rift Artificial intelligence is everywhere, from search engine results to sponsored ads to student essays. Across industries, workers are told that if they aren’t replaced by AI, they’ll be replaced by someone who uses it. But is AI really that inevitable? Pope Leo XIV says otherwise. In his latest encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, the Pope likens the rapid, unregulated growth of the AI industry to a tower of Babel—a grand project that sows division and worsens inequality. What do these changes mean for a country like the Philippines, where disinformation runs rampant and AI annotators work in digital sweatshops? How does the Magnifica Humanitas invite us to not only resist a railroaded future, but champion the human dignity that AI seeks to approximate? Join us for a panel + reading group on AI and the Magnifica Humanitas, together with âšȘ Regine Cabato, journalist âšȘ Michael Beltran, activist and journalist âšȘ PJ Mariano-Capistrano, PhD, scholar and professor in philosophy âšȘ Joshua Uyheng, PhD, political psychologist and computational social scientist Registration is required. Sign up via https://form.jotform.com/261852603476461 đŸ§Ș go to the link in our profile! 📌 Hosted by rift, this panel continues our series of political conversations that situate contemporary questions within broader cultural and critical contexts. The series aims to be a space for sustained reflection on building independent and durable political power for the Filipino working class. ____ Poster design [slide 1] features a portion of the artwork by neo-impressionist painter Paul Signac, titled Chromatic Circle, 1888 (lithograph), The Art Institute of Chicago. Designated Creative Commons CC0, sourced from the public domain. by @maykelbelts
3
3 months ago
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Keep an eye on Ilocos Norte. This story is a result of a few months of digging into the avalanche of clean energy projects in the Marcos family hometown. Marcos sr, styled himself in the north as the "father of rural electrification," a better sounding moniker than dictator. Looking to reshape the family image, President Marcos Jr is similarly looking into energy. The whole Marcos clan is turning the province into Asia's "renewable energy capital." It also means billions of dollars are pouring into the province in what could radically re-shape the energy sector in the ruling family's favor. Lots to unpack but here are the highlights: 1. The Philippines has 1,366 active renewable energy service contracts, equivalent to a potential 141.8 gigawatts. Around 20 gigawatts of energy will be completely owned by foreign corporations. 2. Ilocos Norte alone is projected to generate around 10% of the country's clean energy, enough to power all of Metro Manila. 3. Before BBM, Ilocos Norte had 11 major clean energy projects. Since BBM came into power, contracts for an additional 34 projects were awarded, many of them foreign owned. The province currently generates about 430 megawatts. The newer projects (mainly wind and solar) are expected to generate over 30 times that. 4. The biggest wind farm, Buhawind, threatens to displace at least 7,000 fisherfolk (locals estimate 16,000) across five municipalities. 5. The govt defends offshore wind turbines saying they're beneficial to marine life. But credible studies say these are inconclusive at best. 6. Solar farms are taking over indigenous land. Chinese firm Xidian holdings owns Energy Logics Philippines and Nanchano renewables, both of which are expanding on the land of the Masamuyao Isneg Yapayao tribe WITHOUT tribal consent or clearance from the NCIP. Full story with Mongabay: https://tinyurl.com/4mxnuwew + link in bio by @maykelbelts
4
4 months ago
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I used to think, that amid the messiness of the internet and social media, LinkedIn was still a space to be proper. It was like a place where people put on their adult clothes, spoke adult words, and stayed courteous and clever no matter the hour. Turns out there are very few slop-free sanctuaries online. LinkedIn isn't one of them. Today’s expert business advice is actually a collection of buzz words designed to grab attention. Companies and CEOs pegged as “Thought Leaders” hire virtual assistants (VAs), many of them underpaid Filipinos, to grow their businesses by farming engagement on the popular platform for professionals. When one CEO of a European childcare startup posted about the qualities of a good leader on their page, dozens of executives responded with similarly worded comments like “Beautifully said,” “Leadership isn’t about titles. It’s about kindness,” and “Leadership is about action, influence, and integrity, not titles.” LinkedIn is peppered with posts like these, not made by executives but VAs hired on a fifth of the pay that their Western counterpart would earn. “It’s all AI comments by fake people answered with fake replies by other fake people,” said one VA. “It’s so dead internet, like none of this is real.” Favorite/funniest bit: The sheer volume of engagement leads to obvious mistakes. One assistant thoughtlessly commented "Huge win" on a post commemorating the September 11 attacks. Read the full story on @restofworld: https://tinyurl.com/4hene97 + Link in bio by @maykelbelts
9
4 months ago
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All pictures taken during recent Fact-Finding Mission in Toboso. Bullets peppered trees near villages and fields. The mission also visited the fishpond site where the 19 bodies of the massacre were supposedly found. Since 1985, at least five high-profile massacres of farmers and activists have been documented on Negros Island. Human rights groups have flagged the area as one of the most dangerous for dissenters. Beset by land rights struggles, Negros Island is as sweet as it is bloody. It is the country’s sugar capital, and with this latest incident, it has earned the title of “massacre capital.” “There’s a hole in the military’s story,” lawyer Kristina Conti told The Diplomat. The recent national fact-finding mission has revealed an anomaly in the processing of evidence. The military evacuated local residents from April 19 to 22. That means, soldiers were left with sole access to the site in Sitio Plaringding where the 19 bodies were found, making a detailed reconstruction of events practically impossible. Conti says the military was able to ensure impunity because “the perpetrators are first to arrive on the crime scene.” Before, during and after the Toboso massacre, farmers report continued militarization. Debbie*, 22, sat with her five siblings and parents in the corner of their small wooden shack when the shelling began before sunrise last April. She shivered throughout, recounting the memory in tears, as if learning in a moment of vulnerability exactly what trauma means. “Every time I see soldiers, I get scared,” she said. At another home, hours after gunfire had deafened an entire village, soldiers banged on the homes of local farmers with the butts of their rifles yelling “Lumabas kayo diyan! (Get out now!)” “Sir sibilyan kami (Sir we’re just civilians).” One farmer recounted that when she and her family stepped out of their home, soldiers searched the inside for anyone seeking refuge. When they found nobody, “they pointed a rifle at my husband’s back, asking him for information.” Full story with the Diplomat: https://tinyurl.com/3sm7d2e9 + Link in bio by @maykelbelts
4
4 months ago
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Buried alive under Manila's garbage Lenny* recalled freezing when he saw the first heap of garbage collapse underneath the feet of his fellow scavengers on the afternoon of Feb. 20, at a landfill in the town of Rodriguez, in the Philippines’ Rizal province. Moments later, a larger perimeter caved. In an instant, a crater of trash had swallowed up hundreds of people including Lenny's cousin. Many scavengers clawed their way back up. But according to Lenny and other eyewitnesses, after the collapse, landfill management ordered the dumping and bulldozing of more garbage to create a path downward. Dozens of scavengers remained trapped under the trash slide. When Lenny spoke to Mongabay, more than 48 hours after the incident, his cousin was still missing. Eyewitnesses estimate that more than 50 people were trapped under the trash slide. By contrast, officials said on Feb. 22 that one person had died and two remained missing, pending further investigation. Locals say that state authorities did very little in the immediate days after the incident. Lenny, 27, a scavenger for eight years, told Mongabay “they asked us to step aside. We already live off the garbage and they treat us like our lives don’t matter.” Scavengers aren’t technically employed by the landfill and even have to pay 50 pesos a week to enter the facility. Many of them are invisible to the rest of society. Armed with nothing more than T-shirts wrapped around their faces, they sift through the trash collected from nearby Metro Manila, looking for plastic and metal items they can sell to local junk shops by the kilo. An incident in Cebu parallels the landfill disaster, both offshoots of the earlier Payatas tragedy. It compels us to grapple with a growing problem: our landfills are becoming graveyards. Full story with Mongabay: https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/deadly-landfill-collapse-exposes-risks-faced-by-philippines-waste-pickers/ by @maykelbelts
0
7 months ago
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"The king knows how keep his slaves in chains" a Grab rider told me. Grab offers in-app cash loans to its drivers and riders. It's quick and convenient. It also keeps borrowers tied to gig work for the app for what some might call outrageous interest rates. Take one rider who is "rewarded" by the app with the chance to borrow 11,000 pesos for repairs and a tune-up for his bike. He repays it through automatic daily deductions of about 95.30 pesos from his e-wallet for 150 days, for a total of 14,294 pesos. The platform advertises a "simple interest monthly" rate of 5.99%. But daily repayments mean the loan's effective interest rate (EIR) is 277% annually. That's 6.5 times higher than the cap on credit cards. In the end, the rider pays more than a third of the principal in interest. The loan acts like a de facto contract for the gig worker. Besides the hefty interest, each loan ensures a rider's services as he pays off his daily debt for the next several months. According to research, Grab even uses raffles to incentivize riders to take the maximum repayment period (360 days) for loans. But ask any rider, and they'd tell you that the loans are a godsend. Where else are they gonna get credit? Grab knows this and it bets on the "future labor of a rider, who bears the real risk and repeating crises of debt, stress, and dependency.” Because platform workers assume the "costs of production that platforms do not shoulder," take home pay often falls below minimum wage pushing many into debt. Grab's loan portfolio grew to over a billion by the end of 2025. Meanwhile, a tally by EILER shows that just a 1% re-allocation of their revenue would afford all Move It riders an additional Php3,400 monthly. Grab says it is providing a service to its partners that most banks won't do. But even finance experts will tell you, that when it comes to loans, a lot of times, the poor pay more. Exploitation succeeds when it is unnoticed. More so, when it passes for a reward. Full feature with Nikkei Asia: https://tinyurl.com/3pjmpc2v by @maykelbelts
2
7 months ago
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This story came out a day before SM Prime announced withdrawing its proposal to take over the Baguio Public Market. It was a story about market vendor resistance before becoming a story about their triumph. Maiba naman. Good news naman. Over 4,000 fruit, vegetable and rice peddlers, plus a thousand more helpers and ambulant vendors, housed in a rickety network of buildings stood up to the richest family in the country. Credit to the vendors, its supporters and the Baguio public who never let the country's biggest retail giant anywhere near the center of town. Sofia Villanueva (first two pics), a vegetable vendor for over 40 years called the market the "heart and soul" of Baguio. Every three in the afternoon, vendors bang on pots and pans in protest of the takeover. I imagine the sound of tin hitting concrete has been much louder, joyful even, these past few days. I suspect the echo of gongs continue to travel. SM has taken over other markets, such as the case on Panay island, much to the detriment of small vendors. In exchange for rebuilding markets, the retail giant requires a minimum 50-year acquisition lease on its "mallification" takeovers. Vendors are usually displaced and those who are granted a stall reported losing up 90% of their daily earnings since SM redirects all foot and car traffic to its malls. The threat of privatization has not completely passed. Repairs for the market remain an issue. Baguio is the richest city outside Metro Manila. Its hundred year old market is practically a historical landmark. Will its renovation be a public endeavor or will the government court other conglomerates with similarly contentious proposals? Full story with Nikkei Asia: https://asia.nikkei.com/business/retail/philippine-traditional-vendors-resist-arrival-of-retail-giant-sm-prime + link in bio by @maykelbelts
0
9 months ago
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To be clear, the actual Taylor Swift has no involvement with any of this. But after seeing all that sweet Eras tour ticket revenue going to Singapore, the Philippine government had an idea: build our own stadium on stolen indigenous land to convince Taylor to perform! The govt hopes other headlining acts will follow. Clark remains populated by thousands of unrecognized Aetas. “We were here before the Americans, even before the Spanish,” said Petronila Capiz, 60, the chieftain of the Aeta Hungey tribe in Sapang Kawayan. “And the land continues to be taken from us.” Aetas are among the most historically excluded indigenous peoples in the Philippines. Their land was taken by American colonizers, dubbed Clark Airbase and when they left, it was handed over to the Ph government. None of the indigenous residents were ever given a say in the last century. Today, the govt is building a smart city with luxury resorts, and to the south, beside Clark airport, a "Taylor Swift-ready" stadium will rise plus six other mega projects set to be completed in 2028. With the stadium and New Clark City on the way, there is a real fear that this development boom means Aetas could be pushed out of their land before they can claim it. Recognition for Aetas is snail-paced, having been applying for their ancestral lands since 1986! I only learned this while working on this story, but, to gain recognition, the NCIP/Govt requires the following from Aetas: genealogy of at least 5 clans almost 400 years ago, testimonies from elders, a map of the domain and a census of the current population. Even after all that, because they live in Clark, they'll still need clearance from the President's office. “We’ll have to move and move. Shopping centers won’t move for us.” Full story with Al Jazeera: https://tinyurl.com/4x3duxpb + link in bio by @maykelbelts
10
9 months ago
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